Equine Slaughter FSIS has issued a grant of inspection to a horse slaughter establishment, Valley Meats Company, in Roswell, NM. FSIS expects two other applicants to be ready to receive grants of inspection for equine slaughter in the coming days. The Federal Meat Inspection Act (FMIA) requires Federal inspection of amenable species when slaughtered for human food and prepared for commerce. Horses, mules, and other equines are among the livestock species that are amenable under the FMIA. Beginning in fiscal year (FY) 2006, Congress prohibited the use of Federal funds to pay the salaries and expenses of personnel to perform ante-mortem inspection of equines intended to be slaughtered for human consumption (Section 794 of Pub. L. 109-97). Without ante-mortem inspection, no horse meat is eligible for the FSIS mark of inspection, and without the mark, no horse meat can move in commerce. Thus, the effect of this prohibition was to end the slaughter of equines in the United States. The prohibition continued from 2007 to 2011. However, Congress has not continued this prohibition and did not include it for the use of appropriated funds in the FY 2012 Agriculture Appropriations Act (see Pub. L. 112-55). Therefore, if an establishment meets and complies with all of the FSIS requirements for equine slaughter and processing, FSIS must grant Federal inspection to the establishment. fsis.usda.gov/horses/Const_Update_062813.pdf
Posted on: Sat, 29 Jun 2013 03:02:10 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015