The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service on Monday announced that it will hold two meetings to solicit public comment on a proposed rule transferring regulation of domestic and imported catfish from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to the USDA.
Published in February, the rule stems from a measure included in the 2008 Farm Bill charging the USDA with inspecting catfish under the agency’s Federal Meat Inspection Act; inspections would be mandatory.
The first meeting will be held at the USDA Jefferson Auditorium in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday, 24 May, from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m., in, 1400 Independence Avenue SW., Washington, DC 20250. The second meeting will be held at Mississippi State University’s the Delta Research and Extension Center in Stoneville, Mississippi, on Thursday, 26 May, from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m.
The public can also submit comments via the federal government’s eRulemaking Portal.
Last month, SeafoodSource hosted a webinar titled “Catfish Confusion,” in which a panel of industry experts addressed questions surrounding the proposed rule. The webinar featured attorneys Karl Nobert and Robert Hibbert of K&L Gates in Washington, D.C., and Matt Fass, president of Maritime Products International of Newport News, Va. Click here to listen to the webinar and download the presentation. You must be a SeafoodSource premium member to access the webinar and presentation.
