[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 113 (Thursday, June 12, 1997)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 32051-32053]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-15436]


 ========================================================================
 Proposed Rules
                                                 Federal Register
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
 This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER contains notices to the public of 
 the proposed issuance of rules and regulations. The purpose of these 
 notices is to give interested persons an opportunity to participate in 
 the rule making prior to the adoption of the final rules.
 
 ========================================================================
 

  Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 113 / Thursday, June 12, 1997 / 
Proposed Rules  

[[Page 32051]]


=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service

9 CFR Parts 94 and 96

[Docket No. 97-002-1]


Change in Disease Status of Italy, Except the Island of Sardinia, 
Because of African Swine Fever

AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, USDA.

ACTION: Proposed rule.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: We are proposing to declare Italy, with the exception of the 
island of Sardinia, free of African swine fever. This proposed action 
appears to be appropriate because there have been no confirmed 
outbreaks of African swine fever in Italy, except on the island 
Sardinia, since 1983. This proposed action would relieve certain 
restrictions on the importation into the United States of pork and pork 
products from all regions of Italy except Sardinia. However, because 
hog cholera and swine vesicular disease exist in Italy, and because 
Italy, as a member state of the European Union, has certain trade 
practices regarding live swine and pork and pork products that are less 
restrictive than are acceptable to the United States, the importation 
into the United States of live swine and pork and pork products from 
Italy would continue to be subject to certain restrictions.

DATES: Consideration will be given only to comments received on or 
before August 11, 1997.

ADDRESSES: Please send an original and three copies of your comments to 
Docket No. 97-002-1, Regulatory Analysis and Development, PPD, APHIS, 
suite 3C03, 4700 River Road Unit 118, Riverdale, MD 20737-1238. Please 
state that your comments refer to Docket No. 97-002-1. 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. John Cougill, Staff Veterinarian, 
Products Program, National Center for Import and Export, VS, APHIS, 
4700 River Road Unit 40, Riverdale, MD 20737-1231, (301) 734-8695; or 
e-mail: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    The regulations in 9 CFR part 94 (referred to below as the 
regulations) prohibit or restrict 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, foot-and-mouth disease (FMD), bovine spongiform 
encephalopathy, swine vesicular disease, hog cholera, and African swine 
fever (ASF). These are dangerous and destructive communicable diseases 
of ruminants and swine.
    Section 94.8 of the regulations states that ASF exists or is 
reasonably believed to exist in all the countries of Africa and in 
Brazil, Cuba, Haiti, Italy, Malta, and Portugal. Paragraph (a) of 
Sec. 94.8 provides that no pork or pork products may be imported into 
the United States from those countries (referred to below as ASF 
countries) unless the pork or pork product:
     Is fully cooked in accordance with Sec. 94.8(a)(1); or
     Is not otherwise prohibited importation into the United 
States and is consigned directly from the U.S. port of entry to an 
approved establishment for further processing, as provided by 
Sec. 94.8(a)(2); or
     Is derived from swine raised and slaughtered in a country 
where ASF is not known or believed to exist and is handled and 
processed in accordance with Sec. 94.8(a)(3).
    Also, Sec. 94.17 provides, in part, that dry-cured pork products 
may be imported into the United States from ASF countries if the dry-
cured pork products meet the conditions specified in that section.
    In addition to the restrictions on pork and pork products contained 
in the regulations in part 94, live domestic swine from ASF countries 
may not be imported into the United States because the regulations in 9 
CFR 92.505(a) require, among other things, that live domestic swine be 
accompanied by a certificate showing that the entire country of origin 
of the swine is free of ASF and other specified diseases. The 
importation of swine casings from ASF countries is likewise prohibited 
by 9 CFR 96.2(a) unless the swine casings originated in a country free 
of ASF and were processed in the ASF country at a facility that meets 
the criteria of Sec. 94.8(a)(3)(iv) of the regulations.
    The Government of Italy has requested that the U.S. Department of 
Agriculture recognize Italy, with the exception of the island of 
Sardinia, as free of ASF. We will consider declaring a country free of 
ASF if there have been no reported cases of the disease in that country 
for at least the previous 1-year period. The last case of ASF in Italy, 
outside of the island of Sardinia, occurred in 1983.
    The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) has reviewed 
the documentation submitted by the Government of Italy in support of 
its request, and a team of APHIS officials traveled to Italy in 
February 1997 to conduct an on-site evaluation of Italy's animal health 
program with regard to ASF. The evaluation consisted of a review of 
Italy's veterinary services, laboratory and diagnostic procedures, 
vaccination practices, and administration of laws and regulations 
intended to prevent the introduction of communicable animal diseases 
into Italy, and from Sardinia into the rest of Italy. (Details 
concerning the February 1997 on-site evaluation are available upon 
written request from the person listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION 
CONTACT.) After reviewing the documentation provided by Italy and the 
data gathered during the on-site visit by APHIS officials, we believe 
that Italy, with the exception of Sardinia, qualifies to be recognized 
as free of ASF.
    Therefore, we are proposing to amend Sec. 94.8 of the regulations 
by removing Italy, except the island of Sardinia, from the list of ASF 
countries. This proposed action would result in pork and pork products 
from all parts of Italy except Sardinia no longer being subject to the 
restrictions found in Sec. 94.8 of the regulations. Another effect of 
this proposed action would be that swine

