[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 211 (Wednesday, November 1, 1995)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 55440-55443]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-27009]
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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service
9 CFR Part 94
[Docket No. 95-050-2]
Uruguay; Change in Disease Status
AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, USDA.
ACTION: Final rule.
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[[Page 55441]]
SUMMARY: We are amending the regulations to declare Uruguay free of
rinderpest and foot-and-mouth disease. As part of this action, we are
adding Uruguay to the list of countries that, although declared free of
rinderpest and foot-and-mouth disease, are subject to restrictions on
meat and other animal products offered for importation into the United
States. Declaring Uruguay free of rinderpest and foot-and-mouth disease
is appropriate because the last outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease in
Uruguay occurred in 1990, there have been no vaccinations for foot-and-
mouth disease in Uruguay since June 1994, and rinderpest has never
existed in Uruguay. This rule will remove the prohibition on the
importation into the United States, from Uruguay, of ruminants and
fresh, chilled, and frozen meat of ruminants, although those
importations would be subject to certain restrictions. This rule will
also relieve certain prohibitions and restrictions on the importation,
from Uruguay, of milk and milk products of ruminants.
EFFECTIVE DATE: November 16, 1995.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. John Blackwell, Senior Staff
Microbiologist, Import/Export Products, National Center for Import and
Export, VS, APHIS, 4700 River Road Unit 40, Riverdale, MD 20737-1231,
(301) 734-5875.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
The regulations in 9 CFR 94 (referred to below as the regulations)
govern the importation into the United States of specified animals and
animal products in order to prevent the introduction into the United
States of various animal diseases, including rinderpest and foot-and-
mouth disease (FMD). Rinderpest and FMD are dangerous and destructive
communicable diseases of ruminants and swine.
On August 4, 1995, we published in the Federal Register (60 FR
39890-39893, Docket No. 95-050-1) a proposal to amend the regulations
by adding Uruguay to list in Sec. 94.1(a)(2) of countries declared to
be free of both rinderpest and FMD. In that document, we also proposed
to add Uruguay to the list in Sec. 94.11(a) of countries that, although
declared free of rinderpest and FMD, are subject to special
restrictions on the importation of their meat and other animal products
into the United States.
We solicited comments concerning our proposal for 60 days ending
October 3, 1995. We received 7 comments by that date. They were from
industry associations, a beef importer, a meat-food processor, and
representatives of the government of Uruguay. We carefully considered
all of the comments we received. All comments were supportive of the
proposed rule. However, one of the commenters requested additional
information about some specific provisions of the proposed rule. That
comment is discussed below.
Comment: The proposed rule did not completely review Sec. 94.11 and
the relevant elements of 9 CFR chapter 3 so we could efficiently review
the existing regulations. The final rule must address the following key
issues so we can fully understand the scope of efforts taken to reduce
the risk of FMD:
(1) Uruguay must maintain strict border control.
(2) Uruguay must have a significant veterinary infrastructure
including monitoring and surveillance for FMD. The Animal and Plant
Health Inspection Service (APHIS) should have a presence in Uruguay to
verify compliance efforts.
(3) There should be no commingling of animals or animal products,
nor opportunity for commingling.
(4) APHIS should conduct ongoing assessments of the production
capacity of Uruguay to provide early indication of efforts to
circumvent restrictions regarding commingling of animals and animal
products from other countries.
(5) All meat must be completely deboned and of the proper pH prior
to export to ensure that FMD is neither present nor viable.
(6) Uruguayan slaughter and processing plants qualified to export
to the United States must process meat and other animal products in
accordance with all United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and
Food and Drug Administration regulations.
(7) APHIS must be prepared to act promptly if there is a foreign
animal disease outbreak in the United States.
Response: In 1994, a team of APHIS officials traveled to Uruguay to
conduct an on-site evaluation of the country's animal health program
with regard to the rinderpest and FMD situation in Uruguay. The
evaluation consisted of a review of Uruguay's veterinary services,
diagnostic procedures, vaccination practices, and administration of
laws and regulations intended to prevent the introduction of rinderpest
and FMD into Uruguay through the importation of animals, meat, or
animal products. The APHIS officials conducting the on-site evaluation
concluded that Uruguay is free of rinderpest and FMD and that the
country's veterinary infrastructure is exemplary.
