[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 29 (Monday, February 12, 1996)]
[Notices]
[Pages 5373-5375]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-2178]
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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Food Distribution Program: Substitution of Donated Chicken with
Commercial Chicken
AGENCY: Food and Consumer Service, USDA.
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: This notice announces the Food and Consumer Service's (FCS)
intent to conduct a demonstration project to study the effects of
allowing the substitution of donated chicken with commercial chicken in
the State processing of donated chicken supplied by the Department of
Agriculture (the Department). Under the demonstration project, FCS is
invoking, in a final rule published elsewhere in this issue of the
Federal Register, its authority under 7 CFR 250.30(t) to waive the
current prohibition in 7 CFR 250.30(f)(1)(i) of the substitution of
poultry and will establish the criteria under which substitution will
be permitted. Only bulk pack chicken and chicken parts will be eligible
for substitution. The Department will use the demonstration project
results to examine whether permitting this type of substitution will
result in increased processor participation and provide a greater
variety of processed chicken end products to recipient agencies in a
more timely manner at lower costs.
DATES: The proposals described in this Notice may be submitted to FCS
through June 30, 1997.
ADDRESSES: Proposals should be sent to Ellen Henigan, Chief, Schools/
Institutions Branch, Food Distribution Division, Food and Consumer
Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Park Office Center, Room 501,
3101 Park Center Drive, Alexandria, Virginia 22302-1594.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ursula Key, Schools/Institutions
Branch, at (703) 305-2644.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Executive Order 12866
This notice has been determined to be significant and was reviewed
by the Office of Management and Budget under Executive Order 12866.
Executive Order 12372
This program is listed in the Catalog of Federal Domestic
Assistance under 10.550 and is subject to the provisions of Executive
Order 12372, which requires intergovernmental consultation with State
and local officials (7 CFR Part 3015, Subpart V and final rule-related
notices published at 48 FR 29114, June 24, 1983 and 49 FR 22676, May
31, 1984).
Regulatory Flexibility Act
This action is not a rule as defined by the Regulatory Flexibility
Act (5 U.S.C. 601-612) and is thus exempt from the provisions of that
Act.
Background
Section 250.30 of the current Food Distribution Program regulations
sets forth the terms and conditions under which distributing agencies,
subdistributing agencies, and recipient agencies may enter into
contracts with commercial firms for processing donated foods and
prescribes the minimum requirements to be included in such contracts.
Section 250.30(t) authorizes FCS to waive any of the requirements
contained in 7 CFR Part 250 for the purpose of conducting demonstration
projects to test program changes designed to improve the State
processing of donated foods.
Current Program Requirements
The State processing regulations at Sec. 250.30(f)(1)(i) currently
allow for the substitution of certain specified donated food items,
with the exception of meat and poultry. Under the current regulations
at Sec. 250.30(g), when donated meat or poultry products are processed
[[Page 5374]]
or when any commercial meat or poultry products are incorporated into
an end product containing one or more donated foods, all of the
processing is required to be performed in plants under continuous
Federal meat or poultry inspection or continuous State meat or poultry
inspection in States certified to have programs at least equal to the
Federal inspection programs. In addition to Food Safety Inspection
Service (FSIS) inspection, all donated meat and poultry processing must
be performed under Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) acceptance
service grading.
Currently, only a few poultry processors are participating in the
State processing of donated foods. Processors have stated that the
current policy which prohibits the substitution of donated chicken
reduces the quantity of donated chicken they are able to accept and
process during a given period. Chicken purchased by USDA for further
processing is bulk chill packed. Processors must schedule production
around deliveries of the donated chicken since it is a very highly
perishable product. Some of the processors must schedule production
around deliveries of donated chicken for up to 30 individual States.
Vendors do not always deliver donated chicken to the processors as
scheduled, causing delays in production of end products. These delays
may be eliminated if the processors can substitute commercial chicken
for donated chicken.
Demonstration Project
From February 1, 1996 to June 30, 1997, the Department will operate
a demonstration project under which it will permit selected poultry
processors to substitute commercial chicken for donated chicken in the
State processing of donated chicken. Processors may submit proposals
and be selected to participate in the demonstration project during this
time. FCS is invoking, in a final rule published elsewhere in this
issue of the Federal Register, its authority under 7 CFR 250.30(t) to
waive the current prohibition in 7 CFR 250.30(f)(1)(i) of the
substitution of poultry for purposes of this demonstration project.
