[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 17 (Tuesday, January 27, 2004)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 3819-3823]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-1735]



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  Federal Register / Vol. 69, No. 17 / Tuesday, January 27, 2004 / 
Rules and Regulations  

[[Page 3819]]



DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service

9 CFR Part 94

[Docket No. 02-036-2]


Yucatan Peninsula; Addition to the List of Regions Considered 
Free of Exotic Newcastle Disease

AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, USDA.

ACTION: Final rule.

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

SUMMARY: We are amending the regulations by adding the Mexican States 
of Campeche, Quintana Roo, and Yucatan to the list of regions 
considered free of exotic Newcastle disease. We have conducted a risk 
evaluation and have determined that these three Yucatan Peninsula 
States have met our requirements for being recognized as free of this 
disease. This action allows importation into the United States of 
poultry and poultry products from these regions. We are also adding a 
certification requirement to ensure that poultry and poultry products 
from Campeche, Quintana Roo, and Yucatan originate in those States or 
in any other region recognized by the Animal and Plant Health 
Inspection Service as free of exotic Newcastle disease and that, prior 
to export to the United States, such poultry and poultry products are 
not commingled with poultry and poultry products from regions where 
exotic Newcastle disease exists.

EFFECTIVE DATE: February 11, 2004.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. Hatim Gubara, Staff Veterinarian, 
Regionalization Evaluation Services Staff, National Center for Import 
and Export, VS, APHIS, 4700 River Road Unit 38, Riverdale, MD 20737-
1231; (301) 734-4356.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background

    The regulations in 9 CFR part 94 (referred to below as the 
regulations) govern the importation of certain animals and animal 
products into the United States in order to prevent the introduction of 
various animal diseases, such as rinderpest, foot-and-mouth disease 
(FMD), classical swine fever (CSF), and exotic Newcastle disease (END). 
Among other things, Sec. 94.6 of the regulations lists regions that are 
considered to be free of END.
    On October 22, 2002, we published in the Federal Register (67 FR 
64827-64833, Docket No. 02-036-1) a proposal to amend the regulations 
in Sec. 94.6 by adding the Mexican States of Campeche, Quintana Roo, 
and Yucatan to the list of regions considered free of END. This 
proposed rule was intended to allow importation into the United States 
of poultry and poultry products from these regions. We also proposed to 
amend Sec. 94.15 to remove references to Campeche, Quintana Roo, and 
Yucatan because we believed that the requirements specified in that 
section for transit through the United States of poultry carcasses, 
parts, or products that are otherwise ineligible for entry into the 
United States under part 94 would no longer apply to those States if 
they were listed in Sec. 94.6 as regions considered free of END.
    We solicited comments concerning our proposal for 60 days ending 
December 23, 2002. We did not receive any comments. Therefore, for the 
reasons given in the proposed rule, we are adopting the changes to Sec. 
94.6 described in the previous paragraph.
    Upon further consideration, however, we decided not to finalize our 
proposed changes to Sec. 94.15. Some of the poultry carcasses, parts, 
or products produced in Campeche, Quintana Roo, and Yucatan for export 
may be produced in plants that do not meet the standards of the Food 
Safety Inspection Service (FSIS) of the U.S. Department of Agriculture 
(USDA) as specified in 9 CFR part 381. Such poultry carcasses, parts, 
or products are eligible to transit through the United States under 
current Sec. 94.15(c). By not finalizing our proposed changes to Sec. 
94.15, we will allow such import-ineligible products to continue 
transiting the United States under the conditions specified in that 
section.
    A comment we received on another proposed rule also had 
implications for the current rulemaking. On May 13, 2002, we published 
in the Federal Register (67 FR 31987-31992, Docket No. 01-074-1) a 
proposal to amend the regulations in Sec.Sec. 94.9 and 94.10 by adding 
the Mexican States of Baja California, Baja California Sur, Chihuahua, 
and Sinaloa to the list of regions considered free of CSF, thus 
allowing importation into the United States of pork, pork products, 
live swine, and swine semen from those regions. One of the commenters 
on that proposal, noting that it appeared likely that most of the pork 
and pork products exported by the State of Chihuahua were derived from 
swine raised in other regions, requested more information about where 
those swine originated. The commenter was concerned that pork intended 
for export to the United States from Chihuahua could be derived from 
swine that originated in neighboring CSF-affected regions. Because we 
shared this concern, we added some safeguards when we published the 
final rule changing the CSF status of those four Mexican States (68 FR 
47835-47842, Docket No. 01-074-2, August 12, 2003).
    Issues pertaining to the integrity of products exported from 
certain disease-free regions to the United States, such as the one 
discussed by that commenter, have acquired a new salience due to the 
advent of regionalization. Regionalization has allowed the Animal and 
Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) of the USDA to designate 
regions, as well as entire countries, as free of such animal diseases 
as CSF and END. While regionalization has allowed APHIS to exercise 
more flexibility in regulating and has helped to facilitate trade, it 
has caused APHIS to reconsider the issue of border controls in some 
cases. Border controls between high- and low-risk regions within a 
country or within a larger community, such as the European Union, may 
not always be equivalent to border controls between nations. There may 
now exist a greater likelihood that animal products intended for export 
to the United States from some disease-free regions could be derived 
from animals that originated in affected regions or that animals or 
animal products from free regions could be commingled with animals or 
animal products from affected regions prior to export to the United 
States. Such

