diff --git a/spring-batch-core/src/main/java/org/springframework/batch/core/domain/ChunkInterceptor.java b/spring-batch-core/src/main/java/org/springframework/batch/core/domain/ChunkInterceptor.java
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..534d08829
--- /dev/null
+++ b/spring-batch-core/src/main/java/org/springframework/batch/core/domain/ChunkInterceptor.java
@@ -0,0 +1,35 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright 2006-2008 the original author or authors.
+ *
+ * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+ * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *      http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+package org.springframework.batch.core.domain;
+
+/**
+ * @author Lucas Ward
+ *
+ */
+public interface ChunkInterceptor {
+
+	void beforeRead();
+	
+	void afterRead(Object item);
+	
+	void onReadError(Exception ex);
+	
+	void beforeWrite(Object item);
+
+	void afterWrite();
+	
+	void onWriterError(Exception ex, Object item);
+}
diff --git a/spring-batch-core/src/main/java/org/springframework/batch/core/domain/ItemSkipPolicy.java b/spring-batch-core/src/main/java/org/springframework/batch/core/domain/ItemSkipPolicy.java
index 9f8bb8dd4..e3dc7328e 100644
--- a/spring-batch-core/src/main/java/org/springframework/batch/core/domain/ItemSkipPolicy.java
+++ b/spring-batch-core/src/main/java/org/springframework/batch/core/domain/ItemSkipPolicy.java
@@ -33,4 +33,14 @@ public interface ItemSkipPolicy {
 	 * @throws IllegalArgumentException if the exception is null
 	 */
 	boolean shouldSkip(Exception exception, int skipCount);
+	
+	/**
+	 * Returns true or false, indicating whether or not an exception
+	 * should cause the step to fail.
+	 * 
+	 * @param t throwable encountered while reading
+	 * @return true if the step should continue processing, false otherwise
+	 * @throws IllegalArgumentException if the exception is null
+	 */
+	boolean shouldFail(Throwable t);
 }
diff --git a/spring-batch-core/src/main/java/org/springframework/batch/core/domain/StepInterceptor.java b/spring-batch-core/src/main/java/org/springframework/batch/core/domain/StepInterceptor.java
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..805fecc98
--- /dev/null
+++ b/spring-batch-core/src/main/java/org/springframework/batch/core/domain/StepInterceptor.java
@@ -0,0 +1,34 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright 2006-2008 the original author or authors.
+ *
+ * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+ * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *      http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+package org.springframework.batch.core.domain;
+
+import org.springframework.batch.item.ExecutionContext;
+import org.springframework.batch.repeat.ExitStatus;
+
+/**
+ * @author Lucas Ward
+ *
+ */
+public interface StepInterceptor {
+
+	void open(ExecutionContext executionContext);
+	
+	void beforeChunk();
+	
+	void afterChunk();
+	
+	ExitStatus close();
+}