[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 165 (Wednesday, August 26, 1998)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 45444-45445]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-22889]
=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
50 CFR Part 14
RIN 1018-AD98
Humane and Healthful Transport of Wild Mammals, Birds, Reptiles
and Amphibians to the United States
AGENCY: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.
ACTION: Proposed rule; withdrawal.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: The Fish and Wildlife Service withdraws the June 6, 1997
proposed rule to amend 50 CFR part 14, subpart J, pertaining to the
establishment of standards for the humane and healthful transport of
live reptiles and amphibians to the United States. We promulgated this
proposed rule under the authority of the Lacey Act, as amended, enacted
on November 16, 1981. This action is being taken in part to allow for
the completion of the current revision process of the Live Animals
Regulations (LAR) of the International Air Transport Association
(IATA).
This decision was made to allow us to explore all possible
opportunities to align United States humane and healthful transport
regulations with the IATA LAR standards, which have generally been
adopted by the international community, including the Convention on
International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora
(CITES) and the European Community (EC), as their required humane
transport standards.
ADDRESSES: Director, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, c/o Office of
Management Authority, either by mail 4401 N. Fairfax Drive, Room 700,
Arlington, VA 22203, or by fax (703) 358-2298, or by e-mail to
R9OMA__CITES @mail.fws.gov.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Bruce Weissgold, Office of
Management Authority, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, telephone (703)
358-1917, fax (703) 358-2298, or e-mail Bruce__W[email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In the proposed rule of June 6, 1997 (62 FR
31044), we recognized three justifications for amending 50 CFR Part 14,
subpart J. First, the Lacey Act Amendments of 1981 (U.S.C. 42(c))
prohibit the transportation of all classes of species into the United
States under inhumane or unhealthful conditions, and require that the
United States Government promulgate regulations governing the
transportation of wildlife. We established rules for the humane and
healthful transport of wild mammals and birds to the United States on
June 17, 1992 (57 FR 27094) in 50 CFR Part 14 subpart J.
Therefore, we proposed to extend 50 CFR Part 14, subpart J to
include rules for the transport of reptiles and amphibians in order to
more fully comply with the Lacey Act, which requires the humane
transport of all animals and the promulgation of necessary regulations.
Furthermore, many reptiles and amphibians are species included in the
Appendices of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered
Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). CITES requires that all
species listed on the CITES Appendices be packed and shipped in
accordance with the IATA LAR.
Our second justification for the proposed amendment to the rule is
the need to protect the well-being of reptiles and amphibians during
transport. The proposed amendment to 50 CFR Part 14, subpart J
responded to this problem by providing the Division of Law Enforcement
with the authority to cite shippers for failure to comply with specific
regulatory requirements even where, by chance, high mortality has not
resulted. This additional authority would help us ensure increased
compliance with humane and healthful shipping standards, and thus
reduce mortality and injury for transported reptiles and amphibians.
Finally, the proposed amendments to 50 CFR Part 14 subpart J would
enable us to process the high and increasing volume of reptiles and
amphibians entering the United States, and provide a mechanism for
adequate data capture and recording or inhumane and unhealthful
transport conditions. Specifically, the proposed regulations would
equip us with rules that address the particular biological requirements
of reptiles and amphibians, and enable us to respond better to the
problems associated with transporting these species, and to record
instances of mortality of animals in transit and/or substandard
shipping conditions.
IATA intends to convene a meeting of its Live Animals and
Perishables Board (LAPB) in Montreal, Canada, in October 1998. One
component of this meeting would be the introduction, consideration, and
debate of amendments to its LAR for reptiles and amphibians. We would
like to reevaluate our rule-making effort following the outcome of the
IATA revision process, which may include modifications to the packing
standards associated with the IATA LAR Container Requirements,
specifically regulating the shipping of live reptiles and amphibians.
After proposing amendments to 50 CFR part 14, subpart J, we
received a large number of comments from the general public, both in
writing, and verbally at public meetings in New York City (January 17,
1998) and Los Angeles (January 27, 1998). Substantial information was
received during the comment periods to warrant changes to our proposed
rule. The comments that we received covered a broad array of positions,
including biological, technical, legal, and animal welfare issues
associated with the proposed rule. Some commenters considered our
proposals harmful to live reptiles and amphibians in commerce by being
[[Page 45445]]
overly regulatory and not based on the biological requirements of the
animals. Other commenters indicated that we had favored the commercial
reptile and amphibian industry in our proposal and had not proposed
sufficiently stringent standards to ensure humane and healthful
transport conditions for these animals. We are continuing to evaluate
the comments we received to determine their applicability to our
rulemaking process, and whether they could apply to our anticipated
discussion with IATA on amending their regulations. Once the IATA
revision process is complete, we will determine whether it is
applicable to our rulemaking efforts in this area and whether another
proposed rule is warranted.
Author: The author of this notice is Bruce Weissgold (see For
Further Information Contact section).
Authority: The authority for this action is the Lacey Act, as
amended (18 U.S.C. 42(c)).
Dated: August 20, 1998.
Donald Barry,
Assistant Secretary, Fish and Wildlife and Parks.
[FR Doc. 98-22889 Filed 8-21-98; 3:19 pm]
BILLING CODE 4310-55-P