[Federal Register Volume 59, Number 163 (Wednesday, August 24, 1994)]
[Unknown Section]
[Page 0]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 94-20639]
[[Page Unknown]]
[Federal Register: August 24, 1994]
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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service
9 CFR Part 92
[Docket No. 93-006-2]
Importation of Certain Cattle From Mexico; Identification
Requirements
AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, USDA.
ACTION: Proposed rule; withdrawal and reproposal.
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SUMMARY: We are proposing to amend the animal importation regulations
to require that certain spayed heifers imported into the United States
from Mexico be marked with a permanent, legible ``MX'' on the
right hip. We are also proposing to require that certain steers
imported into the United States from Mexico be marked with a permanent,
legible ``M'' on the right hip, rather than on the jaw, as is currently
required. These proposals replace a previously published proposed rule,
which we are withdrawing as part of this document, that would have
required certain spayed heifers and intact cattle to be branded with an
``M'' on the jaw with a hot iron. The proposed marking requirements are
necessary to ensure that all steers and spayed heifers imported into
the United States from Mexico, except those imported directly to
slaughter or in-bond for feeding and return to Mexico, are clearly
identifiable as being of Mexican origin. The proposed marking
requirements would facilitate the disease surveillance and traceback
activities conducted in the United States under the National
Cooperative State-Federal Bovine Tuberculosis Eradication Program.
DATES: Consideration will be given only to comments received on or
before October 24, 1994.
ADDRESSES: Please send an original and three copies of your comments to
Chief, Regulatory Analysis and Development, PPD, APHIS, USDA, room 804,
Federal Building, 6505 Belcrest Road, Hyattsville, MD 20782. Please
state that your comments refer to Docket No. 93-006-2. Comments
received may be inspected at USDA, room 1141, South Building, 14th
Street and Independence Avenue SW., Washington, DC, between 8 a.m. and
4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, except holidays. Persons wishing to
inspect comments are requested to call ahead on (202) 690-2817 to
facilitate entry into the comment reading room.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. Samuel Richeson, Senior Staff
Veterinarian, Import-Export Animals Staff, National Center for Import-
Export, Veterinary Services, APHIS, USDA, room 764, Federal Building,
6505 Belcrest Road, Hyattsville, MD 20782, (301) 436-8170.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
The regulations in 9 CFR part 92 prohibit or restrict the
importation of certain animals into the United States to prevent the
introduction of communicable diseases of livestock and poultry. Subpart
D of part 92 (Secs. 92.400 through 92.435), referred to below as the
regulations, pertains to the importation of ruminants. Sections 92.424
through 92.429 of the regulations contain specific provisions regarding
the importation of ruminants, including cattle, from Mexico.
One of the diseases addressed by the regulations is bovine
tuberculosis (referred to below as tuberculosis). Tuberculosis is a
serious communicable disease of cattle, bison, and other species,
including humans, caused by Mycobacterium bovis. Tuberculosis in
animals causes weight loss, general debilitation, and sometimes death.
Each year, approximately 1 million cattle are imported into the
United States from Mexico. The vast majority of those cattle--about 99
percent--are young steers; the remaining 1 percent consists of spayed
heifers and intact cattle (i.e., calves, bulls, and unspayed females).
The steers and spayed heifers are, with few exceptions, consigned to
pastures or feedlots for finish feeding prior to slaughter. Most intact
cattle are integrated into herds in the United States for breeding
purposes.
The period between 1982 and 1992 saw a significant increase in the
number of Mexican-origin cattle found at slaughter in the United States
to be infected with tuberculosis. In 1982, 78 samples submitted from
slaughtered Mexican-origin cattle showed evidence of tuberculosis; that
number rose to 613 in 1992. In 1982, 33 percent of the tuberculosis
investigations at slaughter involved Mexican origin cattle; in 1992,
that number rose to 81 percent.
That increase in the incidence of tuberculosis in Mexican-origin
cattle led the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) to
publish in the Federal Register on November 12, 1993 (58 FR 59963-
59965, Docket No. 93-006-1), a proposed rule to amend the regulations
to require that spayed heifers and intact cattle (i.e., calves, bulls,
and unspayed female cattle) imported into the United States from Mexico
be branded with an ``M'' on the jaw using a hot iron, which is the same
requirement that currently applies to most steers imported from Mexico.
The proposal was based on APHIS' belief that M-branding on the jaw,
which provides a distinct and permanent means of identifying an animal
as having originated in Mexico, should be required for spayed heifers
and intact cattle in order to facilitate the disease surveillance and
traceback activities conducted in the United States under the National
Cooperative State-Federal Bovine Tuberculosis Eradication Program.
We solicited comments concerning our proposal for a 60-day comment
period ending January 11, 1994. We received 29 comments by that date.
They were from a cattle industry association, private citizens, a
Federal veterinarian, humane groups, a farm bureau federation, State
departments of agriculture, and a veterinary medical association. Eight
of the commenters supported the proposed rule as a means of identifying
Mexican-origin spayed heifers and intact cattle. The remaining 21
commenters opposed the proposal on the grounds that face branding was
unnecessary and that alternative means of identifying cattle from
Mexico were available.
