These national standards are intended to serve as a guide for the establishment of thorough and complete apprenticeship programs to produce trained retail meatcutters to carry on the tradition of quality in the retail meatcutting industry. Covered in the individual sections are the following topics: definitions, the National Joint Apprenticeship Committee, local joint apprenticeship committees, equal employment in apprenticeship, term of apprenticeship, probationary periods, transfer of apprentices, apprenticeship agreements, ratio, wages, credit for previous experience, hours of work, related instruction, accident prevention, work experience, examination, instructors, certificates of completion, adjustment of differences, amendments to local joint programs, the relationship of apprenticeship standards to bargaining agreements, obligations of apprentices, and registration of programs. Various federal laws and regulations affecting the employment of apprentices are explained. Appended to the standards are a schedule of the work procedures of retail meatcutters and a discussion of recordkeeping systems for apprentice programs. (MN)