[[Page 3820]]

imports could present a risk of introducing animal diseases into this 
country.
    Some sections of the regulations in part 94 do contain provisions 
aimed at reducing the potential risks posed by the commingling of 
import-eligible and ineligible animals and animal products prior to 
export to the United States. Section 94.11 places certain restrictions 
on meat and other animal products imported from certain regions that 
are designated in Sec. 94.1 as free of rinderpest and FMD but that (1) 
supplement their meat supplies via the importation of fresh meat of 
ruminants or swine from regions affected by those diseases, (2) share a 
common land border with such regions, or (3) import animals from such 
regions under conditions less restrictive than would be acceptable for 
importation into the United States. Section 94.13 has similar 
provisions for pork and pork products imported from certain regions 
that are designated in Sec. 94.12(a) as being free of swine vesicular 
disease but that border or have trading relationships with affected 
regions. Both of these sections contain requirements for additional 
certifications that include declarations that certain conditions 
intended to prevent commingling of animal products intended for export 
to the United States have been satisfied.
    To prevent the commingling of import-eligible and ineligible 
poultry and poultry products prior to export to the United States, we 
are adopting an additional certification requirement similar to those 
in Sec.Sec. 94.11 and 94.13 for imports from the newly eligible States 
of Campeche, Quintana Roo, and Yucatan. This requirement will be 
contained in a new Sec. 94.25.
    The introductory text of the new Sec. 94.25 enumerates the risk 
factors that necessitate placing restrictions on the importation of 
live poultry, poultry meat, and other poultry products, including ship 
stores, airplane meals, and baggage containing such meat or animal 
products, from the Mexican States of Campeche, Quintana Roo, and 
Yucatan that go beyond those placed on imports from other regions 
designated in Sec. 94.6 as END-free. Because these Mexican States 
supplement their meat supplies by the importation of fresh (chilled or 
frozen) poultry meat from END-affected regions, share common land 
borders with such regions, or import live poultry from such regions 
under conditions less restrictive than would be acceptable for 
importation into the United States, there exists the possibility that 
live poultry or poultry products that are intended for export to the 
United States could originate in affected regions or be commingled with 
live poultry and poultry products from surrounding END-affected 
regions. Such imports could present a risk of introducing END into the 
United States. Therefore, in addition to meeting all applicable 
requirements of part 93, which contains, among other things, general 
provisions for the importation of live poultry, and of 9 CFR chapter 
III, under which are included conditions for importation of poultry 
products promulgated by the FSIS, live poultry, poultry meat, and other 
poultry products imported into the United States from Campeche, 
Quintana Roo, and Yucatan must also satisfy the conditions specified in 
new Sec. 94.25. As noted earlier, these risk factors are of greater 
concern now than they were in the past due to the advent of 
regionalization. In future rulemakings, therefore, we intend to apply 
the additional certification requirement more broadly to any region 
that we recognize as free of END but that is subject to these risk 
factors.
    Paragraph (a) of new Sec. 94.25 states that live poultry, poultry 
meat, and other poultry products from any region designated in the 
section must be accompanied by an additional certification by a full-
time salaried veterinary officer of the Government of Mexico. Upon 
