[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 105 (Friday, June 1, 2007)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 30468-30470]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-10641]
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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service
9 CFR Part 94
[Docket No. APHIS-2006-0104]
Classical Swine Fever Status of the Mexican State of Nayarit
AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, USDA.
ACTION: Final rule.
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SUMMARY: We are amending the regulations for importing animals and
animal products by adding the Mexican State of Nayarit to the list of
regions considered free of classical swine fever (CSF). We are also
adding Nayarit to the list of CSF-free regions whose exports of live
swine, pork, and pork products to the United States must meet certain
certification requirements to ensure their freedom from CSF. These
actions relieve restrictions on the importation into the United States
of pork, pork products, live swine, and swine semen from Nayarit while
continuing to protect against the introduction of this disease into the
United States.
DATES: Effective Date: June 18, 2007.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. Chip Wells, Senior Staff
Veterinarian, Regionalization Evaluation Services-Import, National
Center for Import and Export, VS, APHIS, 4700 River Road Unit 38,
Riverdale, MD 20737-1231; (301) 734-4356.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
On January 31, 2007, we published in the Federal Register (72 FR
4463-4467, Docket No. APHIS-2006-0104) a proposal \1\ to amend the
regulations for importing animals and animal products in 9 CFR part 94
by adding the Mexican State of Nayarit to the list of regions
considered free of classical swine fever (CSF) in Sec. 94.25, and
adding Nayarit to the list of CSF-free regions in Sec. Sec. 94.9 and
94.10 whose exports of live swine, pork, and pork products to the
United States must meet certain certification requirements to ensure
their freedom from CSF.
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\1\ To view the proposed rule, go to http://
www.regulations.gov, click on the ``Advanced Search'' tab, and
select ``Docket Search.'' In the Docket ID field, enter APHIS-2006-
0104, then click ``Submit.'' Clicking on the Docket ID link in the
search results page will produce a list of all documents in the
docket.
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On February 22, 2007, we published a document in the Federal
Register (72 FR 7934, Docket No. APHIS-2006-0104) correcting two
instances in the preamble of our proposed rule where we erroneously
mentioned adding Nayarit to a list of CSF-affected regions, which we
should have referred to as a list of CSF-free regions.
We solicited comments concerning our proposal for 60 days ending
April 2, 2007. We did not receive any comments. Therefore, for the
reasons given in the proposed rule, we are adopting the proposed rule
as a final rule, without change.
Effective Date
This is a substantive rule that relieves restrictions and, pursuant
to the provisions of 5 U.S.C. 553, may be made effective less than 30
days after publication in the Federal Register. This rule adds Nayarit
to the lists of regions considered free of CSF and allows pork, pork
products, live swine,\2\ and swine semen to be imported into the United
States from Nayarit, subject to certain conditions. We have determined
that approximately 2 weeks are needed to ensure that Animal and Plant
Health Inspection Service (APHIS) and Department of Homeland Security,
Bureau of Customs and Border Protection, personnel at ports of entry
receive official notice of this change in the regulations. Therefore,
the Administrator of the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service has
determined that this rule should be effective 15 days after publication
in the Federal Register.
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\2\ APHIS considers all of Mexico to be affected by blue-eye
disease of pigs, a disease which is not known to exist in the United
States. APHIS has not evaluated Mexico, including the State of
Nayarit, for blue-eye disease. As a result, APHIS denies permits for
the importation of live swine and swine semen from all of Mexico,
including Nayarit (9 CFR 93.504(a)(3)). CSF is the disease hazard
evaluated in the risk analysis, which does not address blue-eye
disease.
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Executive Order 12866 and Regulatory Flexibility Act
This rule has been reviewed under Executive Order 12866. For this
action, the Office of Management and Budget has waived its review under
Executive Order 12866.
This rule amends the regulations for importing animals and animal
products by adding the Mexican State of Nayarit to the list of regions
considered free of CSF. We are taking this action at the
[[Page 30469]]
request of the Mexican Government and the State of Nayarit and after
conducting a risk evaluation that indicates that Nayarit is free of
this disease. We are also adding Nayarit to a list of CSF-free regions
whose exports of live swine, pork, and pork products to the United
States must meet certain certification requirements to ensure their
freedom from CSF. These actions relieve certain CSF-related
restrictions on the importation into the United States of pork, pork
products, live swine, and swine semen from Nayarit while continuing to
protect against the introduction of this disease into the United
States.
