[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 50 (Monday, March 16, 1998)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 12603-12605]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-6588]
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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service
9 CFR Part 94
[Docket No. 97-084-2]
Change in Disease Status of the Dominican Republic Because of Hog
Cholera
AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, USDA.
ACTION: Affirmation of interim rule as final rule.
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SUMMARY: We are adopting as a final rule, without change, an interim
rule that amended the regulations governing the importation of swine,
pork, and pork products by removing the Dominican Republic from the
list of regions in which hog cholera is not known to exist. We took
this action based on reports we received from the Dominican Republic's
Ministry of Agriculture that an outbreak of hog cholera had occurred in
the Dominican Republic. As a result of this action, there are
additional restrictions on the importation of pork and pork products
into the United States from the Dominican Republic, and the importation
of swine from the Dominican Republic is prohibited.
EFFECTIVE DATE: The interim rule was effective on August 4, 1997.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. John Cougill, Senior Staff
Veterinarian, Products Program, National Center for Import and Export,
VS, APHIS, 4700 River Road Unit 40, Riverdale, MD 20737-1231, (301)
734-3399.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
In an interim rule effective August 4, 1997, and published in the
Federal Register on August 18, 1997 (62 FR 43924-43925, Docket No. 97-
084-1), we amended the regulations governing the importation into the
United States of pork, pork products, and swine by removing the
Dominican Republic from the lists in Secs. 94.9(a) and 94.10(a) of
regions in which hog cholera is not known to exist.
Comments on the interim rule were required to be received on or
before October 17, 1997. We received one comment by that date. The
comment was from a meat processing facility
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located in the Dominican Republic. The commenter proposed changes to
Sec. 94.9 pertaining to the importation of pork and pork products from
regions in which hog cholera is known to exist. We are considering the
suggestions made by the commenter. If we decide to amend Sec. 94.9 as
suggested, we will publish a proposal in the Federal Register. The
commenter did not dispute the determination that an outbreak of hog
cholera has occurred in the Dominican Republic. Therefore, the facts
presented in the interim rule still provide a basis for the rule.
This action also affirms the information contained in the interim
rule concerning Executive Orders 12866 and 12988 and the Paperwork
Reduction Act.
Further, for this action, the Office of Management and Budget has
waived the review process required by Executive Order 12866.
Regulatory Flexibility Act
This rule affirms an interim rule that amended the regulations in 9
CFR part 94 by removing the Dominican Republic from the list of regions
in which hog cholera is not known to exist. We took this action based
on a report by the Dominican Republic's Ministry of Agriculture that an
outbreak of hog cholera had occurred in that country. As a result of
the interim rule, the importation of swine from the Dominican Republic
is prohibited, and pork and pork products from the Dominican Republic
are not eligible for entry into the United States unless cooked or
cured and dried in accordance with the regulations.
To comply with the Regulatory Flexibility Act, we considered this
rule's likely economic impact on small entities. The entities likely to
be impacted by the removal of the Dominican Republic from the list of
regions in which hog cholera is not known to exist are entities that
either produce or import swine or swine products.
The impact of the interim rule on U.S. producers of swine in
general is expected to be minimal because the swine industry of the
Dominican Republic is small compared to the enormous U.S. market. In
1996, pig stocks in the Dominican Republic totaled 950,000 head,
whereas pig stocks in the United States totaled more than 58 million
head. No live pigs were exported from the Dominican Republic to the
United States in 1996, and exports of swine germ plasm are very
limited.
The Small Business Administration's (SBA) definition of a ``small
entity'' in the production of swine is an entity whose sales total less
than $0.5 million annually. The vast majority (96.3 percent in 1992) of
U.S. swine producers qualify as small entities. However, as discussed
above, the impact on these producers should be minimal.
The effect of the interim rule on the importation of pork in
general should be minimal as well. The Dominican Republic produces
limited amounts of pork; in 1996, the Dominican Republic produced
62,000 metric tons of pork products, which is less than 1 percent of
U.S. production. The United States is the second largest pork producer
in the world, following only China. Declining farm numbers (but almost
stable production), persistent competitive pressure on producers to
adopt least-cost production methods, competitive pork prices relative
to other meats, and a declining U.S. trade deficit in pork are
indicators that U.S. pork producers hold a strong comparative advantage
in pork production with respect to most countries in the world. The
United States expanded its pork exports by more than nine times from
1986 to 1995 to reach 263,895 metric tons; at the same time, the United
States decreased its pork imports by approximately 36 percent to
274,415 metric tons in 1995. Of the decreasing quantity of pork imports
that do come into the United States, the majority come from Canada,
which accounted for nearly 75 percent of U.S. pork imports in 1996.
The SBA's guidelines state that a ``small'' producer of fresh pork,
part of Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) 2011, meat packing
plants, or of sausages and other processed meats, SIC 2013, is one
employing fewer than 500 workers. Establishments that conduct
slaughtering activities, exclusively, as well as establishments that
conduct both slaughtering and processing activities are included in SIC
2011. In 1992, 97 percent of 1,367 meat packing establishments in SIC
2011 in the United States were small. These plants accounted for
approximately 40 percent of the $50.4 billion total value of pork
produced by the industry. That year, 86 establishments were classified
as strictly working with fresh, processed, and cured pork, and these
establishments accounted for 26 percent of the total value of pork
produced. Of 1,264 establishments in SIC 2013 in 1992, 98 percent were
small. These producers accounted for 84 percent of the total value of
pork produced by the industry, $19.97 billion. In addition, there were
121 operations classified as producing processed or cured pork products
in SIC 2013, and these operations accounted for 21 percent of the total
value of pork production of this industry. However, the rule should
lead to, at most, a minimal change in the importation of fresh pork
products and, therefore, will have a minimal impact on small or large
domestic producers of pork products.
The Dominican Republic is a significant source of mixed-sausage
(sausage that contains some pork) imports into the United States,
supplying 621 metric tons of a total 1,751 metric tons imported in
1996. However, this supply of sausage should not be altered by this
rule change. All of the sausage that was imported into the United
States in 1996 from the Dominican Republic was cooked, and labels
placed on the sausage, as well as on cooked salami, at the exporting
plants show that these products are cooked in accordance with U.S.
Department of Agriculture regulations. Therefore, these products would
remain eligible to be imported into the United States. With regard to
other pig products, the Dominican Republic is a minor producer in the
world market, and, therefore, an abundance of alternative sources are
available to importers.
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.
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.
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
Accordingly, we are adopting as a final rule, without change, the
interim rule that amended 9 CFR 94 and that was published at 62 FR
43924-43925 on August 18, 1997.
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).
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Done in Washington, DC, this 9th day of March 1998.
Terry L. Medley,
Administrator, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
[FR Doc. 98-6588 Filed 3-13-98; 8:45 am]
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