SUPPORTING STATEMENT JUSTIFICATION FOR
INTERSTATE SHIPMENT OF MEAT AND POULTRY PRODUCTS
Circumstances Making Collection Of Information Necessary:
This is a request for a renewal of the currently approved information collection for the interstate shipment of meat and poultry products.
The Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) has been delegated the authority to exercise the functions of the Secretary as provided in the Federal Meat Inspection Act (FMIA) (21 U.S.C. 601 et seq.) and the Poultry Products Inspection Act (PPIA) (21 U.S.C. 451 et seq.). These statutes mandate that FSIS protect the public by ensuring that meat and poultry products are safe, wholesome, not adulterated, and properly labeled and packaged.
Section 11015 of The Food, Conservation, and Energy Act, enacted on June 18, 2008, amended the FMIA and PPIA to provide for cooperative programs whereby meat and poultry state-inspected establishments will be eligible to ship meat and poultry products in interstate commerce.
2. How, By Whom and Purpose Information Is To Be Used:
The following is a discussion of the required information collection and recordkeeping activities.
The Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) coordinates a voluntary cooperative program under which participating State-inspected establishments with 25 or fewer employees are eligible to ship meat and poultry products in interstate commerce. State-inspected establishments selected to take part in this program are required to comply with all Federal standards under the Federal Meat Inspection Act (FMIA) and the Poultry Products Inspection Act (PPIA), as well as with all State standards. These establishments receive inspection services from State inspection personnel that have been trained in the enforcement of the FMIA and PPIA. Meat and poultry products produced under the program that have been inspected and passed by selected State personnel bear an official Federal mark of inspection and are permitted to be distributed in interstate commerce. FSIS provides oversight and enforcement of the program.
Request to Establish Program
States that are interested in participating in the cooperative interstate shipment program must submit a request for an agreement to establish such a program through the appropriate FSIS District Office. In their requests, States must agree to comply with certain conditions in order to qualify for the interstate shipment program. In their requests, States must also: 1) identify establishments in the State that the State recommends for initial selection into the program and 2) include documentation to demonstrate that the State is able to provide necessary inspections services to selected establishments in the State and conduct any related activities that would be required under a cooperative interstate shipment program.
Evaluation of Qualifications
If a State determines that an establishment qualifies to participate in the cooperative interstate shipment program, and the State is able, and willing, to provide the necessary inspection services at the establishment, the State needs to submit its evaluation of the establishment to the FSIS District Office that covers the State. FSIS, in coordination with the State, then decides whether to select the establishments for the program.
Recordkeeping Adjustments
Establishments that qualify for this program have to meet FSIS requirements for recordkeeping. Most of the establishments already have met these recordkeeping requirements, but some establishments will need to make minor adjustments to their recordkeeping in order to meet FSIS requirements.
SEC Recordkeeping Review
The selected establishment coordinator (SEC) will visit establishments approximately once a month to review the establishments’ records. The initial sec review will naturally take longer than the regular visits.
There are a total of 733 burden hours for the information collection request relating to the Cooperative Inspection Program for the interstate shipment of meat and poultry products.
3. Use Of Improved Information Technology:
States are able to use electronic means to submit their requests and to complete their evaluations.
4. Efforts To Identify Duplication:
FSIS has determined that these information collections will not duplicate any other information collections. The required records and reports are not available from other sources, either within government or from non-government sources. There is no similar information that can be used or modified.
5. Methods To Minimize Burden On Small Business Entities:
All States participating in the program are required to submit the same information. 10% of the establishments from the States are small businesses.
6. Consequences If Information Were Collected Less Frequently:
To conduct the information collections less frequently would reduce the effectiveness of the meat and poultry inspection program that ensures that meat and poultry products are properly marked, labeled and packaged.
7. Circumstances That Would Cause The Information Collection To Be Conducted In A Manner:
requiring respondents to report information to the agency more often than quarterly;
requiring respondents to prepare a written response to a collection of information in fewer than 30 days after receipt of it;
requiring respondents to submit more than an original and two copies of any document;
requiring respondents to retain records, other than health, medical, government contract, grant-in-aid, or tax records for more than three years;
in connection with a statistical survey, that is not designed to produce valid and reliable results that can be generalized to the universe of study;
requiring the use of a statistical data classification that has not been reviewed and approved by OMB;
that includes a pledge of confidentiality that is not supported by authority established in statute or regulation, that is not supported by disclosure and data security policies that are consistent with the pledge, or which unnecessarily impedes sharing of data with other agencies for compatible confidential use; or
requiring respondents to submit proprietary trade secret, or other confidential information unless the agency can demonstrate that it has instituted procedures to protect the information's confidentiality to the extent permitted by law.
There are no special circumstances that require the collection of information to be inconsistent with 5 CFR 1320.6.
