[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 137 (Monday, July 19, 1999)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 38548-38551]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-18320]
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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service
9 CFR Part 94
[Docket No. 98-028-2]
Importation of Poultry Products
AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, USDA.
ACTION: Final rule.
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SUMMARY: We are amending the regulations for importing animal products
to allow the importation of poultry carcasses and parts or products of
poultry carcasses from regions where exotic Newcastle disease (END) is
considered to exist if they originated in a region free of END and meet
certain conditions with respect to processing and shipping. This action
removes some restrictions on the importation of poultry products from
regions where END is considered to exist. We believe the conditions for
importation will continue to protect the United States from END.
EFFECTIVE DATE: July 19, 1999.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. Michael David, Senior Staff
Veterinarian, Animals and Germplasm Programs, National Center for
Import and Export, VS, APHIS, 4700 River Road Unit 39, Riverdale, MD
20737; (301) 734-5034; or e-mail: michael.j.david@usda.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
The regulations in 9 CFR part 94 govern the importation of certain
animals, birds, poultry, meat, animal products, animal byproducts, hay,
and straw into the United States in order to prevent the introduction
of communicable diseases of livestock and poultry. The regulations in
Sec. 94.6 (referred to below as the regulations) govern, among other
things, the importation of poultry carcasses, parts, and products from
regions where exotic Newcastle disease (END) is considered to exist.
Under the regulations in place when our proposed rule was
published, poultry carcasses and parts or products of poultry carcasses
could be imported into the United States from regions where END was
considered to exist if certain conditions were met, such as the poultry
carcasses were sent to an approved museum, were hermetically sealed and
cooked, or were thoroughly cooked. The regulations were described in
greater detail in the proposed rule.
On December 9, 1998, we published in the Federal Register (63 CFR
67809-67813, Docket No. 98-028-1) a proposal to amend Sec. 94.6 to
allow poultry carcasses and parts or products of poultry carcasses to
be imported into the United States from regions where END is considered
to exist if they originated in a region free of END and meet certain
requirements with respect to processing and shipping.
We solicited comments concerning our proposal for 60 days ending
February 8, 1999. We received six comments by that date. They were from
representatives of State governments, trade associations, and the
scientific community. Four commenters supported the proposed rule. Two
commenters expressed concern that the proposed rule would have negative
effects on the U.S. domestic poultry processing industry. Their
concerns are addressed below.
Comment: The proposed ``system'' of poultry carcass export,
processing, and reimportation cannot be assured to be risk free. There
is no inspection or enforcement system strong enough to ensure that END
will not be introduced into the United States.
Response: If zero tolerance for disease risk were the standard
applied to international trade in agricultural commodities, it is quite
likely that no country would ever be able to export a fresh animal
product to any other country. There will always be some degree of
disease risk associated with the movement of animal products; APHIS'
goal is to reduce that risk to an insignificant level. For the reasons
explained in the proposed rule, we believe that the safeguards
contained in this final rule will reduce the disease risk associated
with the importation of poultry carcasses and parts or products of
poultry carcasses to an insignificant level.
Comment: The current import restrictions for Mexican poultry are
consistent with the United States obligations under the North American
Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), Article 712.1, and do not require
amendment.
Response: Article 712.1 of NAFTA states.
Each [country] may, in accordance with this Section, adopt,
maintain, or apply any sanitary or phytosanitary measure necessary
for the protection of human, animal, or plant life or health in its
territory, including a measure more stringent than an international
standard, guideline, or recommendation.
While Article 712.1 allows a country to adopt measures more
stringent than an international standard, we believe other NAFTA
Articles, including
[[Page 38549]]
Articles 712.5 and 715.3, obligate us to take this action. Under
Article 712.5:
Each [country] shall ensure that any sanitary or phytosanitary
measure that it adopts, maintains, or applies is applied only to the
extent necessary to achieve its appropriate level of protection . .
.
Further, Article 715.3 states:
Each [country], in establishing its appropriate level of
protection . . . should take into account the objective of
minimizing negative trade effects.
The Mexican Government requested the change we are making in this
rule. This rule will allow poultry carcasses and parts or products of
poultry carcasses from regions that are free of END to be imported into
the United States via another region where END is considered to exist,
provided the meat or other products have been safeguarded as specified
in this rule to prevent contamination. We have determined that such
poultry meat or other poultry products will not present a significant
risk of introducing END into the United States. Therefore, we believe
we are obligated under NAFTA to proceed with this action.
Comment: The major result of the proposal would be to encourage the
export of poultry carcasses from the United States to Mexico for
processing with the finished product returned to the United States for
final sale. The proposal would lead to the establishment of a poultry
processing industry in Mexico, where worker safety and health and
environmental standards are lax.
