Meat, meat products, and other animal produce

Inspection of Yak and Other Bovidae, Cervidae, and Camelidae Species.. Language(s): English. Number of pages: 3

The Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) is proposing to amend 9 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) part 352 to define yak and include it among the list of "exotic animals" eligible for voluntary inspection. This amendment will officially allow yak products to be voluntarily inspected and to bear the USDA voluntary mark of inspection.

FSIS is also requesting comments on whether all farmed-raised species in the biological families Bovidae, Cervidae, and Camelidae, if not already subject to mandatory inspection, should be eligible for voluntary inspection, and whether any species in these families should be added to the list of amenable species requiring mandatory inspection. FSIS already requires mandatory inspection for several species of the Family Bovidae (cattle, sheep, and goats).

The Agency also provides voluntary inspection to several species of Bovidae not subject to mandatory inspection under the Federal Meat Inspection Act, as well as several species of Cervidae. These species include: reindeer, elk, deer, antelope, water buffalo, and bison.