arrival of the live poultry, poultry meat, or other poultry product in 
the United States, the certification must be presented to an authorized 
inspector at the port of arrival.
    Paragraph (b) contains requirements for the additional 
certification for live poultry imported from Campeche, Quintana Roo, 
and Yucatan. The certification accompanying the live poultry must 
identify the exporting region of the poultry as a region designated in 
Sec. 94.6 as free of END at the time the poultry were in the region. In 
addition, the certification must state that the poultry (1) have not 
been in contact with poultry or poultry products from any region where 
END is considered to exist, (2) have not lived in a region where END is 
considered to exist, and (3) have not transited through a region where 
END is considered to exist unless moved directly in a sealed means of 
conveyance with the seal intact upon arrival at the point of 
destination. These provisions are intended to ensure that the live 
poultry have originated in an END-free region, have not been commingled 
with infected poultry or been in contact with infected poultry products 
either in the region of origin or while in transit prior to export to 
the United States, and are being exported from an END-free region. At 
this time, Campeche, Quintana Roo, and Yucatan, which are the only 
regions in Mexico that APHIS recognizes as being free of END, are the 
only regions to which these requirements will apply, but we expect to 
add more regions, in Mexico and worldwide, to Sec. 94.25 in the future.
    Paragraph (c) contains requirements for the additional 
certification accompanying poultry meat or other poultry products from 
Campeche, Quintana Roo, and Yucatan. The paragraph includes conditions 
for slaughter, handling, transiting, and processing that the 
certification must declare have been satisfied.
    Paragraph (c)(1) specifies that the additional certification must 
state that the poultry meat or other poultry products have been derived 
from poultry that meet all requirements of Sec. 94.25 and that have 
been slaughtered in a region designated in Sec. 94.6 as free of END at 
a federally inspected slaughter plant that is under the direct 
supervision of a full-time salaried veterinarian of the Government of 
Mexico and that is approved to export poultry meat and other poultry 
products to the United States in accordance with the FSIS regulations 
in 9 CFR 381.196. This provision will help ensure that the poultry meat 
or other poultry products will only be derived from poultry that are 
free of END and that slaughtering will take place in establishments and 
under conditions that meet the standards of the FSIS.
    Paragraph (c)(2) specifies that the additional certification must 
state that the poultry meat or other poultry products have not been in 
contact with poultry meat or other poultry products from any region 
where END is considered to exist. This provision will help to ensure 
that products originating in the three Mexican States will not be 
commingled in the region of origin with products from END-affected 
regions.
    Paragraph (c)(3) specifies that the additional certification must 
state that the poultry meat or other poultry products have not 
transited through a region where END exists unless moved directly in a 
sealed means of conveyance with the seal intact upon arrival at the 
point of destination. This provision will help to ensure that poultry 
meat and other poultry products from Campeche, Quintana Roo, and 
Yucatan will not be subject to contamination through commingling with 
END-affected products while transiting through END-affected regions 
prior to export to the United States.
    Finally, paragraph (c)(4) contains requirements for the additional 
certification that must accompany processed poultry meat or other 
poultry