Response: As stated below in our Final Regulatory Flexibility
Analysis, we cannot determine the extent to which this rule will
encourage, or result in, increased volumes of poultry to be exported
from the United States for processing in Mexico. However, it is likely
that any increased poultry production would be a small percentage of
Mexico's total poultry production. Further, we believe it is highly
unlikely that new processing facilities will be constructed
specifically to process poultry eligible for export to the United
States under this rule, since there is already a large poultry
processing industry in place in Mexico. Because the poultry eligible
for export under this rule would likely be processed in existing
facilities and would represent a small percentage of Mexico's total
production, this rule would likely have a minimal effect on worker
health and safety and the environment.
Therefore, for the reasons given in the proposed rule and in this
document, we are adopting the proposed rule as a final rule, without
change.
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 action removes
some restrictions on the importation of poultry products from regions
where END is considered to exist. Therefore, the Administrator of the
Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service has determined that this
rule should be effective upon 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.
In accordance with 5 U.S.C. 604, we have performed a Final
Regulatory Flexibility Analysis, which is set out below, regarding the
economic effects of this rule on small entities.
This rule amends the regulations for importing animal products to
allow the importation of poultry carcasses and parts or products of
poultry carcasses from regions where exotic Newcastle disease (END) is
considered to exist if they originated in a region free of END and meet
certain conditions with respect to processing and shipping. This rule
removes some restrictions on the importation of poultry carcasses and
parts or products of poultry carcasses from regions where END is
considered to exist. As stated in our proposal, the most likely outcome
of this rule is that U.S.-origin poultry carcasses and parts or
products of poultry carcasses would be shipped to Mexico for processing
and then returned to the United States.
In our proposal, we solicited comments on the potential effects of
the proposed action on small entities. In particular, we sought data
and other information to determine the number and kind of small
entities that may incur benefits or costs from the implementation of
the proposed rule. We received no comments providing specific data in
relation to the proposed rule's Initial Regulatory Flexibility
Analysis, but two of the commenters expressed concern that the proposal
could negatively affect U.S. poultry processing establishments that
could lose business to less costly Mexican processing operations.
Our Initial Regulatory Flexibility Analysis agreed that it is
possible that, under this rule, U.S. producers would ship poultry
carcasses or products to Mexico for processing to take advantage of
lower processing costs or to use Mexican processing plants as
supplements to the existing U.S. workforce and facilities. However, we
stated that we could not predict to what extent U.S. firms would elect
to send poultry to Mexico for processing, nor could we determine what
effect this rule would have on the volume of poultry processed in U.S.
processing facilities. The commenters did not provide any data.
Therefore, we are unable to determine the effect of this rule on small
or large poultry processors in the United States.
This rule may benefit U.S. truckers and haulers, wholesale traders,
and poultry producers and packers, who stand to benefit from increased
Mexican trade. However, as stated above, because we are unable to
predict the volume of processed poultry meat or other poultry products
that would be imported into the United States under this rule, we
cannot determine the effect of this rule on the U.S. entities listed
above, whether small or large.
Trade Relations
This rule removes some restrictions on the importation of poultry
carcasses and parts or products of poultry carcasses from regions where
END is considered to exist. Consequently, the rule could encourage a
positive trading environment between the United States and Mexico and
other regions where END is considered to exist by stimulating economic
activity and providing export opportunities to foreign poultry
processing industries.
Alternatives Considered
In developing this rule, we considered: (1) Making no changes to
the regulations governing the importation of poultry from regions where
END is considered to exist; (2) allowing the importation of poultry
carcasses and parts or products of poultry carcasses that originated in
a region free of END but that were processed in a region where END is
considered to exist under conditions different from those proposed; or
(3) allowing the importation of poultry carcasses and parts or products
of poultry carcasses that originated in a region free of END but that
were processed in a region where END is considered to exist under the
conditions in this document.
We rejected the first alternative because we believe this rule
provides a way to remove trade restrictions while maintaining adequate
safeguards against the introduction of END into the United States.
Under these circumstances,
[[Page 38550]]
making no changes to the regulations would be contrary to trade
agreements entered into by the United States.
We also rejected the second alternative because we believe that
conditions less stringent than those proposed would increase the risk
of the introduction of END into the United States to more than a
negligible level and that more stringent conditions would be
unnecessarily restrictive. We consider the conditions in this rule to
be both effective and necessary in keeping at a negligible level the
risk of imported poultry products introducing END into the United
States.
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
In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C.
3501 et seq.), the information collection or recordkeeping requirements
included in this rule have been approved by the Office of Management
and Budget (OMB) under OMB control number 0579-0141.
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.
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, HOG
CHOLERA, AND BOVINE SPONGIFORM ENCEPHALOPATHY: PROHIBITED AND
RESTRICTED IMPORTATIONS
1. The authority citation for part 94 continues to read as follows:
Authority: 7 U.S.C. 147a, 150ee, 161, 162, and 450; 19 U.S.C.
1306; 21 U.S.C. 111, 114a, 134a, 134b, 134c, 136, and 136a; 31
U.S.C. 9701; 42 U.S.C. 4331 and 4332; 7 CFR 2.22, 2.80, and
371.2(d).
