001002 USDA Clarifies Partial Quality Control RulesOctober 2, 2000Washington - The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service is proposing to amend its final rule to eliminate remaining requirements for partial quality control programs. The amendment pertains to the certification of scales for accuracy and net weight programs. The final rule, effective Aug. 28, removed remaining design requirements for partial quality control programs, as well as the requirements to have PQC programs for certain products or processes in meat and poultry processing plants. The rule provides greater flexibility to plants to adopt new technologies and consistency with the agency's regulations on Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points system operations, improving food safety. Plants are required to certify scales for accuracy. An amendment is needed because industry raised questions about the options for certification of scales in the final rule. FSIS is clarifying that, in addition to the option of using certification from a State or local government's weights and measures authority or from a State-registered or -licensed scale repair firm, businesses may use data from documented procedures that demonstrate compliance with the National Institute of Standards and Technology Handbook 44 to certify the accuracy of scales. "This HACCP-friendly, regulatory reform change will provide plants with alternatives to demonstrate that their scales meet the regulatory requirements," said Thomas J. Billy, administrator of FSIS. Written comments must be submitted by Oct. 3, 2000, to the USDA-FSIS Docket Clerk, Docket # 97-001T, Room 102 Cotton Annex, 300 12th Street, S.W., Washington, DC 20250-3700.
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