[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 154 (Monday, August 11, 1997)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 42899-42900]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-21107]
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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service
9 CFR Part 94
[Docket No. 94-106-7]
RIN 0579-AA71
Importation of Beef From Argentina; Technical Amendment
AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, USDA.
ACTION: Final rule; technical amendment.
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SUMMARY: In a final rule published in the Federal Register on June 26,
1997, that will be effective August 25, 1997, we amended the
regulations governing the importation of meat and meat products by
allowing, under certain conditions, the importation of fresh, chilled
or frozen, beef from Argentina. It was our intent that the amended
regulations also allow the importation of cured or cooked beef that
would otherwise not be allowed importation, provided it meets the same
requirements as for fresh, chilled or frozen, beef. In this amendment,
we are clarifying that intent. We are also correcting the Supplementary
Information of the final rule to include the date of publication and
Federal Register citation of a document we referred to.
DATES: This amendment is effective August 25, 1997.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. Gary Colgrove, Chief Staff
Veterinarian, National Center for Import and Export, VS, APHIS, 4700
River Road Unit 38, Riverdale, MD 20737-1231, (301) 734-8590.
[[Page 42900]]
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Conditions for Importation of Beef From Argentina
In a final rule published in the Federal Register on June 26, 1997,
that will be effective August 25, 1997 (62 FR 34385-34394, Docket No.
94-106-5), we amended the regulations regarding the importation of meat
and meat products in 9 CFR part 94 by adding a new Sec. 94.21 to allow,
under certain specified conditions, the importation of fresh, chilled
or frozen beef from Argentina. The amended regulations should also have
allowed the importation of cured or cooked beef from Argentina that
would not otherwise be allowed importation, provided it meets the same
requirements as for fresh, chilled or frozen beef.
Until the effective date of the final rule, the only beef allowed
to be imported into the United States from Argentina is beef that has
been cured or cooked in accordance with Sec. 94.4 of the regulations.
Because Argentina is not listed in Sec. 94.1 as a country in which
foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) and rinderpest are not known to exist, due
to continued vaccination for FMD, the requirements of Sec. 94.4 have
been considered necessary to assure that any FMD virus in the beef has
been destroyed. (Rinderpest has never been known to exist in
Argentina.) The curing requirements include a specific water-protein
ratio that must be met, and the cooking provisions include very
specific time/temperature requirements.
In our final rule, we added to the regulations a Sec. 94.21 to
allow the importation into the United States of fresh, chilled or
frozen, beef from Argentina under certain conditions. We explained in
the final rule that we consider the unrestricted importation of such
beef from Argentina to present a low risk of introducing FMD into this
country. This conclusion was based on the fact that the last outbreak
of FMD occurred in Argentina in 1994, on review by the Animal and Plant
Health Inspection Service (APHIS) of information submitted by the
government of Argentina, and on the results of a 1994 on-site APHIS
evaluation of Argentina's animal health program and an updated risk
assessment recently prepared by APHIS.
As we explained in our final rule, because vaccinations for FMD in
Argentina continue, and because Argentina supplements its national meat
supply by importing fresh, chilled, or frozen meat of ruminants and
swine from countries in which FMD is known to exist, it is necessary to
impose certain conditions on the importation of fresh, chilled, or
frozen beef from Argentina to ensure that the importation of such beef
poses a negligible risk of the introduction of FMD into the United
States. As set forth in the final rule, these conditions include
certification of the following: (1) That the beef originated in
Argentina; (2) that the beef came from bovines that were moved directly
from the premises of origin to the slaughterhouse without any contact
with other animals; (3) that the beef has not been in contact with beef
from regions of greater disease risk; (4) that the beef originated from
premises where FMD and rinderpest have not been present during the
lifetime of any bovines slaughtered for export; (5) that the beef
originated from premises on which bovines or swine have not been
vaccinated with modified or attenuated live viruses for FMD or where
bovines have not been vaccinated for rinderpest during the lifetime of
any of the bovines slaughtered for export; (6) that the beef comes from
carcasses that have been allowed to maturate at 40 to 50 deg.F (4 to
10 deg.C) for a minimum of 36 hours after slaughter and have reached a
maximum pH of 5.8 in the loin muscle at the end of the maturation
period; and (7) that all bone, blood clots, and lymphoid tissue have
been removed from the beef.
Although we specified in the final rule that the adherence to the
above conditions would reduce to a negligible level any risk that
fresh, chilled or frozen beef from Argentina would introduce FMD into
the United States, we did not intend to imply that beef that is not
fresh, chilled or frozen, could not also be imported into the United
States with negligible risk if the same conditions were met. It was our
intent that beef that has been cured or cooked other than in accordance
with the provisions of Sec. 94.4 could be imported if it meets the
import conditions for fresh, chilled or frozen, beef. Therefore, we are
adding language to Sec. 94.4, paragraphs (a) and (b), to clarify that
intent.
Correction of Supplementary Information
In the Supplementary Information section of the June 26, 1997,
final rule (Docket No. 94-106-5), we inadvertently neglected to include
the publication date and Federal Register citation of another final
rule we referred to (Docket No. 94-106-6, ``Importation of Pork from
Sonora, Mexico''). In FR Doc. 97-16748 (62 FR 34385-34394), under
Supplementary Information, at page 34385, third column, third line from
the bottom, the words: ``countries. On June 26, 1997, we'' should have
read: ``countries. On May 9, 1997, we'' and at page 34386, first
column, second and third line, the words: ``State of Sonora, Mexico (62
FR (INSERT FR CITE), Docket No. 94-106-6), based'' should have read:
``State of Sonora, Mexico (62 FR 25439-25443, Docket No. 94-106-6),
based'.
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.
Accordingly, 9 CFR part 94 is amended to read as follows:
PART 94--RINDERPEST, FOOT-AND-MOUTH DISEASE, FOWL PEST (FOWL
PLAGUE), EXOTIC NEWCASTLE DISEASE, AFRICAN SWINE FEVER, HOG
CHOLERA, AND BOVINE SPONGIFORM ENCEPHALOPATHY: PROHIBITED AND
RESTRICTED IMPORTATIONS
1. The authority citation for part 94 continues to read as follows:
Authority: 7 U.S.C. 147a, 150ee, 161, 162, and 450; 19 U.S.C.
1306; 21 U.S.C. 111, 114a, 134a, 134b, 134c, 134f, 136, and 136a; 31
U.S.C. 9701; 42 U.S.C. 4331 and 4332; 7 CFR 2.22, 2.80, and
371.2(d).
2. In Sec. 94.4, in both paragraphs (a) and (b), the introductory
text is revised to read as follows:
Sec. 94.4 Cured or cooked meat from countries where rinderpest or
foot-and-mouth disease exists.
(a) Except for cured beef from Argentina that meets the
requirements for the importation of fresh, chilled or frozen, beef as
provided in Sec. 94.21, the importation of cured meats derived from
ruminants or swine, originating in any country designated in Sec. 94.1,
is prohibited unless the following conditions have been fulfilled:
* * * * *
(b) Except for cooked beef from Argentina that meets the
requirements for the importation of fresh, chilled or frozen, beef as
provided in Sec. 94.21, the importation of cooked meats from ruminants
or swine originating in any country where rinderpest or foot-and-mouth
disease exists, as designated in Sec. 94.1, is prohibited, except as
provided in this section.
* * * * *
Done in Washington, DC, this 5th day of August 1997.
Terry L. Medley,
Administrator, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
[FR Doc. 97-21107 Filed 8-8-97; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-34-P