[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 211 (Wednesday, November 1, 1995)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 55440-55443]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-27009]



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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service

9 CFR Part 94

[Docket No. 95-050-2]


Uruguay; Change in Disease Status

AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, USDA.

ACTION: Final rule.

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[[Page 55441]]


SUMMARY: We are amending the regulations to declare Uruguay free of 
rinderpest and foot-and-mouth disease. As part of this action, we are 
adding Uruguay to the list of countries that, although declared free of 
rinderpest and foot-and-mouth disease, are subject to restrictions on 
meat and other animal products offered for importation into the United 
States. Declaring Uruguay free of rinderpest and foot-and-mouth disease 
is appropriate because the last outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease in 
Uruguay occurred in 1990, there have been no vaccinations for foot-and-
mouth disease in Uruguay since June 1994, and rinderpest has never 
existed in Uruguay. This rule will remove the prohibition on the 
importation into the United States, from Uruguay, of ruminants and 
fresh, chilled, and frozen meat of ruminants, although those 
importations would be subject to certain restrictions. This rule will 
also relieve certain prohibitions and restrictions on the importation, 
from Uruguay, of milk and milk products of ruminants.

EFFECTIVE DATE: November 16, 1995.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. John Blackwell, Senior Staff 
Microbiologist, Import/Export Products, National Center for Import and 
Export, VS, APHIS, 4700 River Road Unit 40, Riverdale, MD 20737-1231, 
(301) 734-5875.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    The regulations in 9 CFR 94 (referred to below as the regulations) 
govern the importation into the United States of specified animals and 
animal products in order to prevent the introduction into the United 
States of various animal diseases, including rinderpest and foot-and-
mouth disease (FMD). Rinderpest and FMD are dangerous and destructive 
communicable diseases of ruminants and swine.
    On August 4, 1995, we published in the Federal Register (60 FR 
39890-39893, Docket No. 95-050-1) a proposal to amend the regulations 
by adding Uruguay to list in Sec. 94.1(a)(2) of countries declared to 
be free of both rinderpest and FMD. In that document, we also proposed 
to add Uruguay to the list in Sec. 94.11(a) of countries that, although 
declared free of rinderpest and FMD, are subject to special 
restrictions on the importation of their meat and other animal products 
into the United States.
    We solicited comments concerning our proposal for 60 days ending 
October 3, 1995. We received 7 comments by that date. They were from 
industry associations, a beef importer, a meat-food processor, and 
representatives of the government of Uruguay. We carefully considered 
all of the comments we received. All comments were supportive of the 
proposed rule. However, one of the commenters requested additional 
information about some specific provisions of the proposed rule. That 
comment is discussed below.
    Comment: The proposed rule did not completely review Sec. 94.11 and 
the relevant elements of 9 CFR chapter 3 so we could efficiently review 
the existing regulations. The final rule must address the following key 
issues so we can fully understand the scope of efforts taken to reduce 
the risk of FMD:
    (1) Uruguay must maintain strict border control.
    (2) Uruguay must have a significant veterinary infrastructure 
including monitoring and surveillance for FMD. The Animal and Plant 
Health Inspection Service (APHIS) should have a presence in Uruguay to 
verify compliance efforts.
    (3) There should be no commingling of animals or animal products, 
nor opportunity for commingling.
    (4) APHIS should conduct ongoing assessments of the production 
capacity of Uruguay to provide early indication of efforts to 
circumvent restrictions regarding commingling of animals and animal 
products from other countries.
    (5) All meat must be completely deboned and of the proper pH prior 
to export to ensure that FMD is neither present nor viable.
    (6) Uruguayan slaughter and processing plants qualified to export 
to the United States must process meat and other animal products in 
accordance with all United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and 
Food and Drug Administration regulations.
    (7) APHIS must be prepared to act promptly if there is a foreign 
animal disease outbreak in the United States.
    Response: In 1994, a team of APHIS officials traveled to Uruguay to 
conduct an on-site evaluation of the country's animal health program 
with regard to the rinderpest and FMD situation in Uruguay. The 
evaluation consisted of a review of Uruguay's veterinary services, 
diagnostic procedures, vaccination practices, and administration of 
laws and regulations intended to prevent the introduction of rinderpest 
and FMD into Uruguay through the importation of animals, meat, or 
animal products. The APHIS officials conducting the on-site evaluation 
concluded that Uruguay is free of rinderpest and FMD and that the 
country's veterinary infrastructure is exemplary.
    The United States and Uruguay both belong to the Organization 
Internationale des Epizooties (OIE). Uruguay is required to report 
changes in animal health status to the OIE, and any such changes would 
be reported to the United States. In addition, the Food Safety and 
Inspection Service (FSIS), USDA, performs periodic inspections of the 
USDA-approved plants. APHIS can inquire of FSIS regarding the general 
condition of the plants and the health status of animals going to 
slaughter in the plants.
    Further, the APHIS officials who visited Uruguay in 1994 evaluated 
all border crossing points and determined that the country's veterinary 
infrastructure is sufficient to maintain them. The regional sanitary 
situation also reduces the risk of FMD spreading into Uruguay. 
Argentina has not detected a focus of FMD since April of 1994. The last 
cases of FMD in the Brazilian States of Santa Catalina and Rio Grande 
do Sul occurred in December of 1993. Paraguay has recently completed 
one full year of clinical absence of the disease in all of its 
territory. Rinderpest has never occurred in Argentina, Brazil, or 
Paraguay.
    Uruguay shares a common land border with countries that have not 
been declared free of FMD. Uruguay also supplements its national meat 
supply by importing fresh, chilled, and frozen meat of ruminants and 
swine from countries where rinderpest or FMD exists. Therefore, 
although Uruguay is free of rinderpest and FMD, Uruguay's meat and 
animal products are still subject to Sec. 94.11 and parts of chapter 3 
of 9 CFR. Section 94.11 requires that meat and other animal products 
imported into the United States from Uruguay are accompanied by a 
health certificate signed by a veterinary official of Uruguay 
confirming that they have not been commingled, directly or indirectly, 
with meat or animal products from a country where rinderpest or FMD 
exists. Section 94.11 and chapter 3 of 9 CFR require that meat and 
other animal products consigned to the United States by Uruguay must 
also be accompanied by a Department-approved foreign meat inspection 
certificate to ensure that they were derived from livestock which was 
inspected by a veterinarian before and after slaughter, were handled in 
a sanitary manner, and were otherwise in accordance with requirements 
equivalent to those in the Federal Meat Inspection Act and related 
regulations. In addition, chapter 3 requires that slaughtering and 
processing establishments in Uruguay must be certified in order to have 
their products imported into the United States. Certifications of 
establishments must be 

