[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 15 (Thursday, January 23, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 3775-3777]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-01229]
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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service
[Docket No. APHIS-2013-0105]
Notice of Availability of Evaluations of the Foot-and-Mouth
Disease and Rinderpest Status of a Region of Patagonia, Argentina
AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, USDA.
ACTION: Notice of availability.
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SUMMARY: We are advising the public that we have determined that a
region of Argentina, consisting of the areas of Patagonia South and
Patagonia North B, is free of foot-and-mouth disease. We are making
that determination, as well as an evaluation we have prepared in
connection with this action, available for review and comment. In
addition, we have prepared an evaluation assessing the rinderpest
status of South America, which includes Argentina, and have determined,
based on our evaluation, that rinderpest is not present in the entirety
of Argentina. We are also making that determination, as well as our
evaluation, available for review and comment.
DATES: We will consider all comments that we receive on or before March
24, 2014.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by either of the following methods:
Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to http://www.regulations.gov/#!documentDetail;D=APHIS-2013-0105-0001.
Postal Mail/Commercial Delivery: Send your comment to
Docket No.
[[Page 3776]]
APHIS-2013-0105, Regulatory Analysis and Development, PPD, APHIS,
Station 3A-03.8, 4700 River Road Unit 118, Riverdale, MD 20737-1238.
Supporting documents and any comments we receive on this docket may
be viewed at http://www.regulations.gov/#!docketDetail;D=APHIS-2013-
0105 or in our reading room, which is located in Room 1141 of the USDA
South Building, 14th Street and Independence Avenue SW., Washington,
DC. Normal reading room hours are 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through
Friday, except holidays. To be sure someone is there to help you,
please call (202) 799-7039 before coming.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. Silvia Kreindel, Senior Staff
Veterinarian, Regionalization Evaluation Services, National Import
Export Services, VS, APHIS, 4700 River Road Unit 38, Riverdale, MD
20737-1231; (301) 851-3308.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
The regulations in 9 CFR part 94 (referred to below as the
regulations) govern the importation of certain animals and animal
products into the United States to prevent the introduction of various
animal diseases, including rinderpest and foot-and-mouth disease (FMD).
The regulations prohibit or restrict the importation of live ruminants
and swine, and products from these animals, from regions where
rinderpest or FMD is considered to exist.
Within part 94, Sec. 94.1 contains requirements governing the
importation of ruminants and swine from regions where rinderpest or FMD
exists and the importation of the meat of any ruminants or swine from
regions where rinderpest or FMD exists to prevent the introduction of
either disease into the United States. We consider rinderpest and FMD
to exist in all regions except those listed in accordance with
paragraph (a)(2) of that section as free of rinderpest and FMD.
Section 94.11 of the regulations contains requirements governing
the importation of meat of any ruminants or swine from regions that
have been determined to be free of rinderpest and FMD, but that are
subject to certain restrictions because of their proximity to or
trading relationships with rinderpest- or FMD-affected regions. Such
regions are listed in accordance with paragraph (a)(2) of that section.
The regulations in 9 CFR part 92, Sec. 92.2, contain requirements
for requesting the recognition of the animal health status of a region
(as well as for the approval of the export of a particular type of
animal or animal product to the United States from a foreign region).
If, after review and evaluation of the information submitted in support
of the request, the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS)
believes the request can be safely granted, APHIS will make its
evaluation available for public comment through a notice published in
the Federal Register. Following the close of the comment period, APHIS
will review all comments received and will make a final determination
regarding the request that will be detailed in another notice published
in the Federal Register.
In 2003, the Government of Argentina submitted a request to
recognize the region located south of latitude 42[deg] south, known as
Patagonia South, as free of FMD. In 2008, Argentina expanded its
request to include the region immediately north of latitude 42[deg]
south, known as Patagonia North B. These two areas are referred to
below as the Patagonia Region of Argentina.
In response to this request, APHIS has conducted a qualitative risk
assessment to evaluate the FMD status of the Patagonia Region of
Argentina. Based on this evaluation, APHIS has found that FMD is not
present in the Patagonia Region and that the surveillance, prevention,
and control measures implemented by Argentina in the area under
consideration as a region free of FMD are sufficient to minimize the
likelihood of introducing FMD into the United States via imports of
FMD-susceptible species or products. However, because of its proximity
to or trading relationships with FMD-affected regions, APHIS has
determined that it is necessary to impose certain restrictions on the
importation of meat of any ruminants or swine from the Patagonia Region
of Argentina.
Rinderpest has never been established in South America. No South
American country has ever reported the disease except Brazil, which had
an outbreak in 1921 that was limited in scope and quickly eradicated.
Furthermore, the global distribution of rinderpest has diminished
significantly in recent years as a result of the Food and Agriculture
Organization Global Rinderpest Eradication Program. The last known
cases of rinderpest worldwide occurred in the southern part of the
``Somali pastoral ecosystem'' consisting of southern Somalia, eastern
Kenya, and southern Ethiopia. In May 2011, the World Organization for
Animal Health (OIE) announced its recognition of global rinderpest
freedom.
Based on the foregoing conclusions, APHIS has found that the
Patagonia Region of Argentina is free of rinderpest and FMD.
Therefore, in accordance with Sec. 92.2(e), we are announcing the
availability of our evaluation of the FMD status of the region under
consideration, as well as an evaluation assessing the rinderpest status
of South America, for public review and comment. We are also announcing
the availability of an environmental assessment (EA) entitled
``Recognition of Patagonia Region in Argentina as Free of Foot-and-
Mouth Disease,'' which has been 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 provision 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 evaluation
and the EA may be viewed on the Regulations.gov Web site or in our
reading room. (Instructions for accessing Regulations.gov and
information on the location and hours of the reading room are provided
under the heading ADDRESSES at the beginning of this notice.) The
evaluations, as well as relevant information used in the review
process, are available by contacting the person listed under FOR
FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT. Information submitted in support of
Argentina's original request for recognition may also be viewed on the
APHIS Web site at http://www.aphis.usda.gov/import_export/animals/reg_request.shtml by following the link for ``Previous regionalization
requests and supporting documentation.'' Information submitted in
support of the expanded request may be viewed on the Regulations.gov
Web site (see ADDRESSES above for instructions for accessing
Regulations.gov).
After reviewing any comments we receive, we will announce our
decision regarding the disease status of the region of Argentina under
consideration with respect to FMD and rinderpest and the import status
of susceptible animals and products of such animals in a subsequent
notice.
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.
[[Page 3777]]
Done in Washington, DC, this 16th day of January 2014.
Kevin Shea,
Administrator, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
[FR Doc. 2014-01229 Filed 1-21-14; 4:15 pm]
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