[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 91 (Tuesday, May 12, 1998)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 26099-26100]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-12571]


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 Proposed Rules
                                                 Federal Register
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 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.
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  Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 91 / Tuesday, May 12, 1998 / Proposed 
Rules  

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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service

9 CFR Part 93

[Docket No. 97-131-1]


Horses From Qatar; Change in Disease Status

AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, USDA.

ACTION: Proposed rule.

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SUMMARY: We are proposing to amend the regulations concerning the 
importation of horses to remove Qatar from the list of regions the 
Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service considers affected with 
African horse sickness. This proposed action is based on information 
received from Qatar and is in accordance with standards set by the 
Office International des Epizooties for recognizing a country as free 
of African horse sickness. This proposed action would relieve 
restrictions on the importation of horses into the United States from 
Qatar.

DATES: Consideration will be given only to comments received on or 
before July 13, 1998.

ADDRESSES: Please send an original and three copies of your comments to 
Docket No. 97-131-1, 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. 97-131-1. 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, 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; or e-mail: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    The regulations in 9 CFR part 93 (referred to below as the 
regulations) prescribe the conditions for the importation into the 
United States of specified animals to prevent the introduction of 
various animal diseases, including African horse sickness (AHS). AHS is 
a fatal equine viral disease that is not known to exist in the United 
States.
    Section 93.308(a)(2) of the regulations lists regions that the 
Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) considers affected 
with AHS and sets forth specific quarantine requirements for horses 
that are imported from those regions. APHIS requires horses intended 
for importation from any of the regions listed, including horses that 
have stopped in or transited those regions, to enter the United States 
only at the port of New York and be quarantined at the New York Animal 
Import Center in Newburgh, NY, for at least 60 days. This precaution is 
necessary to help ensure that the horses are not affected with AHS.
    We are proposing to recognize Qatar as free of AHS. We are 
proposing this action based on information given to APHIS by Qatar and 
standards set by the Office International des Epizooties (OIE).
    In order for a country to be recognized as free of AHS, the OIE 
requires the disease to be mandatorily reportable. In addition, the 
country must not have vaccinated domestic horses or other equines 
against the disease during the past 12 months. The OIE also requires 
that the country have no clinical, serological (in non-vaccinated 
animals), or epidemiological evidence of AHS for the past 2 years. 
Qatar has not had a recorded case of AHS in over 30 years, and 
vaccination against AHS has not been permitted during this period.
    With its request to be considered free of AHS, Qatar provided APHIS 
with information about its veterinary infrastructure, animal health 
monitoring system, trading practices with other regions, and other 
pertinent information that we require in order to determine whether 
Qatar should be recognized as free of AHS.
    APHIS has reviewed the information provided by Qatar in support of 
declaring it free of AHS. Based on that information, and in accordance 
with OIE standards for recognizing a country to be free of AHS, we are 
proposing to consider Qatar as free of AHS. Therefore, we are proposing 
to amend Sec. 93.308(a)(2) by removing Qatar from the list of regions 
declared affected with AHS. This proposed action would allow horses 
from Qatar to be shipped to and quarantined at ports designated in 
Sec. 93.303, and would reduce the quarantine period to an average of 3 
days to meet the quarantine and testing requirements specified in 
Sec. 93.308.
    On October 28, 1997, we published a final rule and policy statement 
in the Federal Register that established procedures for recognizing 
regions, rather than only countries, for the purpose of importing 
animals and animal products into the United States, and that 
established procedures by which regions may request permission to 
export animals and animal products to the United States under specified 
conditions, based on the regions' disease status (see 62 FR 56000-
56033, Dockets 94-106-8 and 94-106-9). The final rule was effective on 
November 28, 1997. The request from Qatar addressed by this proposed 
rule is not a request to be recognized as a region, rather than a 
country, nor a request to establish new import conditions based on the 
disease status of regions. Therefore, we have handled and evaluated 
this request in the traditional framework of recognizing a country as 
affected or not affected with a specified disease. If this proposed 
rule is adopted, the current regulations regarding importation of 
horses from regions free of AHS will apply.

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 recognize Qatar as free of AHS. This 
action would allow horses from Qatar to be shipped to and quarantined 
at ports designated in Sec. 93.303 and would reduce the quarantine and 
testing period to an

[[Page 26100]]

average of 3 days to meet quarantine requirements specified in 
Sec. 93.308.
    U.S. importers of competition and breeding horses from Qatar would 
be affected by this rule if it is adopted. These importers would no 
longer be required to quarantine horses from Qatar for 60 days at the 
New York Animal Import Center in Newburgh, NY, at a cost of 
approximately $5,296 per horse.
    In 1996, the U.S. imported 31,633 horses. However, there have been 
no horses imported into the United States from Qatar since 1992. 
Removing the requirement for a 60-day quarantine for horses from Qatar 
would make the importation of these horses less expensive and 
logistically easier. As a result, we anticipate that U.S. importers 
might begin importing horses from Qatar. However, since the current 
horse population in Qatar is approximately 1500 head, we do not expect 
that the number of horses exported to the United States would be 
significant. In fact, in 1995, Qatar only exported 10 horses. 
Furthermore, most horses imported from Qatar would probably be in the 
United States on a temporary basis for particular events, such as for 
races or breeding, and then transported back to Qatar. For these 
reasons, we anticipate the overall economic impact on U.S. entities 
would 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 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 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 93

    Animal diseases, Imports, Livestock, Poultry and poultry products, 
Quarantine, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements.

    Accordingly, 9 CFR part 93 would be amended as follows:

PART 93--IMPORTATION OF CERTAIN ANIMALS, BIRDS, AND POULTRY, AND 
CERTAIN ANIMAL, BIRD, AND POULTRY PRODUCTS; REQUIREMENTS FOR MEANS 
OF CONVEYANCE AND SHIPPING CONTAINERS

    1. The authority citation for part 93 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 2.22, 2.80, and 371.2(d).


Sec. 93.308  [Amended]

    2. In Sec. 93.308, paragraph (a)(2) would be amended by removing 
``Qatar,''.

    Done in Washington, DC, this 6th day of May 1998.
Charles P. Schwalbe,
Acting Administrator, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
[FR Doc. 98-12571 Filed 5-11-98; 8:45 am]
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