The change by the Trump administration is intended to help egg producers recover from the losses they experienced during the pandemic.
Production of egg substitutes, which previously were regulated by the Food and Drug Administration, will now fall under USDA oversight.
Egg producers will be responsible for implementing plans for sanitation and food safety management systems known as Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points.
HACCP planning puts more responsibility on egg producers to ensure they are producing safe products, according to the FSIS Administrator.
USDA said the changes in egg products inspection methods are the first since Congress passed the Egg Products Inspection Act in 1970.
The Egg Products Inspection Regulations final rule aligns the egg products regulations to be consistent with current requirements in the meat and poultry products inspection regulations.
By removing prescriptive regulations, egg products plants will have the flexibility and the incentive to innovate new means to achieve enhanced food safety.
FSIS will be assuming regulatory authority over egg substitutes and freeze-dried egg products, which pose the same risk as egg products and will be inspected in the same manner, enhancing the existing food safety system.
The agency has also realigned the regulations governing the importation and inspection of foreign egg products more closely with the regulations governing the importation of foreign meat and poultry products.
Countries that have ongoing equivalence and most countries that have requested initial equivalence for egg products already have HACCP implemented for egg products for their domestic products.