[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 6 (Wednesday, January 10, 2007)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 1192-1195]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-111]


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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service

9 CFR Part 91

[Docket No. APHIS-2006-0147]
RIN 0579-AC26


Cattle for Export; Removal of Certain Testing Requirements

AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, USDA.

ACTION: Proposed rule.

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SUMMARY: We are proposing to amend the livestock exportation 
regulations to eliminate the requirement for pre-export tuberculosis 
and brucellosis testing of certain cattle being exported to countries 
that do not require such testing. This action would facilitate the 
exportation of certain cattle by eliminating the need to conduct pre-
export tuberculosis and brucellosis testing when the receiving country 
does not require such testing.

DATES: We will consider all comments that we receive on or before March 
12, 2007.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by either of the following methods:
     Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to http://www.regulations.gov, select ``Animal and Plant Health Inspection 
Service'' from the agency drop-down menu, then click ``Submit.'' In the 
Docket ID column, select APHIS-2006-0147 to submit or view public 
comments and to view supporting and related materials available 
electronically. Information on using Regulations.gov, including 
instructions for accessing documents, submitting comments, and viewing 
the docket after the close of the comment period, is available through 
the site's ``User Tips'' link.
     Postal Mail/Commercial Delivery: Please send four copies 
of your comment (an original and three copies) to Docket No. APHIS-
2006-0147, Regulatory Analysis and Development, PPD, APHIS, Station 3A-
03.8, 4700 River Road Unit 118, Riverdale, MD 20737-1238. Please state 
that your comment refers to Docket No. APHIS-2006-0147.
    Reading Room: You may read any comments that we receive on this 
docket in our reading room. The reading room is located in room 1141 of 
the USDA South Building, 14th Street and Independence Avenue, SW., 
Washington, DC. Normal reading room hours are 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., 
Monday through Friday, except holidays. To be

[[Page 1193]]

