[Federal Register: July 16, 2002 (Volume 67, Number 136)]
[Notices]
[Page 46628-46629]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr16jy02-38]
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[[Page 46628]]
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service
[Docket No. 01-018-2]
Availability of Evaluation Related to FMD Status of Great Britain
AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, USDA.
ACTION: Notice of availability and request for comments.
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SUMMARY: We are advising the public that an evaluation has been
prepared by the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service concerning
the foot-and-mouth disease status of Great Britain (England, Scotland,
Wales, and the Isle of Man) and the related disease risks associated
with importing animals and animal products into the United States from
Great Britain. This evaluation will be used as a basis for determining
whether to relieve certain prohibitions and restrictions on the
importation of ruminants and swine and fresh (chilled or frozen) meat
and other products of ruminants and swine into the United States from
Great Britain. We are making this evaluation available to the public
for review and comment.
DATES: We will consider all comments that we receive on or before
September 16, 2002.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by postal mail/commercial delivery
or by e-mail. If you use postal mail/commercial delivery, please send
four copies of your comment (an original and three copies) to: Docket
No. 01-018-2, Regulatory Analysis and Development, PPD, APHIS, Station
3C71, 4700 River Road Unit 118, Riverdale, MD 20737-1238. Please state
that your comment refers to Docket No. 01-018-2. If you use e-mail,
address your comment to regulations@aphis.usda.gov. Your comment must
be contained in the body of your message; do not send attached files.
Please include your name and address in your message and ``Docket No.
01-018-2'' on the subject line.
You may read any comments that we receive on the evaluation 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 sure someone is there to help you,
please call (202) 690-2817 before coming.
APHIS documents published in the Federal Register, and related
information, including the names of organizations and individuals who
have commented on APHIS dockets, are available on the Internet at
http://www.aphis.usda.gov/ppd/rad/webrepor.html.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. Anne Goodman, Supervisory Staff
Officer, Regionalization Evaluation Services, VS, APHIS, 4700 River
Road Unit 38, Riverdale, MD 20737-1231; (301) 734-4356.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
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 rinderpest and foot-and-mouth
disease (FMD). These are dangerous and destructive communicable
diseases of ruminants and swine. Section 94.1 of the regulations lists
regions of the world that are considered free of rinderpest or free of
both rinderpest and FMD. Rinderpest or FMD is considered to exist in
all parts of the world not listed. Section 94.11 of the regulations
lists regions of the world that the Animal and Plant Health Inspection
Service (APHIS) has determined to be free of rinderpest and FMD, but
from which importation of meat and animal products into the United
States is restricted because of the regions' proximity to or trading
relationships with rinderpest- or FMD-affected regions.
In an interim rule effective January 15, 2001, and published in the
Federal Register on March 14, 2001 (66 FR 14825-14826, Docket No. 01-
018-1), we amended the regulations by removing Great Britain (England,
Scotland, Wales, and the Isle of Man) and Northern Ireland from the
list of regions considered to be free of rinderpest and FMD. This
action was necessary because FMD had been confirmed in both of those
regions. The effect of the interim rule was to prohibit or restrict the
importation of any ruminant or swine and any fresh (chilled or frozen)
meat and other products of ruminants or swine into the United States
from Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
Although we removed Great Britain and Northern Ireland from the
list of regions considered to be free of rinderpest and FMD, we
recognized that the appropriate authorities had responded to the
detection of FMD by imposing restrictions on the movement of ruminants,
swine, and ruminant and swine products from FMD-affected areas; by
conducting heightened surveillance activities; and by initiating
measures to eradicate the disease. We stated that we intended to
reassess the situations in both regions at a future date in accordance
with Office International des Epizooties (OIE) standards, and that as
part of that reassessment process, we would consider all comments
received regarding the interim rules.
Additionally, we stated that the future reassessments would enable
us to determine whether it was necessary to continue to prohibit or
restrict the importation of ruminants or swine and any fresh (chilled
or frozen) meat and other products of ruminants or swine from Great
Britain and Northern Ireland, or whether we can restore Great Britain
and Northern Ireland to the list of regions in which FMD is not known
to exist, or regionalize portions of Great Britain or Northern Ireland
as FMD-free.
On January 9, 2002, we published a final rule in the Federal
Register (67 FR 1072-1074, Docket No. 01-031-3) in which we restored
Northern Ireland (as well as the Netherlands) to the list of regions
considered to be free of rinderpest and FMD and the list of regions
subject to certain import restrictions on meat and animal products
because of their proximity to or trading relationships with rinderpest-
or FMD-affected regions. The action with respect to Northern Ireland
and the Netherlands was based on the results of an evaluation that
found each region
[[Page 46629]]
met the standards of the OIE for being considered to be free of FMD.
In this notice, we are announcing the availability for review and
comment of a document entitled ``APHIS Evaluation of FMD Status of
Great Britain (England, Scotland, Wales, and the Isle of Man)'' (May
2002). This evaluation assesses the FMD status of Great Britain and the
related disease risks associated with importing animals and animal
products into the United States from Great Britain. This evaluation
will serve as a basis to determine whether to relieve certain
prohibitions and restrictions on the importation of ruminants and swine
and fresh (chilled or frozen) meat and other products of ruminants and
swine into the United States from Great Britain. We are making the
evaluation available for public comment for 60 days.
You may view the evaluation in our reading room (information on the
location and hours of the reading room is provided under the heading
ADDRESSES at the beginning of this notice).
You may also request a copy by calling or writing to the person
listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT. Please refer to the title
of the evaluation when requesting copies.
You may also view the evaluation on the Internet at http://
www.aphis.usda/gov/vs/reg-request.html. At the bottom of that website
page, click on ``Information previously submitted by Regions requesting
export approval and their supporting documentation.'' At the next
screen, click on the triangle beside ``European Union/Animals and
Animal Products/Foot-and-Mouth Disease,'' then on the triangle beside
``Response by APHIS.'' A link will then appear for ``APHIS Evaluation
of FMD Status of Great Britain (England, Scotland, Wales, and the Isle
of Man), May 2002.'' Following that link will allow you to view the
evaluation.
Authority: 7 U.S.C. 450, 7711-7714, 7751, 7754, 8303, 8306,
8308, 8310, 8311, and 8315; 21 U.S.C. 136 and 136a; 31 U.S.C. 9701;
42 U.S.C. 4331 and 4332; 7 CFR 2.22, 2.80, and 371.4.
Done in Washington, DC, this 10th day of July 2002 .
Peter Fernandez,
Acting Administrator, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
[FR Doc. 02-17795 Filed 7-15-02; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-34-P
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