This rule is likely to have a minimal effect on U.S. live swine
markets, both in the short term and in the medium term. The hog
inventory of Nayarit amounted to about four-tenths of 1 percent of U.S.
hog and pig inventory in 2004.\3\ In 2004, there were 34 commercial
swine farms in Nayarit with a population of 30,634 hogs and pigs.
Another 18,650 hogs and pigs were reared in backyards, intended for
consumption by the owners (table 1). Nayarit has never exported swine
to the United States. This State--as is the case with Mexico as a
whole--is a net importer of swine (table 2).
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\3\ APHIS Risk Analysis on Importation of Classical Swine Fever
(CSF) Virus from Nayarit, Mexico; Regional Evaluation Services,
National Center for Import and Export, VS, APHIS, USDA; and USDA,
FAS, GAIN Report MX6010, Mexico, Livestock and Products,
Semiannual Report 2006.
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In 2004, the State of Nayarit produced around 4,000 metric tons of
pork, an amount equal to 0.35 percent of Mexico's production of pork
(table 3). Slaughter/processing plants handling swine in Nayarit are
not federally inspected (TIF) establishments. Only TIF plants are
allowed to ship pork and pork products abroad or to CSF-free States in
Mexico.
Table 1.--Live Hogs in Nayarit, 2000-2004, and Mexico as a Whole, 2004
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Hogs in Hogs in
Nayarit commercial backyard All hogs
farms operations
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2000............................. 10,809 30,006 40,815
2001............................. 36,799 29,587 66,386
2002............................. 34,279 30,890 65,169
2003............................. 36,665 25,010 61,675
2004............................. 30,634 18,650 49,284
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Mexico (2004).................... 26,208,000 (pig crop + beginning
stocks) in both commercial and
backyard operations.
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Source: SAGARPA; APHIS Risk Analysis on Importation of Classical Swine
Fever (CSF) Virus from Nayarit, Mexico; Regional Evaluation Services,
National Center for Import and Export, VS, APHIS, USDA; and
Regionalization Evaluation Services (http://www.aphis.usda.gov/vs/ncie/
reg-request.html), April 2006.
This rulemaking is also unlikely to have a significant effect on
U.S. pork and pork products markets because, as with live swine, the
United States is unlikely to import large amounts of these commodities
from Nayarit. The United States is a net exporter of pork, while
Mexico, as indicated below in tables 2 and 3, is a net importer. In
2004, Mexico exported 36,000 metric tons of pork, averaging only around
3.2 percent of total Mexican pork production.
Table 2.--U.S. and Mexican Trade With the World of Live Swine and Pork,
2004
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Net trade with
Commodity Exports Imports the world
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Live Swine (head):
Mexican swine............ 0 189,867 189,867 (net
imports).*
U.S. swine............... 174,010 8,505,518 8,331,508 (net
imports).
Pork (metric tons):
Mexican pork............. 36,476 86,102 49,626 (net
imports).
U.S. pork................ 747,357 469,442 277,916 (net
exports).
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* Net imports = Imports minus exports; Net exports = Exports minus
imports.
Source: USDA, FAS, UN Trade Statistics, 6-digit data.
Table 3.--Swine Production (Head) and Pork Production (Metric Tons) in United States and Mexico, 2004
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United States Mexico Nayarit, MX
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Swine Pork Swine Pork Swine Pork
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60,000,000.......................................... 9,302,759 15,350,000 1,150,000 49,000 4,080
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Source: USDA, FAS, GAIN Report MX6010, Mexico, Livestock and Products, Semiannual Report 2006.
Economic Impact on Small Entities
The Regulatory Flexibility Act requires that agencies consider the
economic impact of their rules on small entities. The domestic entities
most likely to be affected by declaring the Mexican State of Nayarit
free of CSF are pork producers.
According to the 2002 Agricultural Census, there were about 66,036
hog
[[Page 30470]]
and pig farms in the United States in that year, of which 93 percent
received $750,000 or less in annual revenues. Agricultural operations
with $750,000 or less in annual receipts are considered small entities,
according to the Small Business Administration size criteria.