Sec. 94.18 Amended]
2. In Sec. 94.18, footnotes 15 and 16 and their references are
redesignated as footnotes 17 and 18, respectively.
Sec. 94.17 [Amended]
3. In Sec. 94.17, footnote 2 is redesignated as footnote 16 and is
revised to read: ``See footnote 15 in Sec. 94.17(e) of this part.''
Secs. 94.6, 94.8, 94.9, 94.12, 94.16, and 94.17 [Amended]
4. In Secs. 94.6, 94.8, 94.9, 94.12, 94.16, and 94.17, footnotes 5
through 14 and their references are redesignated as footnotes 6 through
15, respectively.
5. In Sec. 94.12 the newly redesignated footnote 13 is revised to
read: ``See footnote 10 in Sec. 94.9 of this part.''
6. In Sec. 94.6, the section heading is revised, paragraph (c)(5)
is redesignated as paragraph (c)(6), and a new paragraph (c)(5) is
added to read as follows:
Sec. 94.6 Carcasses, parts or products of carcasses, and eggs (other
than hatching eggs) of poultry, game birds, or other birds;
importations from regions where exotic Newcastle disease (END) or S.
enteritidis is considered to exist.
* * * * *
(c) * * *
(5) Poultry carcasses or parts or products of poultry carcasses
that originated in a region considered to be free of END and are
processed (cut, packaged, and/or cooked) in a region where END is
considered to exist may be imported under the following conditions:
(i) Shipment to approved establishments. (A) The poultry carcasses
or parts or products of poultry carcasses must be shipped from the END-
free region where they originated in closed containers sealed with
serially numbered seals applied by an official of the national
government of that region. They must be accompanied by a certificate
that is signed by an official of that region's national government and
that specifies the products' region of origin, the processing
establishment to which the poultry carcasses or parts or products of
poultry carcasses are consigned, and the numbers of the seals applied
to the shipping containers.
(B) the poultry carcasses or parts or products of poultry carcasses
may be removed from containers at the processing establishment in the
region where END is considered to exist only after an official of that
region's national government has determined that the seals are intact
and free of any evidence of tampering. The official must attest to this
fact by signing the certificate accompanying the shipment.
(ii) Handling of poultry carcasses or parts or products of poultry
carcasses. Establishments \5\ in regions where END is considered to
exist that process poultry carcasses or parts or products of poultry
carcasses for export to the United States:
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\5\ As a condition of entry into the United States, poultry or
poultry products must also meet all of the requirements of the
Poultry Products Inspection Act (21 U.S.C. 451 et seq.) and
regulations thereunder (9 CFR part 381), including requirements that
the poultry or poultry products be prepared only in approved
establishments.
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(A) May not receive or handle any live poultry.
(B) Must keep any records required by this section on file at the
facility for a period of at least 2 years after export of processed
products to the United States, and must make those records available to
USDA inspectors during inspections.
(C) May process poultry carcasses or parts or products of poultry
carcasses that originate in both END-free regions and regions where END
is considered to exist, provided that:
(1) All areas, utensils, and equipment likely to contact the
poultry carcasses or parts or products of poultry carcasses to be
processed, including skimming, deboning, cutting, and packing areas,
are cleaned and disinfected between processing poultry from regions
where END is considered to exist and poultry carcasses or parts or
products of poultry carcasses from END-free regions.
(2) Poultry carcasses or parts or products of poultry carcasses
intended for export to the United States are not handled, cut, or
otherwise processed at the same time as any poultry not eligible for
export to the United States.
(3) Poultry carcasses or parts or products of poultry carcasses
intended for export to the United States are packed in clean new
packaging that is clearly distinguishable from that containing any
poultry not eligible for export to the United States.
(4) Poultry carcasses or parts or products of poultry carcasses are
stored in a manner that ensures that no cross-contamination occurs.
(iii) Cooperative service agreement. Operators of processing
establishments must enter into a cooperative service agreement with
APHIS to pay all expenses incurred by APHIS in inspecting the
establishment. APHIS anticipates that such inspections will occur once
a year. The cooperative service account must always contain a balance
that is at least equal to the cost of one inspection. APHIS will charge
the cooperative service account for travel, salary, and subsistence of
APHIS employees, as well as administrative overhead and other
incidental expenses (including excess baggage charges up to 150
pounds).
(iv) Shipment to the United States. Poultry carcasses and parts or
products
[[Page 38551]]
of poultry carcasses to be imported into the United States must be
shipped from the region where they were processed in closed containers
sealed with serially numbered seals applied by an official of the
national government of that region. The shipments must be accompanied
by a certificate signed by an official of the national government of
the region where the poultry was processed that lists the numbers of
the seals applied and states that all of the conditions of this section
have been met. A copy of this certificate must be kept on file at the
processing establishment for at least 2 years.
* * * * *
Done in Washington, DC, this 13th day of July, 1999.
Charles P. Schwalbe,
Acting Administrator, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
[FR Doc. 99-18320 Filed 7-16-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-34-M
