[Federal Register: January 27, 2004 (Volume 69, Number 17)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Page 3819-3823]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr27ja04-1]
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Rules and Regulations
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[[Page 3819]]
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service
9 CFR Part 94
[Docket No. 02-036-2]
Yucatan Peninsula; Addition to the List of Regions Considered
Free of Exotic Newcastle Disease
AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, USDA.
ACTION: Final rule.
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SUMMARY: We are amending the regulations by adding the Mexican States
of Campeche, Quintana Roo, and Yucatan to the list of regions
considered free of exotic Newcastle disease. We have conducted a risk
evaluation and have determined that these three Yucatan Peninsula
States have met our requirements for being recognized as free of this
disease. This action allows importation into the United States of
poultry and poultry products from these regions. We are also adding a
certification requirement to ensure that poultry and poultry products
from Campeche, Quintana Roo, and Yucatan originate in those States or
in any other region recognized by the Animal and Plant Health
Inspection Service as free of exotic Newcastle disease and that, prior
to export to the United States, such poultry and poultry products are
not commingled with poultry and poultry products from regions where
exotic Newcastle disease exists.
EFFECTIVE DATE: February 11, 2004.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. Hatim Gubara, Staff Veterinarian,
Regionalization Evaluation Services Staff, National Center for Import
and Export, 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, such as rinderpest, foot-and-mouth disease
(FMD), classical swine fever (CSF), and exotic Newcastle disease (END).
Among other things, Sec. 94.6 of the regulations lists regions that are
considered to be free of END.
On October 22, 2002, we published in the Federal Register (67 FR
64827-64833, Docket No. 02-036-1) a proposal to amend the regulations
in Sec. 94.6 by adding the Mexican States of Campeche, Quintana Roo,
and Yucatan to the list of regions considered free of END. This
proposed rule was intended to allow importation into the United States
of poultry and poultry products from these regions. We also proposed to
amend Sec. 94.15 to remove references to Campeche, Quintana Roo, and
Yucatan because we believed that the requirements specified in that
section for transit through the United States of poultry carcasses,
parts, or products that are otherwise ineligible for entry into the
United States under part 94 would no longer apply to those States if
they were listed in Sec. 94.6 as regions considered free of END.
We solicited comments concerning our proposal for 60 days ending
December 23, 2002. We did not receive any comments. Therefore, for the
reasons given in the proposed rule, we are adopting the changes to Sec.
94.6 described in the previous paragraph.
Upon further consideration, however, we decided not to finalize our
proposed changes to Sec. 94.15. Some of the poultry carcasses, parts,
or products produced in Campeche, Quintana Roo, and Yucatan for export
may be produced in plants that do not meet the standards of the Food
Safety Inspection Service (FSIS) of the U.S. Department of Agriculture
(USDA) as specified in 9 CFR part 381. Such poultry carcasses, parts,
or products are eligible to transit through the United States under
current Sec. 94.15(c). By not finalizing our proposed changes to Sec.
94.15, we will allow such import-ineligible products to continue
transiting the United States under the conditions specified in that
section.
A comment we received on another proposed rule also had
implications for the current rulemaking. On May 13, 2002, we published
in the Federal Register (67 FR 31987-31992, Docket No. 01-074-1) a
proposal to amend the regulations in Sec.Sec. 94.9 and 94.10 by adding
the Mexican States of Baja California, Baja California Sur, Chihuahua,
and Sinaloa to the list of regions considered free of CSF, thus
allowing importation into the United States of pork, pork products,
live swine, and swine semen from those regions. One of the commenters
on that proposal, noting that it appeared likely that most of the pork
and pork products exported by the State of Chihuahua were derived from
swine raised in other regions, requested more information about where
those swine originated. The commenter was concerned that pork intended
for export to the United States from Chihuahua could be derived from
swine that originated in neighboring CSF-affected regions. Because we
shared this concern, we added some safeguards when we published the
final rule changing the CSF status of those four Mexican States (68 FR
47835-47842, Docket No. 01-074-2, August 12, 2003).
Issues pertaining to the integrity of products exported from
certain disease-free regions to the United States, such as the one
discussed by that commenter, have acquired a new salience due to the
advent of regionalization. Regionalization has allowed the Animal and
Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) of the USDA to designate
regions, as well as entire countries, as free of such animal diseases
as CSF and END. While regionalization has allowed APHIS to exercise
more flexibility in regulating and has helped to facilitate trade, it
has caused APHIS to reconsider the issue of border controls in some
cases. Border controls between high- and low-risk regions within a
country or within a larger community, such as the European Union, may
not always be equivalent to border controls between nations. There may
now exist a greater likelihood that animal products intended for export
to the United States from some disease-free regions could be derived
from animals that originated in affected regions or that animals or
animal products from free regions could be commingled with animals or
animal products from affected regions prior to export to the United
States. Such
[[Page 3820]]
imports could present a risk of introducing animal diseases into this
country.
Some sections of the regulations in part 94 do contain provisions
aimed at reducing the potential risks posed by the commingling of
import-eligible and ineligible animals and animal products prior to
export to the United States. Section 94.11 places certain restrictions
on meat and other animal products imported from certain regions that
are designated in Sec. 94.1 as free of rinderpest and FMD but that (1)
supplement their meat supplies via the importation of fresh meat of
ruminants or swine from regions affected by those diseases, (2) share a
common land border with such regions, or (3) import animals from such
regions under conditions less restrictive than would be acceptable for
importation into the United States. Section 94.13 has similar
provisions for pork and pork products imported from certain regions
that are designated in Sec. 94.12(a) as being free of swine vesicular
disease but that border or have trading relationships with affected
regions. Both of these sections contain requirements for additional
certifications that include declarations that certain conditions
intended to prevent commingling of animal products intended for export
to the United States have been satisfied.