We do not expect that U.S. hog producers, U.S. exporters of live
hogs, or U.S. exporters of pork and pork products, small or otherwise,
will be affected significantly by this rule. This is because, for the
reasons discussed above, the amount of live swine, pork, and other pork
products imported into the United States from the Mexican State of
Nayarit is likely to be small.
Under these circumstances, the Administrator of the Animal and
Plant Health Inspection Service has determined that this action will
not have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small
entities.
Executive Order 12988
This final rule has been reviewed under Executive Order 12988,
Civil Justice Reform. This rule: (1) Preempts all State and local laws
and regulations that are inconsistent with this rule; (2) has no
retroactive effect; and (3) does not require administrative proceedings
before parties may file suit in court challenging this rule.
National Environmental Policy Act
An environmental assessment and finding of no significant impact
have been prepared for this final rule. The environmental assessment
provides a basis for the conclusion that adding the Mexican State of
Nayarit to the list of regions considered free of CSF, and to the list
of CSF-free regions whose exports of live swine, pork, and pork
products to the United States must meet certain certification
requirements to ensure their freedom from CSF, will not have a
significant impact on the quality of the human environment. Based on
the finding of no significant impact, the Administrator of the Animal
and Plant Health Inspection Service has determined that an
environmental impact statement need not be prepared.
The environmental assessment and finding of no significant impact
were prepared in accordance with: (1) The National Environmental Policy
Act of 1969 (NEPA), as amended (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.), (2)
regulations of the Council on Environmental Quality for implementing
the procedural provisions of NEPA (40 CFR parts 1500-1508), (3) USDA
regulations implementing NEPA (7 CFR part 1b), and (4) APHIS' NEPA
Implementing Procedures (7 CFR part 372).
The environmental assessment and finding of no significant impact
may be viewed on the Regulations.gov Web site.\4\ Copies of the
environmental assessment and finding of no significant impact are also
available for public inspection at USDA, room 1141, South Building,
14th Street and Independence Avenue, SW., Washington, DC, between 8
a.m. and 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, except holidays. Persons
wishing to inspect copies are requested to call ahead on (202) 690-2817
to facilitate entry into the reading room. In addition, copies may be
obtained by writing to the individual listed under FOR FURTHER
INFORMATION CONTACT.
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\4\ Go to http://www.regulations.gov, click on the ``Advanced
Search'' tab and select ``Docket Search.'' In the Docket ID field,
enter APHIS-2006-0104, click ``Submit,'' then click on the Docket ID
link in the search results page. The environmental assessment and
finding of no significant impact will appear in the resulting list
of documents.
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Paperwork Reduction Act
This final rule contains no new information collection or
recordkeeping requirements under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995
(44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.).
List of Subjects in 9 CFR Part 94
Animal diseases, Imports, Livestock, Meat and meat products, Milk,
Poultry and poultry products, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements.
0
Accordingly, we are amending 9 CFR part 94 as follows:
PART 94--RINDERPEST, FOOT-AND-MOUTH DISEASE, FOWL PEST (FOWL
PLAGUE), EXOTIC NEWCASTLE DISEASE, AFRICAN SWINE FEVER, CLASSICAL
SWINE FEVER, AND BOVINE SPONGIFORM ENCEPHALOPATHY: PROHIBITED AND
RESTRICTED IMPORTATIONS
0
1. The authority citation for part 94 continues to read as follows:
Authority: 7 U.S.C. 450, 7701-7772, 7781-7786, and 8301-8317; 21
U.S.C. 136 and 136a; 31 U.S.C. 9701; 7 CFR 2.22, 2.80, and 371.4.
Sec. 94.9 [Amended]
0
2. In Sec. 94.9, paragraph (a) is amended by adding the word
``Nayarit,'' after the word ``Chihuahua,''.
Sec. 94.10 [Amended]
0
3. In Sec. 94.10, paragraph (a) is amended by adding the word
``Nayarit,'' after the word ``Chihuahua,''.
Sec. 94.25 [Amended]
0
4. In Sec. 94.25, paragraph (a) is amended by adding the word
``Nayarit,'' after the word ``Chihuahua,''.
Done in Washington, DC, this 25th day of May 2007.
Kevin Shea,
Acting Administrator, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
[FR Doc. E7-10641 Filed 5-31-07; 8:45 am]
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