The United States and Uruguay both belong to the Organization
Internationale des Epizooties (OIE). Uruguay is required to report
changes in animal health status to the OIE, and any such changes would
be reported to the United States. In addition, the Food Safety and
Inspection Service (FSIS), USDA, performs periodic inspections of the
USDA-approved plants. APHIS can inquire of FSIS regarding the general
condition of the plants and the health status of animals going to
slaughter in the plants.
Further, the APHIS officials who visited Uruguay in 1994 evaluated
all border crossing points and determined that the country's veterinary
infrastructure is sufficient to maintain them. The regional sanitary
situation also reduces the risk of FMD spreading into Uruguay.
Argentina has not detected a focus of FMD since April of 1994. The last
cases of FMD in the Brazilian States of Santa Catalina and Rio Grande
do Sul occurred in December of 1993. Paraguay has recently completed
one full year of clinical absence of the disease in all of its
territory. Rinderpest has never occurred in Argentina, Brazil, or
Paraguay.
Uruguay shares a common land border with countries that have not
been declared free of FMD. Uruguay also supplements its national meat
supply by importing fresh, chilled, and frozen meat of ruminants and
swine from countries where rinderpest or FMD exists. Therefore,
although Uruguay is free of rinderpest and FMD, Uruguay's meat and
animal products are still subject to Sec. 94.11 and parts of chapter 3
of 9 CFR. Section 94.11 requires that meat and other animal products
imported into the United States from Uruguay are accompanied by a
health certificate signed by a veterinary official of Uruguay
confirming that they have not been commingled, directly or indirectly,
with meat or animal products from a country where rinderpest or FMD
exists. Section 94.11 and chapter 3 of 9 CFR require that meat and
other animal products consigned to the United States by Uruguay must
also be accompanied by a Department-approved foreign meat inspection
certificate to ensure that they were derived from livestock which was
inspected by a veterinarian before and after slaughter, were handled in
a sanitary manner, and were otherwise in accordance with requirements
equivalent to those in the Federal Meat Inspection Act and related
regulations. In addition, chapter 3 requires that slaughtering and
processing establishments in Uruguay must be certified in order to have
their products imported into the United States. Certifications of
establishments must be
[[Page 55442]]
renewed annually. These required certifications verify that the meat
and other animal products being imported into the United States from
Uruguay meet the conditions of our regulations.
The purpose of the requirements that all meat must be completely
deboned and of the proper pH prior to export is to eliminate rinderpest
and FMD disease organisms from the meat. These requirements do not
apply to Uruguay, because the country has been declared free of
rinderpest and FMD.
APHIS has an emergency programs staff which has developed
procedures for decontamination, control, and eradication of FMD should
an outbreak occur in the United States.
Therefore, based on the rationale set forth in the proposed rule
and in this document, we are adopting the provisions of the proposal as
a final rule.
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 removes the
prohibition on the importation, from Uruguay, of ruminants and fresh,
chilled, and frozen meat of ruminants into the United States from
Uruguay and relieves restrictions on the importation, from Uruguay, of
milk and milk products of ruminants. We have determined that
approximately 2 weeks are needed to ensure that Animal and Plant Health
Inspection Service 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 made 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. For this
action, the Office of Management and Budget has waived its review
process required by Executive Order 12866.
This final rule amends the regulations in part 94 by adding Uruguay
to the list of countries declared free of rinderpest and FMD. This
action will remove the prohibition on the importation into the United
States, from Uruguay, of ruminants and fresh, chilled, and frozen meat
of ruminants, although these imports will be subject to certain
restrictions. This rule will also relieve restrictions on the
importation, from Uruguay, of milk and milk products of ruminants. This
action will not relieve restrictions on the importation of live swine
and fresh, chilled, and frozen meat of swine from Uruguay, because
Uruguay has not been declared free of hog cholera.
The primary effects of this change in the regulations will be
limited to bovine meat and prepared products. Swine and swine products
are excluded because of restrictions due to hog cholera, and the United
States has not imported any mutton, lamb, or goat meat from Uruguay in
the last 2 years. This situation is not expected to change as a result
of the rule.
This rule is expected to affect United States imports of various
animal products from Uruguay, including embryos, semen, breeding
animals, and other products.
The increase in beef imports resulting from the rule change is
expected to have a minimal negative impact on producers, while
benefitting consumers.
Uruguayan beef production is made up mostly of grass-fed product.