[[Page 3821]]

products imported from Campeche, Quintana Roo, and Yucatan. The 
certification must state that the products were processed in a region 
designated in Sec. 94.6 as free of END in a federally inspected 
processing plant that is under the direct supervision of a full-time 
salaried veterinarian of the Government of Mexico. This provision will 
help to ensure that the products will not be commingled with products 
from an END-affected region during processing and that the processing 
will be done under adequate supervision in establishments that are 
eligible to export poultry products to the United States.
    We believe that the safeguards in new Sec. 94.25 will allow for the 
safe importation of live poultry, poultry meat, and other poultry 
products from the Mexican States of Campeche, Quintana Roo, and 
Yucatan.
    Therefore, for the reasons given in the proposed rule and in this 
document, we are adopting the proposed rule as a final rule with the 
changes discussed in this document.

Effective Date

    This is a substantive rule that relieves restrictions and, pursuant 
to the provisions of 5 U.S.C. 553, may be made effective less than 30 
days after publication in the Federal Register. This rule adds the 
Mexican States of Campeche, Quintana Roo, and Yucatan to the list of 
regions considered free of exotic Newcastle disease. We have determined 
that approximately 2 weeks are needed to ensure that APHIS personnel at 
ports of entry receive official notice of this change in the 
regulations. Therefore, the Administrator of the Animal and Plant 
Health Inspection Service has determined that this rule should be 
effective 15 days after publication in the Federal Register.

Executive Order 12866 and Regulatory Flexibility Act

    This 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 rule amends the regulations by adding the Mexican States of 
Campeche, Quintana Roo, and Yucatan to the list of regions considered 
free of END and removing END-related restrictions on the transiting of 
poultry carcasses, parts, or products from these States through the 
United States that would no longer apply. The rule also adds a 
certification requirement to prevent commingling of products from 
Campeche, Quintana Roo, and Yucatan with products from END-affected 
regions prior to export to the United States.
    A number of factors may influence how much of the poultry produced 
in the Yucatan Peninsula will be exported to the United States as a 
result of this rulemaking. These factors include domestic and 
international supply of, and demand for, poultry and poultry 
substitutes, U.S. grain prices, exchange rates, freight rates, the 
structure (number of large integrated operations versus the number of 
traditional and semi-traditional operations) of the poultry industry in 
the Yucatan Peninsula, and the ability of Yucatan Peninsula producers/
packers consistently to ship cuts that meet U.S. market specifications.
    As shown in table 1, Yucatan Peninsula poultry production peaked at 
roughly 100,000 metric tons (MTs) in 1997 and consistently accounted 
for about 8 percent of Mexico's total poultry production from 1992 
until 1999, the last year for which data were available.

                                              Table 1.--Yucatan Poultry Production by State 1992-1999 (MTs)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                              Year                                   1992       1993       1994       1995       1996       1997       1998       1999
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Campeche........................................................      4,152      5,821      6,322      6,438      6,679      7,440      6,604      6,784
Quintana Roo....................................................      5,124      5,940      5,810      7,043      5,490      5,865      4,685      5,374
Yucatan.........................................................     63,027     74,311     77,841     83,311     86,485     89,698     79,900     81,470
                                                                 ------------
    Total.......................................................     72,303     86,072     89,884     96,792     98,654    103,003     91,189     93,628
Percentage of Mexico's production...............................       8.05       8.28       7.98       7.54       7.80  .........  .........  .........
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Source: Centro de Estadistica Agropecuaria/SAGARPA.