[[Page 55442]]
renewed annually. These required certifications verify that the meat 
and other animal products being imported into the United States from 
Uruguay meet the conditions of our regulations.
    The purpose of the requirements that all meat must be completely 
deboned and of the proper pH prior to export is to eliminate rinderpest 
and FMD disease organisms from the meat. These requirements do not 
apply to Uruguay, because the country has been declared free of 
rinderpest and FMD.
    APHIS has an emergency programs staff which has developed 
procedures for decontamination, control, and eradication of FMD should 
an outbreak occur in the United States.
    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.

Effective Date

    This is a substantive rule that relieves restrictions and, pursuant 
to the provisions of 5 U.S.C. 553, may be made effective less than 30 
days after publication in the Federal Register. This rule removes the 
prohibition on the importation, from Uruguay, of ruminants and fresh, 
chilled, and frozen meat of ruminants into the United States from 
Uruguay and relieves restrictions on the importation, from Uruguay, of 
milk and milk products of ruminants. We have determined that 
approximately 2 weeks are needed to ensure that Animal and Plant Health 
Inspection Service personnel at ports of entry receive official notice 
of this change in the regulations. Therefore, the Administrator of the 
Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service has determined that this 
rule should be made effective 15 days after publication in the Federal 
Register.

Executive Order 12866 and Regulatory Flexibility Act

    This rule has been reviewed under Executive Order 12866. For this 
action, the Office of Management and Budget has waived its review 
process required by Executive Order 12866.
    This final rule amends the regulations in part 94 by adding Uruguay 
to the list of countries declared free of rinderpest and FMD. This 
action will remove the prohibition on the importation into the United 
States, from Uruguay, of ruminants and fresh, chilled, and frozen meat 
of ruminants, although these imports will be subject to certain 
restrictions. This rule will also relieve restrictions on the 
importation, from Uruguay, of milk and milk products of ruminants. This 
action will not relieve restrictions on the importation of live swine 
and fresh, chilled, and frozen meat of swine from Uruguay, because 
Uruguay has not been declared free of hog cholera.
    The primary effects of this change in the regulations will be 
limited to bovine meat and prepared products. Swine and swine products 
are excluded because of restrictions due to hog cholera, and the United 
States has not imported any mutton, lamb, or goat meat from Uruguay in 
the last 2 years. This situation is not expected to change as a result 
of the rule.
    This rule is expected to affect United States imports of various 
animal products from Uruguay, including embryos, semen, breeding 
animals, and other products.
    The increase in beef imports resulting from the rule change is 
expected to have a minimal negative impact on producers, while 
benefitting consumers.
    Uruguayan beef production is made up mostly of grass-fed product. 
Grass-fed animals take longer to reach slaughter weights and are 
lighter at slaughter than grain-fed cattle. As a result, although 
Uruguayan cattle inventories (10.4 million at the end of 1994) are 
about 10 percent of United States cattle inventories (103.3 million on 
January 1, 1995), Uruguayan beef production runs at only 2 to 4 percent 
of United States production. Uruguay currently exports one third of its 
beef production. However, Uruguay is not expected to exceed the 20,000 
metric ton (MT) tariff-free quota limit for exports of beef into the 
United States established under the General Agreement on Tariffs and 
Trade (GATT).
    Twenty-two percent of United States beef consumption goes into 
``non table-cut'' applications, such as fast-food hamburgers and other 
prepared meats; 78 percent of United States beef consumption goes into 