APHIS seriously considered all of the comments received. Based on
the comments of those who opposed the proposal, and due to increasing
public concern that branding on the jaw causes unnecessary distress to
cattle, we are withdrawing the November 12, 1993, proposed rule
referenced above and are replacing it with an alternative proposal. The
alternative proposal is explained below.
New Proposal
As stated above, the period between 1982 and 1992 saw a significant
increase in the number of Mexican-origin cattle found at slaughter in
the United States to be infected with tuberculosis. Although recent
collaborative efforts between U.S. and Mexican animal health
authorities and trade associations have brought about a reduction in
the number of tuberculosis infected Mexican-origin cattle found at
slaughter in the United States, APHIS continues to believe that the
monitoring of Mexican-origin cattle imported into the United States is
essential to the success of the National Cooperative State-Federal
Bovine Tuberculosis Eradication Program.
The regulations in Sec. 92.427(c)(2) currently require that all
steers imported into the United States from Mexico, except steers
imported for immediate slaughter under Sec. 92.429 or in-bond for
feeding and return to Mexico under Sec. 92.427(e), be hot-iron branded
on the right jaw with an ``M'' prior to arriving at the U.S. port of
entry. We are proposing to amend those regulations in three ways.
First, we are proposing to move the location of the ``M'' from the
right jaw to the right hip, high on the tailhead (over the fourth to
seventh coccygeal vertebrae). The tailhead is currently approved for
the placement of ``S'' brands under the brucellosis regulations in 9
CFR part 78. In that location, the ``M'' would still be predictably
located and readily visible to animal health personnel.
Second, we are proposing to remove the requirement that the ``M''
be applied with a hot iron. The size of the mark would remain the same
as in the current regulations (that is, not less than 2 inches nor more
than 3 inches high), but instead of requiring that the mark be applied
with a hot iron, we would simply require that the mark be distinct,
permanent, and legible. This means that freeze branding could be used
as an alternative to a hot-iron brand. Additionally, if another method
should be developed that meets the proposed criteria for distinctness,
permanence, and legibility, APHIS would allow the use of that method.
At present, however, freeze-branding and hot-iron branding are the only
methods of which APHIS is aware that are capable of fulfilling those
criteria.
We are proposing to allow the use of freeze branding, which is not
currently an option for Mexican-origin cattle, because other factors
would mitigate the primary limitations associated with freeze branding.
One limitation of freeze branding is that the brand takes a minimum
of 18 to 21 days to become visible. However, cattle offered for entry
into the United States from Mexico are most often M-branded at the time
they are tested for tuberculosis, which is no more than 60 days prior
to their arrival at the port of entry. An exporter, therefore, would be
able to freeze-brand the cattle far enough in advance of offering them
for entry into the United States for the freeze brand to become
visible.
Another limitation of freeze branding is that the brand does not
show up well on white hair. Because many cattle have white hair on
their jaws, APHIS believes that freeze branding would produce an
unacceptably high number of unreadable brands if used to brand cattle
on the jaw. However, we believe that freeze branding would be a viable
alternative for marking cattle on the right hip--the location proposed
in this document--because significantly fewer cattle have white hair at
that location.
The third proposed change would be to require that spayed heifers
also be marked as being of Mexican origin. The regulations do not
currently require that spayed heifers imported into the United States
from Mexico be branded, but spayed heifers are increasingly being
imported into the United States from Mexico with steers as feeder
cattle and are taken to feedlots or pastures for finish feeding prior
to slaughter. Such spayed heifers are commingled with steers, and are
moved and handled in the same manner as the steers. Because no
differentiation is made between steers and spayed heifers in such
situations, we believe that it is necessary for the spayed heifers,
like the steers, to be marked as being of Mexican origin.
Our proposed marking requirements for spayed heifers are
essentially the same as those proposed for steers, differing only in
that the mark would be an ``MX'' rather than an ``M.'' With the
``tail,'' the mark would serve not only to identify the animal as being
of Mexican origin, but would also indicate that the animal had been
spayed. Additionally, the different mark would provide a means of
distinguishing between spayed heifers and steers when the two are mixed
together in close quarters, such as in a chute.
One aspect of the withdrawn November 12, 1993, proposed rule
discussed above was a proposal to require the branding of intact cattle
(calves, bulls, and unspayed female cattle). In the withdrawn proposal,
we stated that we believed that intact cattle imported from Mexico
should be permanently identified as being of Mexican origin because the
amount of time such cattle spend in the United States--more than 2
years, on average--increased the chances that other means of
identification such as eartags could be lost or removed.
In preparing this document, however, we revisited that aspect of
the previous proposal and decided not to include any proposed marking
requirements for intact cattle from Mexico in this reproposal. Several
considerations led us to that decision.
