Constituent Update - September 19, 2025

Constituent Update - September 19, 2025

FSIS Supports Streamlined Meat and Poultry Rail Exports to Mexico

On September 18, 2025, FSIS acknowledged its support for a new arrangement to expedite the rail export of U.S. meat and poultry products to Mexican markets. Through this innovative partnership, inspection personnel from Mexico's National Service of Agri-Food, Health, Safety and Quality (SENASICA) will be inspecting at participating federally inspected establishments to reinspect and clear for export eligible U.S. meat and poultry shipments at the point of origin. This process will eliminate the need for routine border inspections by Mexican officials and allow for faster, more efficient delivery of American meat and poultry products.

Mexico remains the largest export destination for U.S. meat and poultry, with trade exceeding $5.5 billion in 2024.

This arrangement is the first of its kind in the U.S. meat and poultry sector. The program does not impose any new regulatory requirements on U.S. exporters and is voluntary for FSIS-inspected facilities.

Stakeholder Engagement

This past week, FSIS leadership participated in three key stakeholder events.

At the quarterly Partnership for Food Safety Education meeting on September 12, 2025, FSIS Administrator Dr. Justin Ransom joined representatives from government, industry, nonprofits, and academia to share updates and reinforce our commitment to consumer education. Dr. Ransom highlighted the agency's focus on training and career growth, building smarter systems, and using contemporary approaches to consumer outreach. He also emphasized the need to think differently about how we engage and reach consumers and maintain public trust. These quarterly meetings provide an essential forum for aligning priorities, exchanging ideas, and sustaining strong national coordination on food safety education.

FSIS Administrator Dr. Justin Ransom kicks off the quarterly Partnership for Food Safety Education meeting hosted at USDA Headquarters in Washington, D.C. Dr. Ransom is joined by two of FSIS' mascots, Sally Salmonella and Ernie E. coli-longtime reminders of why clear consumer guidance matters.

FSIS Deputy Administrator Dr. Denise Eblen spoke at the North American Food Safety and Quality Series on September 15, 2025, where she joined more than 200 industry leaders to discuss advancing food safety. Dr. Eblen's remarks highlighted the agency's data-driven approach to decision making and outlined FSIS' plan to bolster food safety through expanded microbiological testing, stronger state partnerships, and empowering inspectors to ensure accountability across the food system. "Science and data give us the tools, but it's how we apply them that matters most. By strengthening inspection and oversight, we're advancing food safety nationwide," said Dr. Eblen.

On September 17, 2025, Acting Deputy Under Secretary for Food Safety Trey Forsyth delivered keynote remarks to the technical and regulatory committee of the National Turkey Federation Leadership Conference. In his address, Mr. Forsyth outlined FSIS' food safety approach and emphasized that government and industry share the same bottom line: ensuring safe, trusted products for consumers.

Together, these engagements reflect our ongoing commitment to open dialogue with our stakeholders so that we can advance food safety through collaboration and continue to build public confidence in the nation's food supply.

FSIS Updates Import Datasets

Today, FSIS updated the Import Presented Refused and Import Refusal Reason datasets on the Import and Export Data page. The Import Presented Refused dataset includes lot-level information for import volume along with import refusal data at the lot-level. The Import Refusal Reason is provided as a secondary dataset, providing each refusal reason as its own row to facilitate analysis.

The Import Presented Refused and Import Refusal Reason datasets are updated monthly and posted the third Friday of each month, with data broken out by fiscal year (FY), starting with data from FY 2014 (starting on October 1, 2013) through the most recent FY. These datasets are released in an open, non-proprietary comma separated values (csv) format. Instructions on how to open csv files using Excel are available on the FSIS Sampling web page in the Comma Separated Values Guide section.

Available for Public Comment

FSIS seeks public comments on proposed rules and notices, which are viewable on the FSIS Federal Register & Rulemaking webpage. FSIS is currently seeking comments on the following:

• Until Oct. 20: Visual Post-Mortem Inspection in Swine Slaughter Establishments
• Until Nov. 14: Availability of Guideline for Applying for Food Safety and Inspection Service Inspection

Policy Update

FSIS notices and directives on public health and regulatory issues are available on the FSIS Policy webpage. The following policy update was recently issued:

FSIS Notice 28-25 - Availability of FSIS Guideline for Applying For USDA FSIS Inspection

Export Requirements Update

The Library of Export Requirements has been updated for products for the following:

• Taiwan
• European Union
• South Africa
• Korea
• Turkey
• Mexico
• North Macedonia
• Azerbaijan

Complete information can be found at the FSIS Import & Export Library.