sure someone is there to help you, please call (202) 690-2817 before 
coming.
    Other Information: Additional information about APHIS and its 
programs is available on the Internet at http://www.aphis.usda.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. Antonio Ramirez, Senior Staff 
Veterinarian, Technical Trade Services, National Center for Import and 
Export, VS, APHIS, 4700 River Road, Unit 40, Riverdale, MD 20737-1231; 
(301) 734-8364.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    The regulations in 9 CFR part 91, ``Inspection and Handling of 
Livestock for Exportation'' (referred to below as the regulations), 
prescribe conditions for exporting animals from the United States. 
Section 91.5 requires, among other things, that cattle intended for 
exportation be tested for tuberculosis and brucellosis prior to export.
    Certain exceptions to the testing requirement exist. The 
regulations in Sec.  91.5(a) do not require testing for tuberculosis 
prior to export when cattle are being exported directly to slaughter in 
a country that the Administrator of the Animal and Plant Health 
Inspection Service (APHIS) has determined has an acceptable 
tuberculosis surveillance system at slaughter plants and that agrees to 
share any findings of tuberculosis in U.S. origin cattle with APHIS, or 
when cattle are being exported directly to slaughter from a State 
designated as an Accredited-free State in 9 CFR part 77, 
``Tuberculosis.''
    The regulations in Sec.  91.5(b) do not require testing for 
brucellosis prior to export when cattle are being exported directly to 
slaughter in a country that the Administrator has determined has an 
acceptable brucellosis surveillance system at slaughter plants and that 
agrees to share any findings of brucellosis in U.S. origin cattle with 
APHIS, or when cattle are being exported directly to slaughter from a 
State designated as a Class Free State in 9 CFR part 78, 
``Brucellosis.'' Official vaccinates of dairy breeds under 20 months of 
age, official vaccinates of beef breeds under 24 months of age, and 
steers and spayed heifers are also exempt from the brucellosis testing 
requirement.
    All other cattle exported from the United States must be tested for 
tuberculosis within 90 days prior to export and tested for brucellosis 
within 30 days prior to export, as required by Sec.  91.3(c). The 
brucellosis test may be administered at a longer interval prior to 
export if the receiving country requires or allows it.
    In recent years, the Cooperative State-Federal Tuberculosis 
Eradication Program and the Cooperative State-Federal Brucellosis 
Eradication Program have made significant progress in reducing the 
occurrence of those two diseases in U.S. cattle. Currently, all States 
except Minnesota and portions of Michigan and New Mexico are designated 
Accredited-free for tuberculosis, and all States except Idaho and Texas 
are designated Class Free States for brucellosis.
    Canadian animal health authorities have recognized our success in 
eradicating brucellosis, tuberculosis, and other diseases by 
establishing the Restricted Feeder Cattle Program, which allows certain 
untested feeder cattle to be imported into Canada.\1\ To participate in 
this program, the feeder cattle must originate in a State that has been 
designated by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) as free of 
brucellosis and tuberculosis. Under the program, U.S. feeder cattle 
from 39 States considered to have a low incidence of bluetongue are 
able to enter Canada directly without testing; feeder cattle from the 
remaining 11 States, which are considered to have a high incidence of 
bluetongue, are also not required to be tested, provided they reside 
for at least 60 days prior to import in a low-incidence State. Testing 
for cattle from such States, however, is still an option; should the 
feeder cattle be found free of bluetongue, the 60-day period is 
waived.\2\
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    \1\ Detailed provisions of this program can be found in Canadian 
Food Inspection Agency Client Services Information Sheet No. 14, 
``Restricted Feeder Cattle from the United States.'' This document 
can be viewed on the Internet at http://www.inspection.gc.ca/english/anima/heasan/policy/ie-2001-14e.shtml.
    \2\ The Canada Food Inspection Agency published a proposal on 
May 19, 2006, that would eliminate bluetongue-related restrictions 
on the importation of cattle, among other animals.
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    Feeder cattle that meet these conditions do not fall under any of 
the exceptions in Sec.  91.5 and are still required to be tested within 
30 and 90 days of export for brucellosis and tuberculosis, 
respectively. Paragraph (b) of Sec.  91.3 states that the Administrator 
may, upon request of the appropriate animal health official of the 
country of destination, waive the tuberculosis and brucellosis tests 
referred to in Sec. Sec.  91.5(a) and (b) of the regulations when he 
finds such tests are not necessary to prevent the exportation of 
diseased animals from the United States. However, this provision does 
not allow us to relieve the testing requirement for cattle exported 
under the Restricted Feeder Cattle Program, as Canadian animal health 
officials would have to request each time cattle are exported that the 
brucellosis and tuberculosis tests not be administered.
    Canada's Restricted Feeder Cattle Program covers only cattle that 
meet the requirements above, and there are no other countries that have 
recognized our Accredited-free and Class Free designations for States. 
However, we have recently requested that Canadian animal health 
authorities recognize our Accredited-free and Class Free designations 
for States and more generally relieve testing requirements for cattle 
exported to Canada from those States. If Canada approves this request, 
the regulations would still require U.S. exporters to administer 
tuberculosis and brucellosis tests that would then not be required by 
Canadian animal health regulations. A similar situation could arise if 
any other country that receives U.S. cattle were to recognize our 
Accredited-free for tuberculosis or Class Free for brucellosis 
designations of States and suspend or eliminate any requirements that 
U.S. cattle must be tested for those diseases prior to export from the 
United States, because the regulations require testing in all cases 
except those listed earlier in this document.
    To relieve this unnecessary burden and to avoid similar problems 
that may arise in the future, we are proposing to amend the regulations 
to exempt cattle from tuberculosis and brucellosis testing prior to 
export if such testing is not required by the receiving country for 
cattle from any tuberculosis Accredited-free or brucellosis Class Free 
State. This action would both relieve restrictions on certain exports 
of U.S. cattle to Canada that no longer appear necessary and ensure 
that, if other countries receiving exports of U.S. cattle suspend or 
remove their requirements that U.S. cattle be tested for tuberculosis 
or brucellosis, U.S. exporters of cattle would receive the full 
benefits of no longer being required to perform such tests.