[[Page 32052]]

casings that originated in or were processed in any region of Italy 
other than Sardinia would no longer be subject to the restrictions in 9 
CFR 96.2(a).
    However, Italy is still considered to be affected with hog cholera 
and swine vesicular disease, so pork and pork products from anywhere in 
Italy offered for importation into the United States would remain 
subject to the restrictions in Sec. 94.9 for hog cholera and in 
Sec. 94.12 for swine vesicular disease. Similarly, dry-cured pork 
products from Italy would continue to be subject to the regulations in 
Sec. 94.17 due to hog cholera and swine vesicular disease. In addition, 
pork and pork products from Italy would continue to be subject to the 
restrictions in Sec. 94.11 because Italy is one of the countries listed 
in Sec. 94.11(a) that have been declared free of rinderpest and FMD, 
but from which the importation of all meat and other animal products is 
restricted due to the nature of their trade with countries affected 
with rinderpest or FMD or because they have a common land border with a 
country affected with rinderpest or FMD. Finally, declaring all of 
Italy except Sardinia free of ASF would not relieve any of the current 
restrictions in 9 CFR part 92 on the importation into the United States 
of live swine from Italy because Italy remains affected with hog 
cholera and swine vesicular disease.

Miscellaneous

    The regulations in Sec. 94.8 and Sec. 96.2 refer in several 
instances to ``a country'' or ``any country'' listed in Sec. 94.8 as 
being affected with ASF. Because this proposed rule would designate 
only a portion of Italy--i.e., the island of Sardinia--as being 
affected with ASF, it would no longer be accurate to refer to 
``countries'' listed in Sec. 94.8. Therefore, for the purposes of 
accuracy and consistency, we would amend those sections to include the 
words ``or part of a country'' after each reference to countries listed 
in Sec. 94.8.
    We are also proposing to redesignate the footnotes in part 94 so 
that the footnotes would be numbered consecutively by part, rather than 
by section. We are also proposing to amend Sec. 94.17(a) to correct a 
reference to ``paragraph (i) of this subpart'' by replacing it with a 
reference to ``paragraph (i) of this section.''

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.
    This proposed rule would amend the regulations in part 94 by 
removing Italy, except the island of Sardinia, from the list of 
countries where ASF exists or is reasonably believed to exist. This 
action would relieve certain restrictions on the importation of pork 
and pork products into the United States from all areas of Italy except 
the island of Sardinia. However, because hog cholera and swine 
vesicular disease exist in Italy, and because Italy, as a member state 
of the European Union, has certain trade practices regarding live swine 
and pork and pork products that are less restrictive than are 
acceptable to the United States, the importation into the United States 
of live swine and pork and pork products from Italy would continue to 
be subject to restrictions. For this reason, no live swine, or fresh, 
chilled, or frozen pork would be imported from Italy as a result of 
this rule change.
    Entities in the United States likely to be affected by this 
proposed rule are those entities engaged in the production of swine and 
processed pork products. According to the Small Business Administration 
(SBA) definition, a ``small entity'' in the production of swine is an 
entity whose total annual sales are less than $0.5 million. Under this 
definition, approximately 96.3 percent of domestic producers are 
considered to be small entities. According to the SBA definition, a 
small entity in the production of pork products, including meat packing 
plants, is an entity employing fewer than 500 workers. In 1992, the 
most recent year for which complete figures are available, over 95 
percent of pork processors of all types were considered small entities.
    It is possible that imports of processed pork products would be 
affected if this proposed rule is adopted, but we believe any change 
would be minimal. Italy has not been declared free of swine vesicular 
disease or hog cholera, so there would continue to be restrictions on 
the importation into the United States of pork and pork products, 
including dry-cured pork products, from anywhere in Italy. Given those 
continuing restrictions, we believe any potential increase in imports 
of processed pork products derived from Italian swine would be minimal. 
The economic impact of a slight increase in those imports on U.S. swine 
producers and processors of pork and pork products is likewise expected 
to be minimal.
    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 12988

    This proposed rule has been reviewed under Executive Order 12988, 
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 new information collection or 
recordkeeping requirements under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 
(44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.).