8. Consultation With Persons Outside The Agency:
In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act, FSIS published a 60-day notice in the Federal Register (84 FR 52060; October 1, 2019). FSIS received no relevant or substantive comments. The Agency also consulted with four outside persons regarding the information collection: Cindy Klug (608-220-3054); Andrea Grondahl (701-328-4762); David Bough (317-694-3391); and Matt Flenner (614-601-8134), to request input on the FSIS burden estimates. The individuals agreed that the FSIS burden estimate for the information collection requirements related to interstate shipment of meat and poultry products is accurate.
Payment Or Gifts To Respondents:
Respondents do not receive gifts or payments.
10. Confidentiality Provided To Respondents:
No assurances other than routine protection provided under the Freedom of Information Act have been provided to respondents.
11. Questions Of A Sensitive Nature:
The applicants are not asked to furnish any information of a sensitive nature.
12. Estimate Of Burden:
The total estimated burden for this information collection is 733 burden hours. The burden estimates are broken down into two categories described in the pages that follow.
Request to Establish Program 200
Evaluation of Qualification for Program 168
Recordkeeping Adjustments 240
SEC Recordkeeping Review 125
Total 733 hours
Request to Establish Program
FSIS estimates that 5 States would take an average of 40 hours to prepare a request to establish a cooperative program: interstate shipment of meat and poultry products for a total of 5 responses and 200 hours.
REQUEST TO ESTABLISH PROGRAM
Type of Respondent |
No. of Respon-dents |
No. of Responses per Respondent |
Total Annual Responses |
Time for Response in Hours |
Total Annual Time in Hours |
States |
5 |
1 |
5 |
40 |
200 |
Evaluation to Qualify for Program
FSIS estimates that 7 states would conduct 1 evaluation of plants for approximately 24 hours a time for a total of 7 responses and 168 hours.
EVALUATION OF ESTABLISHMENTS
Type of Respondent |
No. of Respon-dents |
No. of Responses per Respondent |
Total Annual Responses |
Time for Response in Hours |
Total Annual Time in Hours |
States |
7 |
1 |
7 |
24 |
168 |
Recordkeeping Adjustments
FSIS estimates that 15 establishments would 1 time adjust their records to meet FSIS requirements for approximately 16 hours a time for a total of 15 responses and 240 hours.
RECORDKEEPING ADJUSTMENTS
Type of Establish- Ment |
No. of Respon-dents |
No. of Responses per Respondent |
Total Annual Responses |
Time for Response in Hours |
Total Annual Time in Hours |
Establish-ments |
15 |
1 |
15 |
16 |
240 |
FSIS estimates that 15 establishments would 1 time file their adjusted records for approximately 5 minutes a time for a total of 15 responses and 1.25 hours.
RECORDKEEPING ADJUSTMENTS FILING
Type of Establish- Ment |
No. of Respon-dents |
No. of Responses per Respondent |
Total Annual Responses |
Time for Response in Mins. |
Total Annual Time in Hours |
Establish-ments |
15 |
1 |
15 |
5 |
1.25 |
SEC Recordkeeping Reviews
FSIS estimates that 15 establishments would 1 time initially show their records to the SEC for approximately 15 minutes a time for a total of 15 responses and 3.75 hours.
INITIAL SEC VISIT FOR RECORDKEEPING REVIEW
Type of Establish- Ment |
No. of Respon-dents |
No. of Responses per Respondent |
Total Annual Responses |
Time for Response in Mins. |
Total Annual Time in Hours |
Establish-ments |
15 |
1 |
15 |
15 |
3.75 |
FSIS estimates that 60 establishments would spend 10 minutes showing their records to the SEC on a monthly basis for a total of 720 responses and 120 hours.
SEC RECORDKEEPING REVIEWS
Type of Establish- Ment |
No. of Respon-dents |
No. of Responses per Respondent |
Total Annual Responses |
Time for Response in Mins. |
Total Annual Time in Hours |
Establish-ments |
60 |
12 |
720 |
10 |
120 |
The cost to the respondents is estimated at $33,242 annually The Agency estimates that it will cost respondents $45.35 an hour, including fringe benefits, in fulfilling these paperwork and recordkeeping requirements. Respondents will spend an annual total of 733 hours and $33,242. The hourly rate for the respondents was attained from the Department of Labor Bureau of Labor and Statistics wage data, May, 2018.
13. Capital, Start-up Cost, And Subsequent Maintenance
There are no capital or start-up costs related to this information collection activity.
14. Annual Cost To The Federal Government:
The cost to the Federal Government for these information collection requirements is $4,535 annually. FSIS estimates that it will cost the Federal Government $45.35 an hour, including fringe benefits for Agency personnel time.
15. Reasons For Changes In Burden:
FSIS has reduced the estimated burden in this information collection by 1,272 hours and 53 responses due to a reduction in the number of participating States.
16. Tabulation, Analyses And Publication Plans:
There are no plans to publish the data for statistical use.
17. OMB Approval Number Display:
The OMB approval number will appear on required FSIS forms.
18. Exceptions To The Certification:
There are no exceptions to the certification. This information collection accords with the certification in item 19 of the OMB 83-I.
Page
| File Type | application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.wordprocessingml.document |
| Author | Lee Puricelli |
| File Modified | 0000-00-00 |
| File Created | 2021-01-14 |