    Our analysis of poultry production in the Yucatan Peninsula 
suggests 100,000 MTs as the upper limit for poultry and poultry 
products that could be made available for export to the United States 
at this time. The Yucatan Peninsula is a grain and oilseed deficit 
area. Most of the grains and oilseeds used in poultry production (the 
single largest and most expensive input in poultry production) are 
imported from the United States. This dependence on imported grains and 
oilseeds will tend to limit the growth of the Yucatan Peninsula's 
poultry production and, consequently, the amount of poultry and poultry 
products available for export to the United States.
    It is far more likely that the actual amount of poultry and poultry 
products that will be exported to the United States from the Yucatan 
Peninsula States in the near term as a result of this rulemaking will 
be significantly less than 100,000 MTs. A general analysis of Mexican 
poultry production systems suggests that a maximum of 60 to 70 percent 
of Yucatan Peninsula poultry production might meet U.S. import 
standards.\1\ According to Foreign Agricultural Service attache reports 
and Economic Research Service (ERS) analysts, most Yucatan Peninsula 
production will probably be consumed locally or diverted to the local 
tourist industry. Because of shipping costs, it is likely that Mexican 
producers will only find it profitable to ship breast cuts to the 
United States. Table 2 shows high and low estimates for possible 
exports of poultry and poultry products from the Yucatan Peninsula to 
the United States. As shown in the table, between 18,000 and 52,500 MTs 
of Yucatan Peninsula poultry may be available for export to the United 
States, depending on domestic consumption, a factor that is very 
difficult to gauge or predict. Based on these figures, the amount of 
breast meat cuts available for export to the United States ranges from 
roughly 5,786 to 16,875 MTs.\2\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \1\ ``Outlook for Mexican Poultry Industry and U.S.-Mexican 
Poultry Trade,'' Milton Madison and David Harvey. USDA/ERS 
Livestock, Dairy, and Poultry Report, July 17, 1998, LDP-52.
    \2\ A 42-ounce processed broiler carcass is comprised of 12.5 to 
14 ounces of breast meat, or roughly 32 percent breast meat.

[[Page 3822]]



   Table 2.--Estimated Yucantan Peninsula Poultry and Poultry Products
           Available For Export to the United States (in MTs)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                    High         Low
               Potential Exports                  estimate     estimate
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total.........................................      100,000      100,000
Acceptable for U.S. import....................       70,000       60,000
Acceptable for U.S. import and available for         52,500       18,000
 export (not consumed domestically)...........
Estimated breast meat available for export to        16,875       5,786
 U.S..........................................
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Source: Centro de Estadistica Agropecuaria/SAGARPA statistics provided
  by Leland Southard of USDA/ERS.

    These amounts make up a minuscule share of the U.S. market. The 
United States is the world's largest producer and exporter of poultry 
meat. In 1999, U.S. poultry meat production totaled 35.3 billion pounds 
(159,090,909 MTs), of which 83 percent was broiler meat, 15 percent was 
turkey meat, and 2 percent was other chicken meat. The total farm value 
of U.S. poultry production in 1999 was $22.4 billion. Broiler 
production accounted for the majority of the value at $15.1 billion, 
followed by eggs at $4.3 billion, turkey at $2.8 billion, and other 
chicken at $68 million. The high estimate of 52,500 MTs of Yucatan 
Peninsula poultry and poultry parts available for export to the United 
States translates to 0.033 percent of U.S. poultry production based on 
the 1999 figures. The low estimate of 18,000 MTs available for export 
equals 0.0113 percent of 1999 U.S. production. The percentages for 
estimated breast meat exports, of course, are even smaller.
    The Regulatory Flexibility Act requires that agencies specifically 
consider the economic impact of their rules on small entities. Among 
the small entities potentially affected by this rule change are U.S. 
producers of poultry and poultry products, U.S. freight forwarders, and 
U.S. trucking and shipping firms. All of these categories are comprised 
primarily of small entities. Table 3 provides a breakdown.

