[Federal Register Volume 59, Number 92 (Friday, May 13, 1994)]
[Unknown Section]
[Page 0]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 94-11675]


  Federal Register / Vol. 59, No. 92 / Friday, May 13, 1994 /
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[[Page Unknown]]

[Federal Register: May 13, 1994]


                                                    VOL. 59, NO. 92

                                               Friday, May 13, 1994

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service

9 CFR Part 92

[Docket No. 93-086-2]

 

Cattle from Mexico

AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, USDA.

ACTION: Final rule.

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SUMMARY: We are prohibiting the importation of Holstein steers and 
Holstein spayed heifers from Mexico into the United States. The 
incidence of tuberculosis in these cattle is significantly higher than 
in other breeds. Since 1991, Holstein steers and Holstein spayed 
heifers traced back to Mexico have accounted for more than half of the 
tuberculosis-infected Mexican-origin cattle identified at slaughter in 
the United States. This action will prevent tuberculosis-exposed 
Holstein steers and Holstein spayed heifers from Mexico from spreading 
the disease to U.S. cattle.

EFFECTIVE DATE: June 13, 1994.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. Ronald A. Stenseng, Senior Staff 
Veterinarian, Cattle Diseases and Surveillance Staff, Veterinary 
Services, APHIS, USDA, room 729, Federal Building, 6505 Belcrest Road, 
Hyattsville, MD 20782, (301) 436-8715.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    The regulations in 9 CFR part 92 (referred to below as the 
regulations) prohibit or restrict the importation of certain animals, 
including cattle from Mexico, to prevent the introduction into the 
United States of bovine tuberculosis (referred to below as 
tuberculosis) and other communicable diseases of livestock.
    On December 22, 1993, we published in the Federal Register (58 FR 
67709-67710, Docket No. 93-086-1) a proposal to amend the regulations 
by prohibiting the importation of Holstein and Holstein cross-bred 
steers and Holstein and Holstein cross-bred spayed heifers from Mexico 
into the United States. We proposed this action because of the 
disproportionately high incidence of tuberculosis in these cattle.
    We solicited comments concerning our proposal for a 60-day comment 
period ending February 22, 1994. We received 7 comments by that date. 
They were from two dairies, a ranch, a veterinary medical association, 
a State animal health agency, a dairy industry association, and the 
Mexican government. Four commenters supported our proposal and one 
commenter suggested changes to the wording of the proposed amendment. 
That suggestion, plus the remarks of the two commenters who opposed the 
proposed rule, are discussed below.
    Comment: The wording of the proposed amendment should be changed so 
that the amendment prohibits not only Holsteins from Mexico, but any 
cattle or breeds of cattle normally held in close confinement, such as 
Holstein dairy cattle, from any country that does not have a 
tuberculosis control program equivalent to that of the United States, 
or that has a higher incidence of tuberculosis than the United States. 
By singling out Mexico, the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service 
(APHIS) is leaving the regulation open to being struck down as a 
``trade barrier'' under the North American Free Trade Agreement 
(NAFTA).
    Response: NAFTA Article 712 requires that all sanitary and 
phytosanitary measures be based on scientific principles and a risk 
assessment; our proposed rule was based on data gathered during APHIS' 
epidemiological investigation of the 1,090 cases of tuberculosis-
infected cattle detected at slaughter in the United States during the 
18-month period ending March 31, 1993. Consequently, we believe that 
our prohibition on the importation of certain cattle from Mexico is 
allowable under NAFTA. Conversely, the wide-ranging and ambiguously 
worded prohibition suggested by the commenter is not supported by 
available data and could not be justified under NAFTA. Therefore, we 
are making no changes in response to this comment.
    Comment: The proposal supports the importation of tuberculosis from 
Mexico by allowing infected and exposed cattle to be imported from 
Mexico. The U.S. Department of Agriculture's current regulations and 
the proposed rule defy rational thinking if one is truly concerned 
about protecting American cattle, wildlife, and humans from 
tuberculosis imported from Mexico.
    Response: It appears that the commenter is seeking an outright 
prohibition on the importation of all cattle from Mexico, although he 
did not offer any justification for such a ban. As we stated in the 
proposed rule, 713 tuberculosis-infected cattle were identified as 
being of Mexican origin during the 18-month period ending March 31, 
1993; of those infected cattle, 67 percent were identified as Holstein 
or Holstein cross-bred steers or Holstein or Holstein cross-bred spayed 
heifers. Based on that information, we proposed to ban the importation 
of what appears to be the largest single source of tuberculosis-
infected cattle among cattle imported into the United States from 
Mexico. Any actions of the type suggested by the commenter would have 
to be based on verifiable data and would have to be proposed as part of 
a separate rulemaking proceeding.
    Comment: In its Fiscal Year (FY) 1993 report on the State-Federal 
Bovine Tuberculosis Eradication Program, APHIS stated that 
epidemiologic investigations involving Mexican steers have shown that 
approximately 67 percent of the infected imports are of the Holstein 
breed. APHIS has not, however, produced data indicating a similarly 
high incidence of tuberculosis in Holstein cross-bred cattle. In the 
absence of data showing that the incidence of tuberculosis in Holstein 
cross-bred steers and spayed heifers is at an unacceptably high level, 
it would not be appropriate to impose further restrictions on their 
importation.
    Response: The breed identification information used by APHIS in 
preparing the FY 1993 report mentioned by the commenter placed Holstein 
and Holstein cross-bred cattle together in one category. Because such a 
high percentage of tuberculosis-infected Mexican cattle had been 
identified as Holstein or Holstein cross-bred cattle, our proposal 
included both categories. However, animal health officials of the 
Mexican Government have informed APHIS that Holstein cross-bred cattle 
are raised under different conditions than Holstein cattle, and thus 
are much less likely to have a comparable rate of tuberculosis 
infection. According to those animal health officials, Holstein cross-
bred cattle in Mexico are not raised in dairies, as are Holstein 
cattle, but are usually raised in pastures, often in states where no 
dairies are located. Given those significant environmental differences, 
it appears that Holstein cross-bred cattle present less of a risk than 
had been thought. Additionally, APHIS animal health personnel involved 
in conducting tracebacks of tuberculosis-infected cattle from Mexico 
have confirmed that Holstein cross-bred cattle do not appear to present 
the high level of risk presented by Holstein cattle. Therefore, in 
response to the comment, we have removed Holstein cross-bred steers and 
spayed heifers from this final rule.
    Comment: In the proposed rule, APHIS stated that the importation of 
Holstein and Holstein cross-bred breeding cattle would not be 
prohibited because the tuberculosis testing required of breeding cattle 
appears adequate to detect infection in breeding cattle. If the testing 
procedure is adequate to allow the importation of breeding cattle, it 
seems that the procedure should also be adequate to allow the 
importation of steers and spayed heifers.
    Response: The testing requirements for breeding cattle are 
different from the testing requirements for steers and spayed heifers. 
Under the regulations in Sec. 92.427(c), breeding cattle offered for 
entry into the United States must be accompanied by a certificate 
stating that they have been tuberculin tested within the last 3 to 12 
months. The breeding cattle are then detained at the port of entry 
under the supervision of the port veterinarian until tested for 
tuberculosis with negative results. The testing requirements for steers 
and spayed heifers, on the other hand, call for only one test, 
performed either in Mexico no more than 60 days prior to entry, or, if 
the importer so elects, at the port of entry. Given the large number of 
steers and spayed heifers imported into the United States--
approximately 1 million in an average year--we cannot, as the commenter 
suggested, apply the same testing requirements to breeding cattle and 
steers and spayed heifers; APHIS simply does not have the resources to 
test every steer and spayed heifer offered for entry from Mexico. 
Consequently, we are making no changes in response to the comment.
    Therefore, based on the rationale set forth in the proposed rule 
and in this document, we are adopting the provisions of the proposal as 
a final rule with the changes discussed in this document.

