2023-18112. Swine Vesicular Disease Status of the Regions of Tuscany and Umbria, Italy

AGENCY:

Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, USDA.

ACTION:

Notice of availability.

SUMMARY:

We are advising the public that we are proposing to recognize the regions of Tuscany and Umbria, Italy as being free of swine vesicular disease. This proposed recognition is based on a risk evaluation we have prepared in connection with this action, which we are making available for review and comment.

DATES:

We will consider all comments that we receive on or before October 23, 2023.

ADDRESSES:

You may submit comments by either of the following methods:

• Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to www.regulations.gov. Enter APHIS–2023–0028 in the Search field. Select the Documents tab, then select the Comment button in the list of documents.

• Postal Mail/Commercial Delivery: Send your comment to Docket No. APHIS–2023–0028, Regulatory Analysis and Development, PPD, APHIS, Station 3A–03.8, 4700 River Road, Unit 118, Riverdale, MD 20737–1238.

Supporting documents and any comments we receive on this docket may be viewed at regulations.gov or in our reading room, which is located in room 1620 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 sure someone is there to help you, please call (202) 799–7039 before coming.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Dr. Chip Wells, Senior Veterinary Medical Officer, Regionalization Evaluation Services (RES), Strategy & Policy, Veterinary Services, APHIS, 4700 River Road, Unit 38, Riverdale, MD 20737–1231; (301) 851–3317; email: [e-mail].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

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, including swine vesicular disease (SVD). This is a dangerous and communicable disease of swine.

Within part 94, § 94.12 contains requirements governing the importation of pork or pork products from regions where SVD exists. Section 94.14 prohibits the importation of domestic swine that are moved from or transit any region in which SVD is known to exist.

In accordance with § 94.12(a)(1), the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) maintains a web-based list of regions which the Agency considers free of SVD. Paragraph (a)(2) of this section states that APHIS will add a region to this list after it conducts an evaluation of the region and finds that SVD is not present.

The regulations in § 92.2 contain requirements for requesting the recognition of the animal health status of a region (as well as for the approval of the export of a particular type of animal or animal product to the United States from a foreign region). If, after review and evaluation of the information submitted in support of the request, APHIS believes the request can be safely granted, APHIS will make its evaluation available for public comment through a document published in the Federal Register . Following the close of the comment period, APHIS will review all comments received and will make a final determination regarding the request that will be detailed in another document published in the Federal Register .

The Government of Italy has requested that APHIS evaluate the SVD disease status of the regions of Tuscany and Umbria. In response to Italy's request, we have prepared an evaluation, titled “APHIS Evaluation of Toscana and Umbria, Italy for Swine Vesicular Disease” (November 2022).^[1] Based on the evaluation, we have determined that the regions of Tuscany and Umbria, Italy are free of SVD. APHIS has also determined that the surveillance, prevention, and control measures implemented by Italy are sufficient to minimize the likelihood of introducing SVD into the United States via imports of species or products susceptible to these diseases. Our determination supports adding the regions of Tuscany and Umbria, Italy to the web-based list of regions that APHIS considers free of SVD.

Therefore, in accordance with § 92.2(g), we are announcing the availability of our evaluation of the SVD status of the regions of Tuscany and Umbria, Italy for public review and comment. We are also announcing the availability of an environmental assessment (EA), which has been prepared in accordance with: (1) The National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA), as amended (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.), (2) regulations of the Council on Environmental Quality for implementing the procedural provision of NEPA (40 CFR parts 1500–1508), (3) USDA regulations implementing NEPA (7 CFR part 1b), and (4) APHIS' NEPA Implementing Procedures (7 CFR part 372). The evaluation and EA may be viewed on the Regulations.gov website or in our reading room. (Instructions for accessing Regulations.gov and information on the location and hours of the reading room are provided under the heading ADDRESSES at the beginning of this notice.) The documents are also available by contacting the person listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT .

Information submitted in support of Italy's request is available by contacting the person listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT .

After reviewing any comments we receive, we will announce our decision regarding the disease status of the regions of Tuscany and Umbria, Italy with respect to SVD in a subsequent notice.

Authority: 7 U.S.C. 1633, 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.

Done in Washington, DC, this 17th day of August 2023.

Michael Watson,

Acting Administrator, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.

Footnotes

1.  Tuscany and Toscana are equivalent.