[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 107 (Friday, June 5, 2009)]
[Notices]
[Pages 27006-27007]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-13154]


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 Notices
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 This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER contains documents other than rules 
 or proposed rules that are applicable to the public. Notices of hearings 
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  Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 107 / Friday, June 5, 2009 / 
Notices  

[[Page 27006]]



DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service

[Docket No. APHIS-2008-0121]


Notice of Determination of the High Pathogenicity Avian Influenza 
Subtype H5N1 Status of Germany and Poland

AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, USDA.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: We are advising the public of our determination regarding the 
high pathogenicity avian influenza (HPAI) subtype H5N1 status of 
Germany and Poland following outbreaks in 2006 and 2007. Based on 
assessments of the animal health status of the two countries, which we 
made available to the public for review and comment through a previous 
notice, the Administrator has determined that the importation of live 
birds, poultry carcasses, parts or products of poultry carcasses, and 
eggs (other than hatching eggs) of poultry, game birds, and other birds 
from either Germany (except Saxony, Germany) or Poland presents a low 
risk of introducing HPAI H5N1 into the United States.

DATES: Effective Date: This determination will be effective on June 22, 
2009.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Javier Vargas, Regionalization 
Evaluation Services Staff, National Center for Import and Export, VS, 
APHIS, 4700 River Road, Unit 38, Riverdale, MD 20737-1231; (301) 734-
0756.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background

    On January 2, 2009, we published in the Federal Register (74 FR 69-
70) a notice \1\ in which we announced the availability for review and 
comment of assessments of the animal health status of Germany and 
Poland relative to high pathogenicity avian influenza (HPAI) subtype 
H5N1. In the assessments, titled ``APHIS' Evaluation of the Status of 
High Pathogenicity Avian Influenza H5N1 (HPAI H5N1) in Germany'' 
(October 2008) and ``APHIS' Evaluation of the Status of High 
Pathogenicity Avian Influenza H5N1 virus in Poland'' (October 2008), we 
presented the results of our evaluation of the prevalence of HPAI H5N1 
in domestic poultry in the two countries in light of the actions taken 
by German and Polish animal health authorities during and since the 
outbreaks of HPAI H5N1 that occurred in those two regions in 2006 and 
2007.
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    \1\ To view the notice, the assessments, and the comment we 
received, go to http://www.regulations.gov/fdmspublic/component/main?main=DocketDetail&d=APHIS-2008-0121.
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    Our assessments concluded that both Germany and Poland had adequate 
detection and control measures in place at the time of the outbreaks, 
that they have been able to effectively control and eradicate HPAI H5N1 
in their domestic poultry populations since that time, and that both 
German and Polish animal health authorities have control measures in 
place to rapidly identify, control, and eradicate the disease should it 
be reintroduced into Germany or Poland in either wild birds or domestic 
poultry.
    In our January 2009 notice we stated that, if we could identify no 
additional risk factors that would indicate that domestic poultry in 
either Germany or Poland continue to be affected with HPAI H5N1 by the 
end of the comment period, we would conclude that the importation of 
live birds, poultry carcasses, parts of carcasses, and eggs (other than 
hatching eggs) of poultry, game birds, or other birds from regions of 
Germany and Poland presents a low risk of introducing HPAI H5N1 into 
the United States.
    We solicited comments on the notice for 30 days ending on February 
2, 2009. We received one comment on our assessments, from the Ministry 
of Agriculture and Rural Development of the Republic of Poland. The 
commenter agreed with our findings. Based on the comment we received, 
no changes were made to the evaluations.
    Therefore we are removing our prohibition on the importation of 
these products from Germany (except Saxony, Germany) and Poland into 
the United States. Specifically:
     We are no longer requiring that processed poultry products 
from Germany (except Saxony, Germany) and Poland be accompanied by a 
Veterinary Service import permit and government certification 
confirming that the products have been treated according to APHIS 
requirements;
     We are allowing unprocessed poultry products from Germany 
(except Saxony, Germany) and Poland to enter the United States in 
passenger luggage; and
     We are removing restrictions regarding the regions in 
Germany (except Saxony, Germany) and Poland from which processed 
poultry products may originate in order to be allowed entry into the 
United States in passenger luggage.
    However, live birds from Germany and Poland are still subject to 
the inspections at ports of entry and post-importation quarantines set 
forth in 9 CFR part 93, unless granted an exemption by the 
Administrator or destined for diagnostic purposes and accompanied by a 
limited permit.
    Additionally, in our January 2009 notice, we stated that for 
Germany, we would maintain the restrictions we imposed in response to a 
subsequent October 2008 outbreak until the European Commission lifted 
the restrictions it had imposed in response to that outbreak, at which 
point we would reevaluate the HPAI H5N1 status of the district of 
G[ouml]rlitz in Saxony.
    The restrictions put in place by the European Commission on October 
9, 2008, in response to the presence of HPAI H5N1 in a single flock of 
mixed species of domestic poultry in the district of G[ouml]rlitz in 
Saxony, were lifted on November 13, 2008, following extensive 
surveillance and epidemiologic investigations. Accordingly, we are 
publishing a notice in today's issue of the Federal Register, in which 
we make available, for review and comment, our assessment of the HPAI 
H5N1 status of Saxony, Germany.

    Authority:  7 U.S.C. 450, 7701-7772, 7781-7786, and 8301-8317; 
21 U.S.C. 136 and 136a; 31 U.S.C. 9701; 7 CFR 2.22, 2.80, and 371.4.


[[Page 27007]]


    Done in Washington, DC, this 1st day of June 2009.
Kevin Shea,
Acting Administrator, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
[FR Doc. E9-13154 Filed 6-4-09; 8:45 am]
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