The GAO report stated that despite improvements, which include establishing a uniform method of conducting compliance inspections, training FDA and state inspectors who carry out inspections, and implementing new data-entry procedures that are designed to more reliably track feed ban inspection results, there are some feed manufacturers and transporters, on-farm mixers, and other feed industry businesses that are subject to the ban than the approximately 14,800 firms inspected to date.
GAO also reported that FDA’s feed ban inspection guidance does not include instructions to routinely sample cattle feed to test for potentially prohibited material as part of the compliance inspection.
Among GAO’s recommendations are that FDA develop procedures for finding additional firms subject to the feed ban and using tests to augment inspections. FDA responded that the study was thorough but disagreed on four of the nine GAO recommendations, including the augmented testing.
The full report is available on the Internet at www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-05-101.
Feed Ban Compliance Near Perfect
FDA’s Center for Veterinary Medicine (CVM) recently issued an update on feed ban enforcement activities, showing that compliance is near 100 percent.
Among renderers, 255 firms were inspected with 169 (66 percent) handling material prohibited from use in ruminant feed. Of those firms, only one (0.6 percent) was classified as “official action indicated (OAI),” warranting regulatory sanctions in order to address the establishment’s lack of compliance with the regulation. Six firms were classified as voluntary action indicated, which usually addresses minor recordkeeping lapses and conditions involving non-ruminant feeds.
A total of 15,249 firms were inspected, with 3,804 (25 percent) handling prohibited material and a compliance rate of 99.7 percent; 13 (0.3 percent) were classified as OAI.
The updated report is available on CVM’s Web site at www.fda.gov/cvm/index/updates/BSE0305.htm.
April 2005 Render