  Table 3.--Number and Type of Small Businesses Potentially Affected By
                              Proposed Rule
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                        Total
                  Type of business                      U.S.      Small
                                                      entities  entities
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Local and long distance U.S. trucking firms             13,815    13,529
 (refrigerated).....................................
U.S. freight forwarders.............................     5,771     5,674
Deep sea freight transport..........................       431       273
Poultry farms.......................................    63,246    53,530
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The U.S. poultry industry is dominated by contract growing 
arrangements. A small number of very large, vertically integrated 
poultry companies own most poultry in the United States. The poultry 
are raised to a marketable size by farmers under contract arrangements. 
The vertically integrated companies do not qualify as small entities 
under the Small Business Administration's standard for small poultry 
enterprises--no more than $750,000 in annual revenues. Most contract 
poultry growers do qualify as small entities, however.\3\ The 1997 
Census of Agriculture (the most recent data on the composition of 
poultry industry by size) reported a total of 63,246 farms in the 
United States that raised poultry or poultry products, producing 
poultry and poultry products valued at over $22 billion. According to 
Census of Agriculture data, approximately 53,530 or 85 percent of the 
farms raising poultry were ``small'' farms in 1997.\4\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \3\ http://www.sba.gov, NAICS Code 112320, poultry production.
    \4\ 1997 Census of Agriculture--United States data, table 50, 
summary by market value of agricultural products sold.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    In theory, imported Yucatan poultry will increase the available 
supply of poultry in the United States, increase competition, and 
reduce prices. Such a development, while benefitting U.S. consumers, 
will negatively affect net revenues of U.S. producers. Due to the 
relatively small tonnage of poultry and poultry products expected to be 
exported from the Yucatan Peninsula to the United States, however, this 
rule is unlikely to have a measurable effect on U.S. poultry and 
poultry product supplies, poultry prices, or poultry producer revenues.
    The other affected small entities--U.S. freight forwarding, 
trucking, or transport firms that have the capacity to transport 
Mexican poultry from U.S. land border ports or U.S. maritime ports--may 
benefit from increased economic activity as a result of this 
rulemaking. As is the case with poultry producers, however, these 
effects are likely to be very small due to the limited amount of 
poultry and poultry products expected to be exported to the United 
States from the Yucatan Peninsula States.
    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.

Executive Order 12988

    This final rule has been reviewed under Executive Order 12988, 
Civil Justice Reform. This rule: (1) Preempts all State and local laws 
and regulations that are inconsistent with this rule; (2) has no 
retroactive effect; and (3) does not require administrative proceedings 
before parties may file suit in court challenging this rule.

Paperwork Reduction Act

    This final rule contains an information collection requirement that 
was not included in the proposed rule. Specifically, this final rule 
adds an additional 50 burden hours for a certification that will have 
to be completed by Federal animal health authorities in Mexico to 
ensure that,

[[Page 3823]]

prior to export to the United States, poultry and poultry products from 
Campeche, Quintana Roo, and Yucatan are not commingled with poultry and 
poultry products from END-affected regions. In accordance with section 
3507(j) of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501 et 
seq.), we submitted this information collection requirement for 
approval to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). OMB has approved 
the information collection for a period of 6 months under control 
number 0579-0228. We plan, in the near future, to request continuation 
of that approval for 3 years.

Government Paperwork Elimination Act Compliance

    The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service is committed to 
compliance with the Government Paperwork Elimination Act (GPEA), which 
requires Government agencies in general to provide the public the 
option of submitting information or transacting business electronically 
to the maximum extent possible. For information pertinent to GPEA 
compliance related to this rule, please contact Mrs. Celeste Sickles, 
APHIS' Information Collection Coordinator, at (301) 734-7477.

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.

0
Accordingly, we are amending 9 CFR part 94 as follows:

PART 94--RINDERPEST, FOOT-AND-MOUTH DISEASE, FOWL PEST (FOWL 
PLAGUE), EXOTIC NEWCASTLE DISEASE, AFRICAN SWINE FEVER, CLASSICAL 
SWINE FEVER, AND BOVINE SPONGIFORM ENCEPHALOPATHY: PROHIBITED AND 
RESTRICTED IMPORTATIONS

0
1. The authority citation for part 94 continues to read as follows:

    Authority: 7 U.S.C. 450, 7701-7772, and 8301-8317; 21 U.S.C. 136 
and 136a; 31 U.S.C. 9701; 42 U.S.C. 4331 and 4332; 7 CFR 2.22, 2.80, 
and 371.4.