Substantially fewer intact cattle are imported into the United
States from Mexico in an average year than steers and spayed heifers
(fewer than 1,000 intact cattle as opposed to nearly 1 million steers
and spayed heifers). The intact cattle are imported in smaller lots
than the usual 100-animal lots in which steers and spayed heifers are
imported, and the lots of intact cattle are kept segregated from the
lots of steers and spayed heifers during movement and holding. Also,
while Mexican-origin steers and spayed heifers may travel to several
feedlots or pastures during the time they are in the United States,
intact cattle typically are promptly sold and moved to the new owner's
ranch or farm. Further, the interstate movement of intact cattle is
regulated under the brucellosis regulations in 9 CFR part 78, while
steers and spayed heifers are exempt from those regulations. The
brucellosis regulations require, with certain limited exceptions, that
a permit or certificate be issued by APHIS prior to the movement of
cattle covered by the regulations, and the individual eartag or other
identification number of each animal moved must be included on the
certificate or permit. All these factors make it significantly easier
for APHIS to trace the movement of Mexican-origin intact cattle
following their entry into the United States and make it more likely
that the owners of Mexican-origin intact cattle will take steps to
ensure that each animal's eartag or other identification device is not
lost or removed. Therefore, we do not believe it is necessary to
include any proposed marking requirements for intact cattle from Mexico
in this reproposal.
We believe that the provisions of this proposed rule would
facilitate the disease surveillance and traceback activities that are
carried out under the National Cooperative State-Federal Bovine
Tuberculosis Eradication Program while substantively addressing the
concerns of those who commented on our prior proposal.
Executive Order 12866 and Regulatory Flexibility Act
This proposed rule has been reviewed under Executive Order 12866.
The 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.
Cattle imported from Mexico account for about 1 percent of the
total U.S. cattle population, which in 1991 stood at 99.4 million head.
The average price per head for cattle from Mexico in 1991 was $350,
with the total value of imported Mexican cattle exceeding $361 million
for the year. During 1991, approximately 1 million live cattle were
imported into the United States from Mexico.
We are proposing to amend the animal importation regulations to
require that certain spayed heifers imported into the United States
from Mexico be marked with a permanent, legible ``MX'' on the
right hip. We are also proposing to require that certain steers
imported into the United States from Mexico be marked with a permanent,
legible ``M'' on the right hip, rather than on the jaw, as is currently
required.
Three primary considerations lead APHIS to expect that the proposed
marking requirements would not have an economic impact on any U.S.
entities, large or small. First, all steers imported into the United
States from Mexico, except those steers imported for immediate
slaughter or in-bond for feeding and return to Mexico, are already
required to be identified with an M-brand. For these steers, which
represent 99 percent of the cattle imported into the United States from
Mexico, only the location of the ``M'' will change.
The second consideration follows from the first: That is, although
there are currently no provisions in the regulations that require
spayed heifers to be permanently identified as being of Mexican origin,
spayed heifers represent less than 1 percent of the cattle imported
into the United States from Mexico. Thus, requiring certain spayed
heifers to be marked with an ``MX'' prior to arriving at the U.S.
port of entry would have an insignificant effect on exporters or
importers of spayed heifers from Mexico.
The third consideration is that the cost of marking the cattle,
which is negligible, would be borne by the Mexican exporter of the
cattle.
Therefore, we expect this proposed rule to have no significant
economic impact on any large or small entities because its provisions
would not significantly increase or decrease their cost of doing
business.
Under these circumstances, the Administrator of the Animal and
Plant Health Inspection Service has determined that this action would
not have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small
entities.
Executive Order 12778
This proposed rule has been reviewed under Executive Order 12778,
Civil Justice Reform. If this proposed rule is adopted: (1) All State
and local laws and regulations that are inconsistent with this rule
will be preempted; (2) no retroactive effect will be given to this
rule; and (3) administrative proceedings will not be required before
parties may file suit in court challenging this rule.
Paperwork Reduction Act
This proposed rule 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 would be 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 would continue 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, paragraph (c)(2) would be revised as set forth
below.
Sec. 92.427 Cattle from Mexico.
* * * * *
(c) * * *
(2) Each steer imported into the United States from Mexico shall be
identified with a distinct, permanent, and legible ``M'' mark prior to
arrival at a port of entry, unless the steer is imported for slaughter
in accordance with Sec. 92.429 or in bond for temporary entry in
accordance with Sec. 92.427(e). Each spayed heifer imported into the
United States from Mexico shall be identified with a distinct,
permanent, and legible ``MX'' mark prior to arrival at a port of
entry, unless the spayed heifer is imported for slaughter in accordance
with Sec. 92.429 or in bond for temporary entry in accordance with
Sec. 92.427(e). The ``M'' or ``MX'' mark shall be not less than 2
inches nor more than 3 inches high, and shall be applied to each
animal's right hip, high on the tailhead (over the fourth to the
seventh coccygeal vertebrae).
* * * * *
Done in Washington, DC, this 17th day of August 1994.
Lonnie J. King,
Acting Administrator, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
[FR Doc. 94-20639 Filed 8-23-94; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-34-P