consumer applications, such as steak and filet mignon, that require 
beef produced from grain-fed cattle. (Beef produced in the United 
States comes predominantly from grain-fed cattle and is used for 
higher-quality table-cuts.) Most of the beef exported from Uruguay is 
produced from grass-fed cattle and is suitable for lower-quality, non 
table-cut applications. However, select cuts of beef from grass-fed 
cattle may be of the same quality as cuts from grain-fed cattle. For 
the most part, beef exports from Uruguay will affect the market for non 
table-cut beef in the United States.
    Beef and dairy farms and feedlot operators will experience the 
greatest impact as a result of the rule. According to Small Business 
Administration (SBA) criteria, beef and dairy farms with annual sales 
of less than $0.5 million are considered small. In 1992, 801,940 
operations with beef cows were considered small. These small farms 
averaged sales of $20,976 in 1992, as opposed to average sales of $1.3 
million on large farms.
    Recent USDA data indicated that 152,500 dairy farms were considered 
small. In addition to the sale of dairy products, the sale of culled 
dairy cattle and young stock not retained for milking or breeding 
contributed to dairy farm income. In the worst case scenario, the rule 
change could produce a drop in net farm income of $15 on small beef 
farms and $83 on small dairy farms when imports were assumed to consist 
of beef from grass-fed cattle.
    With regards to the sale of dairy products, the Department does not 
anticipate a major increase in exports of milk and milk products from 
Uruguay into the United States as a result of this rule change. Only 
about 10 percent of Uruguay's cow herd is made up of dairy cows, and it 
is expected that the increase in beef cattle returns will not 
significantly alter this situation. In addition, all dairy products 
imported into the United States are restricted by quotas except for 
casein, caseinate, and other casein derivatives (hereafter referred to 
as casein), which are dry milk products. The United States does not 
produce casein, but does import more than half of the casein produced 
in the world. Uruguay has not exported casein to the United States in 
recent years. Declaring Uruguay free of FMD is expected to have a 
minimal effect on the amount of casein imported into the United States.
    According to the SBA, feedlots with sales of less than $1.5 million 
are considered small. Recent USDA data indicate that 30 percent of 
feedlots in the United States are considered small. In the worst case 
scenario, the rule change could produce a loss of $30 per year in gross 
sales for a small feedlot.
    The impact of the rule on cattle dealers/haulers and cattle 
slaughterers/primary processors will be minimal because the reduction 
in the number of cattle marketed and the number of truck hauls required 
to move them will be very small in relation to the current numbers.
    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. 

[[Page 55443]]


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 rule contains no information collection or recordkeeping 
requirements under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501 
et seq.).

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 as follows:

PART 94--RINDERPEST, FOOT-AND-MOUTH DISEASE, FOWL PEST (FOWL 
PLAGUE), VELOGENIC VISCEROTROPIC 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, 4332; 7 CFR 2.17, 2.51, and 371.2(d).


Sec. 94.1  [Amended]

    2. In Sec. 94.1, paragraph (a)(2) is amended by removing ``and 
Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands'' and adding ``Trust Territory 
of the Pacific Islands, and Uruguay'' in its place.


Sec. 94.11  [Amended]

    5. In Sec. 94.11, paragraph (a), the first sentence is amended by 
removing ``and Switzerland'' and adding ``Switzerland, and Uruguay'' in 
its place.

    Done in Washington, DC, this 26th day of October 1995.
Lonnie J. King,
Administrator, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
[FR Doc. 95-27009 Filed 10-31-95; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-34-P