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Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) has affirmed, with changes, the interim final rule "Control of Listeria monocytogenes in Ready-to-Eat Meat and Poultry Products," which was published in the Federal Register on June 6, 2003, (68 FR 34208). The interim final rule requires establishments that produce certain ready-to-eat (RTE) meat and poultry products that are exposed to the processing environment after undergoing treatments lethal to Listeria monocytogenes (Lm) to have in their hazard analysis and critical control point (HACCP) plans, or in their sanitation standard operating procedures (Sanitation SOPs), or other prerequisite programs, controls that prevent product adulteration by Lm. Establishments must share with FSIS data and information relevant to their controls for Lm. Establishments also must furnish FSIS with information on the production volume of products affected by the regulations. Establishments may make claims on the labels of their RTE products regarding the processes they use to eliminate or reduce Lm, or suppress, or limit its growth in the products. FSIS made minor changes to the regulatory provisions in response to comments that the Agency received on the basis of experience in implementing the provisions, and because the way FSIS obtains establishment profile information electronically has changed. FSIS clarified in the regulations that establishments may not release into commerce product that has been in contact with Lm contaminated surfaces without reprocessing the product. In addition, FSIS is removing the requirement for establishments to report production volume and related information to FSIS because the Agency now routinely collects this information through its Public Health Information System (PHIS).