USDA Proposes Changes
WASHINGTON, D.C.— The
U.S. Department of Agriculture is
proposing changes in its meat and
poultry inspection program to
implement a recent law which
authorizes USDA to adjust the
intensity among processing plants.
USDA would use records of plant
compliance with federal food
safety and processing regulations
to determine inspection
frequency.
“Under the proposal, USDA
would increase inspection at pro
cessing plants where records indi
cate a need for additional over
sight By the same token, plants
with good records of compliance
could be visited less than daily,”
said Lester M. Crawford, admini
strator of USDA’s Food Safety
and Inspection Service.
The proposed rule would not
apply to slaughter operations,
which will remain under continu
ous inspection.
Congress amended the federal
Meat Inspection Act in 1986,
requiring USDA to alter its cur
rent daily inspection of processing
plants. The legislation allows the
frequency of inspections to be
based on the risks posed by each
plant’s compliance record, the
complexity of the processes it per
forms, and its ability to control
hazards. The National Academy
of Sciences has also recom
mended making such changes,
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Crawford said.
“The proposed changes would
strengthen USDA’s inspection in
the 6,300 plants that process meat
and poultry by focusing inspection
efforts where they arc needed
most,” said Crawford. “The pro
posal is based on years of careful
planning and three pilot tests in
different parts of the country in
various kinds of meat and poultry
plants.”
The proposed program would
utilize a new computerized system
that accumulates information
from Inspection visits. The system
would document each plant’s
Patenting Of New Animals Is Topic Of
ITHACA, N.Y. The legal,
economic and social issues of ani
mal patents will be discussed Dec.
5 and 6 when Cornell University
convenes the first international
symposium on the subject since
the U.S. Patent and Trademark
Office allowed patents on higher
animals.
Representatives of government,
industry, agriculture and universi
ties will discuss issues ranging
from the practical and economic
considerations to the ethical prob
lems behind the new legal protec
tion for new animals.
“Many people around the world
were shocked when, on April 3,
1987, the Board of Patent Appeals
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record in meeting USDA require
ments, keeping track of acceptable
and deficient performance. Aided
by these records, USDA would
decide the frequency of inspection
needed at a given plant.
“Industry will have to assume
greater responsibility in conform
ing to USDA standards, because
critical deficiencies found during
inspection would mean produc
tion delays and product condem
nation,” Crawford said. “With the
proposed changes, USDA inspec
tion of meat and poultry would
remain the most intense system of
and Interferences of the U.S.
Patent Office declared higher ani
mals patentable subject matter,”
said William H. Lesser, an associ
ate professor of agricultural eco
nomics at Cornell and organizer of
the symposium. The patentability
of multicelled animals was widely
anticipated after the 1980 patent
on a novel bacterium, "but the
decision came much sooner than
many had expected,” Lesser
noted.
So far, only one animal patent --
for a genetically engineered
mouse that is an animal model of
human breast cancer has been
granted in (he United States, but at
least 20 more patent applications
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inspection for any food pro
duced.”
The proposal would not change
any standards for the processed
products made in the USDA
inspected plants. The same stan
dards currently required for safe
ty, wholesomeness and labeling
accuracy would remain in force.
Processing ranges from simple
operations that take USDA
inspected and approved meat or
poultry and simply cut, bone or
grind it, to complex operations
that cook, cure, can or freeze meat
or poultry to make hot dogs, beef
stews, cold-cuts, heat-and-serve
arc believed to be in the works.
Animal models duplicate the dis
ease process and allow studies of
causes and treatments without
endangering human patients. The
U.S. Congress has responded to
the issue with a variety of legisla
tion initiatives, including bills that
would exempt farmers from royal
ty payments on patented animals,
delay new animal patents for two
years or ban them altogether.
“Potentially, patented animals
arc a multimillion-dollar busi
ness,” Lesser said. “Among the
possibilities are farm animals that
are genetically engineered to be
more disease resistant, faster
growing and able to use feed more
efficiently, while producing leaner
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whole chickens or packaged din
ner entrees.
“The impetus for changes in the
inspection system is the ever
increasing sophistication of the
food industry with its high tech
nology manufacturing practices
that assure product safety and uni
formity,” said Crawford. “As
technology improves, so, too,
must inspection.”
Crawford said the USDA prop
osal also contains changes in ter
minology and regulations needed
to carry out the improved process
ing inspection system.
Symposium
meat. A bit further along are
changes in the configuration of
animals - bigger pigs, for exam
ple - and increases in litter size,
especially in cattle.”
Seafood and poultry also are
targets for genetic engineering
that could lead to patents. Lesser
said, but one of the most promis
ing areas is animal models of
human diseases. “The biggest
search right now is for an animal
model for human AIDS,” he said,
adding that the only laboratory
animals now known to harbor
human immunodeficiency virus -
certain non-human primates - are
too rare and expensive for wide
spread use.
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