Miscellaneous Changes

    In Sec.  91.1, official brucellosis vaccinate is defined as: ``A 
female bovine animal vaccinated against brucellosis in accordance with 
the provisions prescribed in the Recommended brucellosis Eradication 
Uniform Methods and Rules, chapter 1, part I-H, I, and J. The 
provisions of the Uniform Methods and Rules are hereby incorporated by 
reference.'' However, ``Uniform Methods and Rules: Brucellosis 
Eradication'' has not actually been incorporated by reference, and so 
no explicit definition of official

[[Page 1194]]

brucellosis vaccinate currently exists in 9 CFR part 91. We are 
proposing to correct this error by revising this definition to read: 
``An official adult vaccinate or an official calfhood vaccinate as 
defined in Sec.  78.1 of this chapter.'' The definitions in Sec.  78.1 
are similar to the definitions of those terms in ``Uniform Methods and 
Rules: Brucellosis Eradication,'' but contain more specific testing 
requirements.
    The regulations contain other references to the ``Uniform Methods 
and Rules: Brucellosis Eradication.'' We are developing a proposal that 
would update the regulations and harmonize them with the ``Uniform 
Methods and Rules: Brucellosis Eradication.'' We will address the other 
references to the ``Uniform Methods and Rules'' in the regulations with 
that proposal.
    In Sec.  91.5, paragraph (a)(1)(ii) states that tuberculosis tests 
are not required for any cattle ``exported directly to slaughter from a 
State designated as an Accredited-Free State in 9 CFR 77.1.'' The 
regulations in part 77 were revised in a final rule published in the 
Federal Register on October 23, 2000 (65 FR 63502-63533), and the list 
of Accredited-free States for cattle and bison is now located in Sec.  
77.7. We would amend Sec.  91.5(a)(1)(ii) to reflect that change.

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.
    The proposed rule would remove the requirement that cattle destined 
for export must be tested for brucellosis and tuberculosis prior to 
export in any case in which such testing is not required by the 
receiving country for cattle originating in the United States or any 
State therein.
    The proposed rule would affect domestic producers of cattle, 
specifically those engaged in the export of animals. In 2005, there 
were 982,510 cattle operations in the United States.\3\ On January 1, 
2005, domestic inventory of cattle and calves totaled over 95.8 
million, with an average per head value of $916, and a total value of 
production of over $87.8 billion.\4\ Under U.S. Small Business 
Administration's (SBA) size standards, operations engaged in cattle 
ranching or production (both beef and dairy) are considered small if 
they earn $750,000 or less in annual receipts.\5\ According to the 
USDA's National Agricultural Statistics Service, approximately 953,390, 
or 97 percent, of the 982,510 cattle operations in the United States 
are holding fewer than 500 head of cattle. As such, we would assume 
that the overwhelming majority of domestic cattle operations would be 
considered small by SBA standards.
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    \3\ USDA-NASS, Quick Stats U.S. & All States Data. Washington, 
DC: National Agricultural Statistics Service, 2006.
    \4\ USDA-NASS, Agricultural Statistics 2005.
    \5\ Table of Size Standards based on North American Industry 
Classification System (NAICS) 2002. Beef Cattle Ranching and 
Farming: NAICS code 112111, Dairy Cattle and Milk Production: NAICS 
code 112120. Washington, DC: U.S. Small Business Administration, 
effective January 5, 2006.
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    Only those operations engaged in the export of their animals would 
be affected by this proposed rule. In 2005, the United States exported 
21,155 live cattle, with a total value of over $7.2 million. Our 
primary trading partners historically are Canada and Mexico, and in 
2005 Canada and Mexico ranked first and second, respectively, as 
destinations of U.S. live cattle exports by value.\6\ In response to 
strong domestic cattle price and trade barriers related to bovine 
spongiform encephalopathy and other diseases, U.S. cattle exports 
declined significantly in 2003-2004, but they are now on the rebound. 
The number of operations engaged in the export of cattle is unknown.
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    \6\ USDA-FAS, U.S. Trade Exports-FATUS Commodity Aggregations. 
Washington, DC: Foreign Agricultural Service. Based on data from the 
Dept. of Commerce, U.S. Census Bureau, Foreign Trade Statistics.
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    Under the proposed rule, domestic cattle producers wishing to 
export their animals would no longer be required to test for 
tuberculosis and brucellosis prior to export when the importing 
countries do not require such testing. As such, the proposed rule would 
represent a reduction in compliance costs currently associated with 
export requirements for live cattle. APHIS estimates the average cost 
of tuberculosis testing for cattle ranges from $10 to $12 per head. In 
addition, APHIS estimates the cost of an official herd blood test for 
brucellosis to be $3 per animal. APHIS welcomes public comment 
regarding the exact costs for tuberculosis tests and brucellosis tests 
per animal. Assuming a producer located in a State that is Accredited-
free for tuberculosis and Class Free for brucellosis were to export 
cattle to a country where pre-export testing requirements were 
eliminated, the cost savings that the producer would capture as a 
result of the proposed change to the regulations would depend on the 
number of animals exported. Again, the exact number of domestic 
producers whose operations depend on the export of cattle is unknown. 
However, given the average per-head value of $916, the cost saved by 
not having to test for tuberculosis and brucellosis prior to export is 
not expected to be economically significant, as the combined cost of 
the tests represents a small percentage of the per-head value of the 
cattle.
    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 12372

