[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 10 (Tuesday, January 16, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 2131-2132]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-00576]
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Notices
Federal Register
________________________________________________________________________
This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER contains documents other than rules
or proposed rules that are applicable to the public. Notices of hearings
and investigations, committee meetings, agency decisions and rulings,
delegations of authority, filing of petitions and applications and agency
statements of organization and functions are examples of documents
appearing in this section.
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Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 10 / Tuesday, January 16, 2018 /
Notices
[[Page 2131]]
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service
[Docket No. APHIS-2016-0038]
Notice of Determination of the Classical Swine Fever Status of
Mexico
AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, USDA.
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: We are advising the public of our determination that Mexico is
free of classical swine fever (CSF). Based on our evaluation of the
animal health status of Mexico, which we made available to the public
for review and comment through a previous notice, the Administrator has
determined that CSF is not present in Mexico and that live swine, pork,
and pork products may safely be imported into the United States from
Mexico subject to conditions in the regulations.
DATES: This change in disease status will be recognized on January 16,
2018.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. Chip Wells, Senior Staff
Veterinarian, Regionalization Evaluation Services, National Import
Export Services, VS, APHIS, USDA, 4700 River Road, Unit 38, Riverdale,
MD 20737-1231; [email protected]; (301) 851-3317.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Animal and Plant Health Inspection
Service (APHIS) of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA)
regulates the importation of animals and animal products into the
United States to guard against the introduction of animal diseases not
currently present or prevalent in this country. The regulations in 9
CFR part 94 (referred to below as the regulations) prohibit or restrict
the importation of specified animals and animal products to prevent the
introduction into the United States of various animal diseases,
including classical swine fever (CSF), foot-and-mouth disease, swine
vesicular disease, and rinderpest. These are dangerous and communicable
diseases of ruminants and swine.
The regulations in Sec. 94.32 specify conditions for the
importation of live swine, pork, and pork products from certain regions
that APHIS currently recognizes as CSF-free but whose products may be
at risk of commingling with products from CSF-affected regions due to
common land borders or other factors. The conditions for such imports
include, among others, a requirement for certification by a full-time
salaried veterinary officer of the national government of the region of
export that the pork or pork products originated in a CSF-free region,
requirements that the pork or pork products be derived only from swine
that were born and raised in such a region and never lived in a CSF-
affected region, a prohibition against the comingling of the pork or
pork products with pork or pork products that have been in an affected
region, and a requirement that any processing of the pork or pork
products be done in a federally inspected processing plant in a CSF-
free region.
The regulations in 9 CFR part 92 contain requirements for
requesting the recognition of the animal health status of a region or
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
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 response to a series of requests submitted by the Government of
Mexico between 2007 and 2009, we conducted a qualitative risk
evaluation to evaluate the CSF status of Mexican States other than the
nine States already recognized at that time as CSF-free. The resulting
risk evaluation document, ``APHIS Evaluation of the CSF Status of a
Region in Mexico'' (referred to below as the ``2013 risk evaluation''),
did not support CSF-free recognition of all of Mexico; however, it did
support access to the U.S. domestic market under certain risk-
mitigating conditions. Based on the findings of the 2013 risk
evaluation, on July 29, 2014, we published in the Federal Register (79
FR 43974-43980, Docket No. APHIS-2013-0061) a proposal \1\ to amend the
regulations by recognizing a new APHIS-defined low-risk CSF region
consisting of all Mexican States except the nine CSF-free States and
the State of Chiapas, which we did not recognize as CSF-free.
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\1\ To view the 2013 risk evaluation, the proposed rule, and the
comments we received, go to http://www.regulations.gov/#!docketDetail;D=APHIS-2013-0061.
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In February 2015, Mexico received notice that the World
Organization for Animal Health (OIE) recognized the country as CSF-
free. Citing the OIE decision, the Government of Mexico then requested
that APHIS suspend its rulemaking and instead continue evaluating
Mexico for CSF-free status.
In response to this request, APHIS reopened its evaluation of the
CSF status of Mexico. This reevaluation incorporated findings from a
2015 APHIS site visit report, along with updated surveillance data and
other information submitted by Mexico. These findings are documented in
an April 2016 addendum to the 2013 risk evaluation.
On August 8, 2017, we published in the Federal Register (82 FR
37043-37044, Docket No. APHIS-2016-0038) a notice \2\ in which we
announced the availability for review and comment of the April 2016
addendum to the 2013 risk evaluation. In the addendum, we presented the
results of our updated evaluation of the risk of introducing CSF into
the United States via the importation of live swine, pork, and pork
products from Mexico.
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\2\ To view the notice, the addendum, and the comment we
received, go to http://www.regulations.gov/#!docketDetail;D=APHIS-
2016-0038.
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We solicited comments on the notice for 60 days ending on October
10, 2017. We received one comment by that date, from a domestic pork
industry group.
The commenter supported our conclusion, as stated in the addendum,
that the risk of introduction of CSF into the United States via the
importation of live swine, pork, and pork products from Mexico is very
low. Referencing a recommendation by our site visit team
[[Page 2132]]
that certain improvements should be made to slaughterhouse surveillance
in Mexico, however, the commenter urged APHIS to ensure that those
improvements were implemented before authorizing pork imports from
Mexico.
In the April 2016 risk evaluation addendum, we indicated that our
recommended improvements notwithstanding, the design of Mexico's active
surveillance system for CSF is adequate. We made no statement
suggesting that recognition of Mexico as CSF-free or trade with Mexico
would be contingent upon any action by the Mexican Government to
improve slaughter surveillance.
Based on the addendum and the reasons given in this document in
response to comments, we are recognizing Mexico as free of CSF and
adding it to the list of regions found on the APHIS website at http://www.aphis.usda.gov/import_export/animals/animal_disease_status.shtml
that are considered to be free of CSF but from which live swine, pork,
and pork products may only be imported into the United States under
certain conditions. Copies of the list are also available via postal
mail, fax, or email from the person listed under FOR FURTHER
INFORMATION CONTACT.
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.
Done in Washington, DC, on January 10, 2018.
Kevin Shea,
Administrator, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
[FR Doc. 2018-00576 Filed 1-12-18; 8:45 am]
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