[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 154 (Monday, August 11, 1997)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 42899-42900]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-21107]


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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service

9 CFR Part 94

[Docket No. 94-106-7]
RIN 0579-AA71


Importation of Beef From Argentina; Technical Amendment

AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, USDA.

ACTION: Final rule; technical amendment.

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SUMMARY: In a final rule published in the Federal Register on June 26, 
1997, that will be effective August 25, 1997, we amended the 
regulations governing the importation of meat and meat products by 
allowing, under certain conditions, the importation of fresh, chilled 
or frozen, beef from Argentina. It was our intent that the amended 
regulations also allow the importation of cured or cooked beef that 
would otherwise not be allowed importation, provided it meets the same 
requirements as for fresh, chilled or frozen, beef. In this amendment, 
we are clarifying that intent. We are also correcting the Supplementary 
Information of the final rule to include the date of publication and 
Federal Register citation of a document we referred to.

DATES: This amendment is effective August 25, 1997.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. Gary Colgrove, Chief Staff 
Veterinarian, National Center for Import and Export, VS, APHIS, 4700 
River Road Unit 38, Riverdale, MD 20737-1231, (301) 734-8590.

[[Page 42900]]

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Conditions for Importation of Beef From Argentina

    In a final rule published in the Federal Register on June 26, 1997, 
that will be effective August 25, 1997 (62 FR 34385-34394, Docket No. 
94-106-5), we amended the regulations regarding the importation of meat 
and meat products in 9 CFR part 94 by adding a new Sec. 94.21 to allow, 
under certain specified conditions, the importation of fresh, chilled 
or frozen beef from Argentina. The amended regulations should also have 
allowed the importation of cured or cooked beef from Argentina that 
would not otherwise be allowed importation, provided it meets the same 
requirements as for fresh, chilled or frozen beef.
    Until the effective date of the final rule, the only beef allowed 
to be imported into the United States from Argentina is beef that has 
been cured or cooked in accordance with Sec. 94.4 of the regulations. 
Because Argentina is not listed in Sec. 94.1 as a country in which 
foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) and rinderpest are not known to exist, due 
to continued vaccination for FMD, the requirements of Sec. 94.4 have 
been considered necessary to assure that any FMD virus in the beef has 
been destroyed. (Rinderpest has never been known to exist in 
Argentina.) The curing requirements include a specific water-protein 
ratio that must be met, and the cooking provisions include very 
specific time/temperature requirements.
    In our final rule, we added to the regulations a Sec. 94.21 to 
allow the importation into the United States of fresh, chilled or 
frozen, beef from Argentina under certain conditions. We explained in 
the final rule that we consider the unrestricted importation of such 
beef from Argentina to present a low risk of introducing FMD into this 
country. This conclusion was based on the fact that the last outbreak 
of FMD occurred in Argentina in 1994, on review by the Animal and Plant 
Health Inspection Service (APHIS) of information submitted by the 
government of Argentina, and on the results of a 1994 on-site APHIS 
evaluation of Argentina's animal health program and an updated risk 
assessment recently prepared by APHIS.
    As we explained in our final rule, because vaccinations for FMD in 
Argentina continue, and because Argentina supplements its national meat 
supply by importing fresh, chilled, or frozen meat of ruminants and 
swine from countries in which FMD is known to exist, it is necessary to 
impose certain conditions on the importation of fresh, chilled, or 
frozen beef from Argentina to ensure that the importation of such beef 
poses a negligible risk of the introduction of FMD into the United 
States. As set forth in the final rule, these conditions include 
certification of the following: (1) That the beef originated in 
Argentina; (2) that the beef came from bovines that were moved directly 
from the premises of origin to the slaughterhouse without any contact 
with other animals; (3) that the beef has not been in contact with beef 
from regions of greater disease risk; (4) that the beef originated from 
premises where FMD and rinderpest have not been present during the 
lifetime of any bovines slaughtered for export; (5) that the beef 
originated from premises on which bovines or swine have not been 
vaccinated with modified or attenuated live viruses for FMD or where 
bovines have not been vaccinated for rinderpest during the lifetime of 
any of the bovines slaughtered for export; (6) that the beef comes from 
carcasses that have been allowed to maturate at 40 to 50  deg.F (4 to 
10  deg.C) for a minimum of 36 hours after slaughter and have reached a 
maximum pH of 5.8 in the loin muscle at the end of the maturation 
period; and (7) that all bone, blood clots, and lymphoid tissue have 
been removed from the beef.
    Although we specified in the final rule that the adherence to the 
above conditions would reduce to a negligible level any risk that 
fresh, chilled or frozen beef from Argentina would introduce FMD into 
the United States, we did not intend to imply that beef that is not 
fresh, chilled or frozen, could not also be imported into the United 
States with negligible risk if the same conditions were met. It was our 
intent that beef that has been cured or cooked other than in accordance 
with the provisions of Sec. 94.4 could be imported if it meets the 
import conditions for fresh, chilled or frozen, beef. Therefore, we are 
adding language to Sec. 94.4, paragraphs (a) and (b), to clarify that 
intent.

Correction of Supplementary Information

    In the Supplementary Information section of the June 26, 1997, 
final rule (Docket No. 94-106-5), we inadvertently neglected to include 
the publication date and Federal Register citation of another final 
rule we referred to (Docket No. 94-106-6, ``Importation of Pork from 
Sonora, Mexico''). In FR Doc. 97-16748 (62 FR 34385-34394), under 
Supplementary Information, at page 34385, third column, third line from 
the bottom, the words: ``countries. On June 26, 1997, we'' should have 
read: ``countries. On May 9, 1997, we'' and at page 34386, first 
column, second and third line, the words: ``State of Sonora, Mexico (62 
FR (INSERT FR CITE), Docket No. 94-106-6), based'' should have read: 
``State of Sonora, Mexico (62 FR 25439-25443, Docket No. 94-106-6), 
based'.

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 to read 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 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 and 4332; 7 CFR 2.22, 2.80, and 
371.2(d).

    2. In Sec. 94.4, in both paragraphs (a) and (b), the introductory 
text is revised to read as follows:


Sec. 94.4  Cured or cooked meat from countries where rinderpest or 
foot-and-mouth disease exists.

    (a) Except for cured beef from Argentina that meets the 
requirements for the importation of fresh, chilled or frozen, beef as 
provided in Sec. 94.21, the importation of cured meats derived from 
ruminants or swine, originating in any country designated in Sec. 94.1, 
is prohibited unless the following conditions have been fulfilled:
* * * * *
    (b) Except for cooked beef from Argentina that meets the 
requirements for the importation of fresh, chilled or frozen, beef as 
provided in Sec. 94.21, the importation of cooked meats from ruminants 
or swine originating in any country where rinderpest or foot-and-mouth 
disease exists, as designated in Sec. 94.1, is prohibited, except as 
provided in this section.
* * * * *
    Done in Washington, DC, this 5th day of August 1997.
Terry L. Medley,
Administrator, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
[FR Doc. 97-21107 Filed 8-8-97; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-34-P