    This program/activity is listed in the Catalog of Federal Domestic 
Assistance under No. 10.025 and is subject to Executive Order 12372, 
which requires intergovernmental consultation with State and local 
officials. (See 7 CFR part 3015, subpart V.)

Executive Order 12988

    This proposed 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 in conflict 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 new 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 91

    Animal diseases, Animal welfare, Exports, Livestock, Reporting and 
recordkeeping requirements, Transportation.

    Accordingly, we propose to amend 9 CFR part 91 as follows:

PART 91--INSPECTION AND HANDLING OF LIVESTOCK FOR EXPORTATION

    1. The authority citation for part 91 would continue to read as 
follows:

    Authority: 7 U.S.C. 8301-8317; 19 U.S.C. 1644a(c); 21 U.S.C. 
136, 136a, and 618; 46 U.S.C. 3901 and 3902; 7 CFR 2.22, 2.80, and 
371.4.

    2. In Sec.  91.1, the definition of official brucellosis vaccinate 
would be revised to read as follows:


Sec.  91.1  Definitions.

* * * * *

[[Page 1195]]

    Official brucellosis vaccinate. An official adult vaccinate or an 
official calfhood vaccinate as defined in Sec.  78.1 of this chapter.
* * * * *
    3. Section 91.5 would be amended as follows:
    a. In paragraph (a)(1), by removing the word ``or'' at the end of 
paragraph (a)(1)(i); by removing the citation ``9 CFR 77.1'' in 
paragraph (a)(1)(ii) and adding the citation ``Sec.  77.7 of this 
chapter'' in its place; by removing the period at the end of paragraph 
(a)(1)(ii) and adding a semicolon in its place; and by adding new 
paragraphs (a)(1)(iii) and (a)(1)(iv) to read as set forth below.
    b. In paragraph (b)(1), by removing the word ``or'' at the end of 
paragraph (b)(1)(iv), by removing the period at the end of paragraph 
(b)(1)(v) and adding a semicolon in its place, and by adding new 
paragraphs (b)(1)(vi) and (b)(1)(vii) to read as set forth below.


Sec.  91.5  Cattle.

* * * * *
    (a) * * *
    (1) * * *
    (iii) Cattle exported to a country that does not require cattle 
from the United States to be tested for tuberculosis as described in 
this part; or
    (iv) Cattle exported from a State designated as an Accredited-free 
State in Sec.  77.7 of this chapter to a country that does not require 
cattle from Accredited-free States to be tested for tuberculosis as 
described in this part.
* * * * *
    (b) * * *
    (1) * * *
    (vi) Cattle exported to a country that does not require cattle from 
the United States to be tested for brucellosis as described in this 
part; or
    (vii) Cattle exported from a State designated as a Class Free State 
in Sec.  78.41 of this chapter to a country that does not require 
cattle from Class Free States to be tested for brucellosis as described 
in this part.
* * * * *

    Done in Washington, DC, this 3rd day of January 2007.
Kevin Shea,
Acting Administrator, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
[FR Doc. E7-111 Filed 1-9-07; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-34-P