Sec. 94.6  [Amended]

0
2. In Sec. 94.6, paragraph (a)(2) is amended by adding the words 
``Mexico (States of Campeche, Quintana Roo, and Yucatan),'' after the 
word ``Luxembourg,''.
0
3. A new Sec. 94.25 is added to read as follows:


Sec. 94.25  Restrictions on importation of live poultry, poultry meat, 
and other poultry products from specified regions.

    The Mexican States of Campeche, Quintana Roo, and Yucatan, which 
are declared in Sec. 94.6(a)(2) to be free of exotic Newcastle disease 
(END), supplement their meat supply by the importation of fresh 
(chilled or frozen) poultry meat from regions designated in Sec. 
94.6(a) as regions where END is considered to exist, have a common land 
border with regions where END is considered to exist, or import live 
poultry from regions where END is considered to exist under conditions 
less restrictive than would be acceptable for importation into the 
United States. Thus, even though the Department has declared such 
regions to be free of END, live poultry originating in such free 
regions may be commingled with live poultry originating in an END-
affected region and the meat and other animal products produced in such 
free regions may be commingled with the fresh (chilled or frozen) meat 
of animals from an END-affected region, resulting in an undue risk of 
introducing END into the United States. Therefore, live poultry, 
poultry meat and other poultry products, and ship stores, airplane 
meals, and baggage containing such meat or animal products originating 
in the free regions listed in this section may not be imported into the 
United States unless the following requirements, in addition to all 
other applicable requirements of part 93 of this chapter and of chapter 
III of this title, are met:
    (a) Additional certification. Live poultry, poultry meat, and other 
poultry products from any region designated in this section must be 
accompanied by an additional certification by a full-time salaried 
veterinary officer of the Government of Mexico. Upon arrival of the 
live poultry, poultry meat, or other poultry product in the United 
States, the certification must be presented to an authorized inspector 
at the port of arrival.
    (b) Live poultry. The certification accompanying live poultry must 
identify the exporting region of the poultry as a region designated in 
Sec. 94.6 as free of END at the time the poultry were in the region and 
must state that:
    (1) The poultry have not been in contact with poultry or poultry 
products from any region where END is considered to exist;
    (2) The poultry have not lived in a region where END is considered 
to exist; and
    (3) The poultry have not transited through a region where END is 
considered to exist unless moved directly through the region in a 
sealed means of conveyance with the seal intact upon arrival at the 
point of destination.
    (c) Poultry meat or other poultry products. The certification 
accompanying poultry meat or other poultry products must state that:
    (1) The poultry meat or other poultry products are derived from 
poultry that meet all requirements of this section and that have been 
slaughtered in a region designated in Sec. 94.6 as free of END at a 
federally inspected slaughter plant that is under the direct 
supervision of a full-time salaried veterinarian of the Government of 
Mexico and that is approved to export poultry meat and other poultry 
products to the United States in accordance with Sec. 381.196 of this 
title;
    (2) The poultry meat or other poultry products have not been in 
contact with poultry meat or other poultry products from any region 
where END is considered to exist;
    (3) The poultry meat or other poultry products have not transited 
through a region where END is considered to exist unless moved directly 
through the region in a sealed means of conveyance with the seal intact 
upon arrival at the point of destination; and
    (4) If processed, the poultry meat or other poultry products were 
processed in a region designated in Sec. 94.6 as free of END in a 
federally inspected processing plant that is under the direct 
supervision of a full-time salaried veterinarian of the Government of 
Mexico.

(Approved by the Office of Management and Budget under control 
number 0579-0228)


    Done in Washington, DC, this 21st day of January, 2004.
Peter Fernandez,
Acting Administrator, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
[FR Doc. 04-1735 Filed 1-23-04; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-34-P