USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) has rejected a National Chicken Council (NCC) petition seeking to implement a waiver system for maximum line speeds in poultry processing plants. NCC was seeking a system to exempt "young chicken establishments from the regulation that prescribes 140 birds per minute as the maximum line speed under the New Poultry Inspection System (NPIS)," according to FSIS.
In a statement, NCC President Mike Brown said the group is disappointed about the denial, but "encouraged that there will be a viable path forward in the near future for those plants operating under NPIS to petition the agency for increased line speeds, if they maintain a record of process control.