List of Subjects

9 CFR Part 94

    Animal diseases, Imports, Livestock, Meat and meat products, Milk, 
Poultry and poultry products, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements.

9 CFR Part 96

    Imports, Livestock, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements.

    Accordingly, 9 CFR parts 94 and 96 would be amended 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 would continue 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).


Sec. 94.4  [Amended]

    2. In Sec. 94.4, in the introductory text of paragraph (b)(8) and 
in paragraph (b)(8)(i)(C), footnotes 1 and 2 and their references in 
the text would be redesignated as footnotes 2 and 3, respectively.


Sec. 94.6  [Amended]

    3. Section 94.6 would be amended as follows:
    a. In paragraph (c)(2), footnote 1 and its reference in the text 
would be redesignated as footnote 4.
    b. In the introductory text of paragraph (d), footnote 2 and its

[[Page 32053]]

reference in the text would be redesignated as footnote 5.
    c. In paragraph (d)(1)(ix)(C)(1), footnote 3 and its reference in 
the text would be redesignated as footnote 6.


Sec. 94.8  [Amended]

    4. Section 94.8 would be amended as follows:
    a. In the introductory text of the section, footnote 1 and its 
reference in the text would be redesignated as footnote 7, and, in the 
text of newly redesignated footnote 7, the words ``or a part of a 
country'' would be added after the word ``country'' the first time it 
appears.
    b. In the introductory text of the section, the words ``All the 
countries of Africa, Brazil, Cuba, Haiti, Italy, Malta, and Portugal'' 
would be removed and the words ``All the countries of Africa; Brazil, 
Cuba, Haiti, Malta, and Portugal; and the island of Sardinia, Italy'' 
would be added in their place.
    c. In the introductory text of paragraph (a), the words ``or part 
of a country'' would be added after the word ``country''.
    d. In paragraph (a)(3)(i)(A), the words ``or part of a country'' 
would be added after the word ``country''.
    e. In paragraph (a)(3)(i)(B), footnote 2 and its reference in the 
text would be redesignated as footnote 8, and the words ``country 
listed'' would be removed and the words ``country or part of a country 
listed'' would be added in their place.
    f. In paragraph (a)(3)(iv)(A), the words ``or parts of countries'' 
would be added after the word ``countries''.
    g. In paragraph (a)(3)(v), the words ``or part of a country'' would 
be added after the word ``country''.
    h. In paragraph (c), the words ``or part of a country'' would be 
added after the word ``country''.


Sec. 94.9  [Amended]

    5. In Sec. 94.9, paragraph (a), footnote 1 and its reference in the 
text would be redesignated as footnote 9, and in paragraph (b)(3) 
footnote 2 and its reference in the text would be redesignated as 
footnote 10.


Sec. 94.12  [Amended]

    6. In Sec. 94.12, paragraph (b)(1)(iii)(B), footnote 1 and its 
reference in the text would be redesignated as footnote 11, and in 
paragraph (b)(3) footnote 2 and its reference in the text would be 
redesignated as footnote 12.


Sec. 94.16  [Amended]

    7. In Sec. 94.16, paragraph (b)(2), footnote 1 and its eight 
references in the text would be redesignated as footnote 13.


Sec. 94.17  [Amended]

    8. In Sec. 94.17, in paragraph (a), the word ``subpart'' would be 
removed and the word ``section'' would be added in its place, and in 
paragraph (e), footnote 1 and its reference in the text would be 
redesignated as footnote 14.


Sec. 94.18  [Amended]

    9. In Sec. 94.18, in paragraph (c)(2), footnote 1 and its reference 
in the text would be redesignated as footnote 15, and in paragraph 
(d)(1), footnote 2 and its reference in the text would be redesignated 
as footnote 16.

PART 96--RESTRICTION OF IMPORTATIONS OF FOREIGN ANIMAL CASINGS 
OFFERED FOR ENTRY INTO THE UNITED STATES

    10. The authority citation for part 96 would continue to read as 
follows:

    Authority: 21 U.S.C. 111, 136, and 136a; 7 CFR 2.22, 2.80, and 
371.2(d).


Sec. 96.2  [Amended]

    11. In Sec. 96.2, paragraph (a) would be amended by adding the 
words ``or part of a country'' after the word ``country'' each time it 
appears.

    Done in Washington, DC, this 5th day of June 1997.
Bobby R. Acord,
Acting Administrator, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
[FR Doc. 97-15436 Filed 6-11-97; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-34-P