Executive Order 12866 and Regulatory Flexibility Act

    This rule has been reviewed under Executive Order 12866. This rule 
has been determined to be not significant for the purposes of Executive 
Order 12866 and, therefore, has not been reviewed by the Office of 
Management and Budget.
    Of the approximately 1 million Mexican cattle imported from Mexico 
into the United States during 1991, the most recent year for which 
complete data are available, we estimate that nearly 12 percent were 
Holstein steers (in the 1991 data, spayed heifers were counted as 
steers). During the same year, the U.S. cattle population totaled 99.4 
million head. Thus, imported Mexican Holstein steers accounted for less 
than 1 percent of the total U.S. bovine population.
    The total value of imported Mexican Holstein and Holstein cross-
bred steers was close to $45 million in 1991, less than one-tenth of 1 
percent of the 1991 value of the U.S. live cattle inventory, which was 
estimated at more than $64 billion.
    Approximately 48,000 cattle feedlots were operating in the United 
States during 1991. Of those, 620 feedlots concentrated in western 
States regularly handle Mexican cattle. Approximately 67 of the 
feedlots handling Mexican cattle have a capacity of 1,000 head or 
fewer; such lots can be considered small entities. They account for 
less than 1 percent of all domestic feedlots. We do not expect this 
action to significantly affect U.S. importers because they can replace 
the Holstein steers and Holstein spayed heifers that they may currently 
import from Mexico with other breeds of feeder cattle.
    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 12778

    This rule has been reviewed under Executive Order 12778, 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.

Paperwork Reduction Act

    This document contains no information collection or recordkeeping 
requirements under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1980 (44 U.S.C. 3501 
et seq.).

List of Subjects in 9 CFR Part 92

    Animal diseases, Imports, Livestock, Poultry and poultry products, 
Quarantine, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements.

    Accordingly, 9 CFR part 92 is amended as follows:

PART 92--IMPORTATION OF CERTAIN ANIMALS AND POULTRY AND CERTAIN 
ANIMAL AND POULTRY PRODUCTS; INSPECTION AND OTHER REQUIREMENTS FOR 
CERTAIN MEANS OF CONVEYANCE AND SHIPPING CONTAINERS THEREON

    1. The authority citation for part 92 continues to read as follows:

    Authority: 7 U.S.C. 1622; 19 U.S.C. 1306; 21 U.S.C. 102-105, 
111, 114a, 134a, 134b, 134c, 134d, 134f, 135, 136, and 136a; 31 
U.S.C. 9701; 7 CFR 2.17, 2.51, and 371.2(d).

    2. In Sec. 92.427, a new paragraph (c)(5) is added to read as 
follows:


Sec. 92.427  Cattle from Mexico

* * * * *
    (c) * * *
    (5) The importation of Holstein steers and Holstein spayed heifers 
from Mexico is prohibited.
* * * * *
    Done in Washington, DC, this 9th day of May 1994.
Lonnie J. King,
Acting Administrator, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
[FR Doc. 94-11675 Filed 5-12-94; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-34-P