A District Manager issues a suspension to an establishment, but subsequently lifts the suspension temporarily to allow the establishment an opportunity to implement proposed corrective actions. This is referred to as:

• A. Deferral
• B. Abeyance
• C. Notice of Intended Enforcement
• D. Withdrawal

Answer: (B)

Abeyance is a temporary pause in enforcement that gives an establishment time to complete corrective actions before any further penalties are imposed. In this scenario, lifting the suspension temporarily to allow the establishment to implement proposed actions fits abeyance because the enforcement action isn’t permanently withdrawn and isn’t merely being postponed to a later date. It’s a deliberate pause to let corrective steps occur, with the understanding that enforcement can resume if those actions aren’t satisfactory. It isn’t a deferral, which postpones the action itself without necessarily lifting an ongoing suspension; it isn’t a Notice of Intended Enforcement, which signals upcoming enforcement actions, and it isn’t withdrawal, which would remove enforcement entirely.