Department of Agriculture

Food Products Inspection Section

PROPOSED

PUBLIC NOTICE

The Delaware Department of Agriculture's Food Products Inspection Section ("the Department") proposes to amend Regulation 3.1 of its existing Regulations (see 3 DE Admin. Code 301) to ensure that all meat, poultry, and egg product inspections in Delaware as well as its methods of slaughter are in compliance with current federal regulatory requirements as they are found in the Code of Federal Regulations, and as they may be amended from time to time, and so as to satisfy U.S. Department of Agriculture officials that Delaware is enforcing inspection standards that are "at least equal to" those imposed and enforced under the relevant federal acts mandated by 3 Del.C. §8707(6).

Public comments concerning the proposed amendment to Regulation 3.1 may be submitted in writing to Andrea Jackson, Administrator, Food Products Inspection, at 2320 S. DuPont Highway, Dover, DE 19901, on or before July 2, 2012.

301 Food Products Inspection

1.1 These proposed amendments to existing Delaware regulations as well as the adoption of new regulations governing meat, poultry, and egg products inspection and the humane slaughtering of livestock are promulgated pursuant to the Department's authority specifically set forth in Section 8708(8) of Title 3 of the Delaware Code.

2.1 The purpose of these proposed regulations is to re-establish the standards and procedures for the meat, poultry, and egg product inspection programs of Delaware as well as Delaware's humane slaughtering of livestock procedures so that they shall be equal to those imposed by the Federal Meat Inspection Act, the Federal Poultry Inspection Act, the Federal Egg Products Inspection Act and the Federal Humane Methods of Slaughter Act with respect to operations occurring within the State of Delaware.

3.1 The Department adopts and incorporates by reference herein the rules, regulations, definitions and standards of the U.S. Department of Agriculture governing meat and meat products inspection, poultry products inspection, voluntary inspection of poultry, egg and egg products inspection and humane methods for slaughtering animals as they are currently written and which are found appear, and as they may be amended from time to time, at Title 9 of the Code of Federal Regulations, at Subchapters A, E, and I of Title 9, Parts 301 through 592, Parts 301 through 592, excluding Parts 390 and 391, of the Code of Federal Regulations.