Grass-fed animals take longer to reach slaughter weights and are
lighter at slaughter than grain-fed cattle. As a result, although
Uruguayan cattle inventories (10.4 million at the end of 1994) are
about 10 percent of United States cattle inventories (103.3 million on
January 1, 1995), Uruguayan beef production runs at only 2 to 4 percent
of United States production. Uruguay currently exports one third of its
beef production. However, Uruguay is not expected to exceed the 20,000
metric ton (MT) tariff-free quota limit for exports of beef into the
United States established under the General Agreement on Tariffs and
Trade (GATT).
Twenty-two percent of United States beef consumption goes into
``non table-cut'' applications, such as fast-food hamburgers and other
prepared meats; 78 percent of United States beef consumption goes into
consumer applications, such as steak and filet mignon, that require
beef produced from grain-fed cattle. (Beef produced in the United
States comes predominantly from grain-fed cattle and is used for
higher-quality table-cuts.) Most of the beef exported from Uruguay is
produced from grass-fed cattle and is suitable for lower-quality, non
table-cut applications. However, select cuts of beef from grass-fed
cattle may be of the same quality as cuts from grain-fed cattle. For
the most part, beef exports from Uruguay will affect the market for non
table-cut beef in the United States.
Beef and dairy farms and feedlot operators will experience the
greatest impact as a result of the rule. According to Small Business
Administration (SBA) criteria, beef and dairy farms with annual sales
of less than $0.5 million are considered small. In 1992, 801,940
operations with beef cows were considered small. These small farms
averaged sales of $20,976 in 1992, as opposed to average sales of $1.3
million on large farms.
Recent USDA data indicated that 152,500 dairy farms were considered
small. In addition to the sale of dairy products, the sale of culled
dairy cattle and young stock not retained for milking or breeding
contributed to dairy farm income. In the worst case scenario, the rule
change could produce a drop in net farm income of $15 on small beef
farms and $83 on small dairy farms when imports were assumed to consist
of beef from grass-fed cattle.
With regards to the sale of dairy products, the Department does not
anticipate a major increase in exports of milk and milk products from
Uruguay into the United States as a result of this rule change. Only
about 10 percent of Uruguay's cow herd is made up of dairy cows, and it
is expected that the increase in beef cattle returns will not
significantly alter this situation. In addition, all dairy products
imported into the United States are restricted by quotas except for
casein, caseinate, and other casein derivatives (hereafter referred to
as casein), which are dry milk products. The United States does not
produce casein, but does import more than half of the casein produced
in the world. Uruguay has not exported casein to the United States in
recent years. Declaring Uruguay free of FMD is expected to have a
minimal effect on the amount of casein imported into the United States.
According to the SBA, feedlots with sales of less than $1.5 million
are considered small. Recent USDA data indicate that 30 percent of
feedlots in the United States are considered small. In the worst case
scenario, the rule change could produce a loss of $30 per year in gross
sales for a small feedlot.
The impact of the rule on cattle dealers/haulers and cattle
slaughterers/primary processors will be minimal because the reduction
in the number of cattle marketed and the number of truck hauls required
to move them will be very small in relation to the current numbers.
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.
[[Page 55443]]
Executive Order 12778
This rule has been reviewed under Executive Order 12778, 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 rule contains no 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 94
Animal diseases, Imports, Livestock, Meat and meat products, Milk,
Poultry and poultry products, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements.
Accordingly, 9 CFR part 94 is amended as follows:
PART 94--RINDERPEST, FOOT-AND-MOUTH DISEASE, FOWL PEST (FOWL
PLAGUE), VELOGENIC VISCEROTROPIC 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, 134f, 136, and 136a; 31
U.S.C. 9701; 42 U.S.C. 4331, 4332; 7 CFR 2.17, 2.51, and 371.2(d).
Sec. 94.1 [Amended]
2. In Sec. 94.1, paragraph (a)(2) is amended by removing ``and
Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands'' and adding ``Trust Territory
of the Pacific Islands, and Uruguay'' in its place.
Sec. 94.11 [Amended]
5. In Sec. 94.11, paragraph (a), the first sentence is amended by
removing ``and Switzerland'' and adding ``Switzerland, and Uruguay'' in
its place.
Done in Washington, DC, this 26th day of October 1995.
Lonnie J. King,
Administrator, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
[FR Doc. 95-27009 Filed 10-31-95; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-34-P
