Title 9

SECTION 590.940

590.940 Identification of egg products offered for entry; official import inspection marks and devices.

§ 590.940 Identification of egg products offered for entry; official import inspection marks and devices.

(a) Except for products offered for entry from Canada, egg products that upon reinspection are found to be acceptable for entry into the United States must be identified as “U.S. Inspected and Passed” product. The official inspection legend shown in paragraph (b) of this section will identify product only after completion of official import inspection and product acceptance.

(b) The official mark for identifying egg products offered for entry as “U.S. Inspected and Passed” must be in the following form, and any device approved by the Administrator for applying such mark must be an official device. 1

1 The number “I-38” is given as an example only. The plant number of the official plant, facility, or official import inspection establishment where the product was inspected must be shown on each stamp impression.

(c) Owners or operators of plants, other than official plants, who want to have import inspections made at their plants, must apply to the Administrator for approval of their establishments for such purpose. Application must be made on a form furnished by the Program, Food Safety and Inspection Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Washington, DC, and must include all information called for by that form.

(d) No brand manufacturer or other person will cast or otherwise make, without an official certificate issued by inspection program personnel, a brand or other marking device containing an official inspection legend, or simulation thereof, as shown in § 590.940(b).

(e) The inspection legend may be placed on containers of product before completion of the official import inspection if the containers are being inspected by inspection program personnel who report directly to a program supervisor, the product is not required to be held at the official import inspection establishment pending receipt of laboratory test results, and a written procedure for the controlled stamping, submitted by the official import inspection establishment and approved by the Food Safety and Inspection Service, is on file at the import inspection location where the inspection is to be performed.

(f)(1) The written procedure for the controlled release and identification of product should be in the form of a letter and must include the following:

(i) That stamping under this subpart is limited to those lots of product that can be inspected on the day that certificates for the product are examined;

(ii) That all products that have been pre-stamped will be stored in the facility where the import inspection will occur;

(iii) That inspection marks applied under this part will be removed from any lot of product subsequently refused entry on the day the product is rejected; and

(iv) That the establishment will maintain a daily stamping log containing the following information for each lot of product: The date of inspection, the country of origin, the foreign establishment number, the product name, the number of units, the shipping container marks and foreign inspection certificate number covering the product to be inspected. The daily log must be retained by the establishment in accordance with § 590.200.

(2) An establishment's controlled program privilege may be cancelled orally or in writing by the inspector who is supervising its enforcement whenever the inspector finds that the establishment has failed to comply with the provisions of this subpart or any conditions imposed pursuant thereto. If the cancellation is oral, the decision and the reasons for it must be confirmed in writing, as promptly as circumstances allow. Any person whose controlled pre-stamping program privilege has been cancelled may appeal the decision to the Administrator, in writing, within ten (10) days after receiving written notification of the cancellation. The appeal must state all of the facts and reasons upon which the person relies to show that the controlled program was wrongfully cancelled. The Administrator will grant or deny the appeal, in writing, stating the reasons for such decision, as promptly as circumstances allow. If there is a conflict as to any material fact, a hearing must be held to resolve such conflict. Rules of practice concerning such a hearing will be adopted by the Administrator. The cancellation of the controlled pre-stamping privilege will be in effect until there is a final determination of the preceding.