Importation of Cooked Meat and Meat Products

We are amending the regulations governing the importation of certain animals, meat, and other animal products to allow meat cooked in plastic in processing establishments located in regions where rinderpest or foot-and-mouth disease exists to be further processed after cooking and before importation. Additionally, we are allowing the pink juice test to be used in determining whether ground meat cooked in such establishments has been adequately cooked. These amendments will provide foreign meat processing establishments with additional processing options while continuing to protect against the introduction of rinderpest and foot-and-mouth disease into the United States.