[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 8 (Friday, January 11, 2002)]
[Notices]
[Page 1435]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-743]


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

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service

[Docket No. 01-117-1]


Procedures for Importing Cattle into the United States; Public 
Meeting

AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, USDA.

ACTION: Notice of public meeting.

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

SUMMARY: We are informing the public that Veterinary Services of the 
Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service is holding a public meeting 
to provide a forum to discuss the process and science used to establish 
and verify compliance with protocols for importing cattle into the 
United States.

DATES: The meeting will be held on Wednesday, February 6, 2002, from 9 
a.m. to 5 p.m.

ADDRESSES: The public meeting will be held in the Columbine Room at the 
Lincoln Center, 417 West Magnolia, Fort Collins, CO.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. Andrea M. Morgan, Acting Director, 
Animal Health Programs, VS, APHIS, 4700 River Road Unit 33, Riverdale, 
MD 2073-1231; (301) 734-8093.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Animal and Plant Health Inspection 
Service (APHIS) of the U.S. Department of Agriculture is responsible 
for administering regulations to prevent the introduction of 
communicable diseases of livestock and poultry into the United States. 
In administering the regulations, we follow an import process that 
includes, among other things, developing an import protocol between the 
exporting and importing countries or regions, monitoring the disease 
status of countries or regions, quarantining and testing imported 
animals, and evaluating the risk of introducing disease into the United 
States through the importation of animals.
    APHIS seeks to establish the import protocols between the exporting 
and importing countries or regions based upon the best available 
technical and scientific information. The protocols establish health 
requirements, including the disease status of the region or country of 
origin and diagnostic test requirements for specific diseases, under 
which importation of animals is allowed.
    To provide a forum to discuss the process and science used to 
establish and verify compliance with protocols for importing cattle 
into the United States, APHIS' Veterinary Services program is holding a 
public meeting on Wednesday, February 6, 2002, in the Columbine Room at 
the Lincoln Center, 417 West Magnolia, Fort Collins, CO. Topics 
discussed at the meeting will include, but are not limited to, the 
disease status of exporting regions or countries, transportation 
issues, quarantine issues, and the risk of the introduction of disease 
into the United States from the importation of cattle.
    The public meeting will begin at 9 a.m. and is scheduled to end at 
5 p.m., with registration from 8:30 a.m. to 9 a.m. However, the meeting 
may end earlier if all persons desiring to speak have been heard.
    If you require special accommodations, such as a sign language 
interpreter, please send us an e-mail to [email protected].
    If you are interested in making a presentation at the meeting, 
please register in advance by calling the Regulatory Analysis and 
Development voice mail at (301) 734-4339 or by sending an e-mail to 
[email protected]. The message should include your name, 
telephone number, organization, if any, and the topic of your 
presentation. On the day of the meeting, you may also register from 
8:30 to 9 a.m. at the meeting site.
    To allow everyone wishing to speak an opportunity to be heard, 
participants should limit their presentations to 10 minutes. Depending 
upon the number of speakers, we may further limit the time for 
presentations so that everyone wishing to speak has the opportunity. 
Starting with the advance registrants, we will call speakers in the 
order in which they registered.
    If you plan to present a written statement, we ask that you provide 
a copy of your statement to the chairperson of the meeting.
    The meeting will be recorded. The complete record, including the 
transcript and any written statements, will be available to the public.

    Done in Washington, DC, this 7th day of January 2002.
W. Ron DeHaven,
Acting Administrator, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
[FR Doc. 02-743 Filed 1-10-02; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-34-P