The demonstration project has been limited to bulk pack chicken and
chicken parts only because such chicken lends itself readily to such a
study. There are a number of reasons that this chicken is better than
meat for purposes of this demonstration project. The definition of
substitution in Sec. 250.3 requires any replacement of commercial
product for donated food to be of the same generic identity and equal
or better quality. With bulk pack chicken and chicken parts, these
requirements can be met easily and quickly, but requirements for the
substitution of meat would be more complicated. For example, the USDA
specification for donated ground beef calls for quality assurance
provisions and certification requirements such as: (1) Checking fresh
chilled beef for condition prior to grinding; (2) a sampling program to
determine if physchrotropic plate count levels exceed 100,000 bacteria
per gram; (3) assuring removal of bone and trimming defects; (4)
compliance with time and temperature requirements during processing and
storing; and (5) compliance with fat content requirements. These
requirements cannot be duplicated by many processors. Additionally,
donated ground beef is delivered frozen for processing, so the need for
quickly turning around the product is not as crucial as it is for bulk
chilled chicken. On the other hand, the USDA specifications for donated
bulk pack chicken and chicken parts are more easily met. Bulk pack
turkey and turkey parts may be considered for inclusion in future
demonstration projects since graders can easily determine if commercial
turkey meets or exceeds the specifications for donated turkey.
FCS is soliciting interested poultry processors to submit written
proposals to participate in the demonstration project. The following
basic requirements will apply to the demonstration project:
As with the processing of donated chicken into end
products, Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) graders must monitor the
processing of any substituted commercial chicken to ensure program
integrity is maintained.
Only bulk pack chicken and chicken parts delivered by USDA
vendors to the processor will be eligible for substitution. No
backhauled product will be eligible. (Backhauled product is typically
cut-up frozen chicken parts delivered to schools which may be turned
over to processors for further processing at a later time.)
Commercial chicken substituted for donated chicken must be
certified by an AMS grader as complying with all product specifications
for the donated chicken.
Substitution of commercial chicken may occur in advance of
the actual receipt of the donated chicken by the processor. However, no
substitution may occur before the notice to deliver for that processor
is issued by USDA. Lead time between the purchase and delivery of
donated chicken may be up to five weeks. Any variation between the
amount of commercial chicken substituted and the amount of donated
chicken received by the processor will be adjusted according to
guidelines furnished by USDA.
Any donated chicken not used in end products because of
substitution must only be used by the processor in other commercial
processed products and cannot be sold as an intact unit.
The only regulatory provision or State processing contract
term affected by the demonstration project is the prohibition on
substitution of chicken (Sec. 250.30(f)(1)(i) of the regulations). All
other regulatory and contract requirements remain unchanged and must
still be met by processors participating in the demonstration project.
The demonstration project will enable FCS to evaluate whether to
amend program regulations to provide for the substitution of donated
chicken with commercial chicken in the State processing program.
Particular attention will be paid to whether such an amendment of the
regulations would probably increase the number of processors
participating, and whether it would probably increase the quantity of
donated chicken that each processor accepts for processing. Further,
FCS will attempt to determine whether the expected increase in
competition and the expected increase in the quantity of donated
chicken accepted for processing in fact enable processors to function
more efficiently, producing a greater variety of processed chicken end
products in a more timely manner at lower costs.
Interested processors should submit a written proposal to FCS
outlining how they plan to carry out the substitution while complying
with the above conditions. The proposal must contain a step-by-step
description of how production will be monitored and a complete
description of the records that will be maintained for the commercial
chicken substituted for the donated chicken as well as the disposition
of the donated chicken delivered. All proposals will be reviewed by
representatives of the Food Distribution Division of FCS and by
representatives of AMS's Poultry Division's Commodity Procurement
Branch and Grading Branch. Those companies selected for participation
in the demonstration project will be required to enter into an
agreement with FCS and AMS which authorizes the processor to substitute
commercial bulk pack chicken or chicken parts in fulfilling any current
or future State processing contracts during the demonstration project
period. Participation in the demonstration
[[Page 5375]]
project will not ensure the processor will receive any State processing
contracts.
Dated: January 18, 1996.
Ellen Haas,
Under Secretary for Food, Nutrition, and Consumer Services.
[FR Doc. 96-2178 Filed 2-9-96; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-30-U