To prevent the commingling of import-eligible and ineligible
poultry and poultry products prior to export to the United States, we
are adopting an additional certification requirement similar to those
in Sec.Sec. 94.11 and 94.13 for imports from the newly eligible States
of Campeche, Quintana Roo, and Yucatan. This requirement will be
contained in a new Sec. 94.25.
The introductory text of the new Sec. 94.25 enumerates the risk
factors that necessitate placing restrictions on the importation of
live poultry, poultry meat, and other poultry products, including ship
stores, airplane meals, and baggage containing such meat or animal
products, from the Mexican States of Campeche, Quintana Roo, and
Yucatan that go beyond those placed on imports from other regions
designated in Sec. 94.6 as END-free. Because these Mexican States
supplement their meat supplies by the importation of fresh (chilled or
frozen) poultry meat from END-affected regions, share common land
borders with such regions, or import live poultry from such regions
under conditions less restrictive than would be acceptable for
importation into the United States, there exists the possibility that
live poultry or poultry products that are intended for export to the
United States could originate in affected regions or be commingled with
live poultry and poultry products from surrounding END-affected
regions. Such imports could present a risk of introducing END into the
United States. Therefore, in addition to meeting all applicable
requirements of part 93, which contains, among other things, general
provisions for the importation of live poultry, and of 9 CFR chapter
III, under which are included conditions for importation of poultry
products promulgated by the FSIS, live poultry, poultry meat, and other
poultry products imported into the United States from Campeche,
Quintana Roo, and Yucatan must also satisfy the conditions specified in
new Sec. 94.25. As noted earlier, these risk factors are of greater
concern now than they were in the past due to the advent of
regionalization. In future rulemakings, therefore, we intend to apply
the additional certification requirement more broadly to any region
that we recognize as free of END but that is subject to these risk
factors.
Paragraph (a) of new Sec. 94.25 states that live poultry, poultry
meat, and other poultry products from any region designated in the
section must be accompanied by an additional certification by a full-
time salaried veterinary officer of the Government of Mexico. Upon
arrival of the live poultry, poultry meat, or other poultry product in
the United States, the certification must be presented to an authorized
inspector at the port of arrival.
Paragraph (b) contains requirements for the additional
certification for live poultry imported from Campeche, Quintana Roo,
and Yucatan. The certification accompanying the live poultry must
identify the exporting region of the poultry as a region designated in
Sec. 94.6 as free of END at the time the poultry were in the region. In
addition, the certification must state that the poultry (1) have not
been in contact with poultry or poultry products from any region where
END is considered to exist, (2) have not lived in a region where END is
considered to exist, and (3) have not transited through a region where
END is considered to exist unless moved directly in a sealed means of
conveyance with the seal intact upon arrival at the point of
destination. These provisions are intended to ensure that the live
poultry have originated in an END-free region, have not been commingled
with infected poultry or been in contact with infected poultry products
either in the region of origin or while in transit prior to export to
the United States, and are being exported from an END-free region. At
this time, Campeche, Quintana Roo, and Yucatan, which are the only
regions in Mexico that APHIS recognizes as being free of END, are the
only regions to which these requirements will apply, but we expect to
add more regions, in Mexico and worldwide, to Sec. 94.25 in the future.
Paragraph (c) contains requirements for the additional
certification accompanying poultry meat or other poultry products from
Campeche, Quintana Roo, and Yucatan. The paragraph includes conditions
for slaughter, handling, transiting, and processing that the
certification must declare have been satisfied.
Paragraph (c)(1) specifies that the additional certification must
state that the poultry meat or other poultry products have been derived
from poultry that meet all requirements of Sec. 94.25 and that have
been slaughtered in a region designated in Sec. 94.6 as free of END at
a federally inspected slaughter plant that is under the direct
supervision of a full-time salaried veterinarian of the Government of
Mexico and that is approved to export poultry meat and other poultry
products to the United States in accordance with the FSIS regulations
in 9 CFR 381.196. This provision will help ensure that the poultry meat
or other poultry products will only be derived from poultry that are
free of END and that slaughtering will take place in establishments and
under conditions that meet the standards of the FSIS.
Paragraph (c)(2) specifies that the additional certification must
state that the poultry meat or other poultry products have not been in
contact with poultry meat or other poultry products from any region
where END is considered to exist. This provision will help to ensure
that products originating in the three Mexican States will not be
commingled in the region of origin with products from END-affected
regions.
Paragraph (c)(3) specifies that the additional certification must
state that the poultry meat or other poultry products have not
transited through a region where END exists unless moved directly in a
sealed means of conveyance with the seal intact upon arrival at the
point of destination. This provision will help to ensure that poultry
meat and other poultry products from Campeche, Quintana Roo, and
Yucatan will not be subject to contamination through commingling with
END-affected products while transiting through END-affected regions
prior to export to the United States.
Finally, paragraph (c)(4) contains requirements for the additional
certification that must accompany processed poultry meat or other
poultry
[[Page 3821]]
products imported from Campeche, Quintana Roo, and Yucatan. The
certification must state that the products were processed in a region
designated in Sec. 94.6 as free of END in a federally inspected
processing plant that is under the direct supervision of a full-time
salaried veterinarian of the Government of Mexico. This provision will
help to ensure that the products will not be commingled with products
from an END-affected region during processing and that the processing
will be done under adequate supervision in establishments that are
eligible to export poultry products to the United States.
We believe that the safeguards in new Sec. 94.25 will allow for the
safe importation of live poultry, poultry meat, and other poultry
products from the Mexican States of Campeche, Quintana Roo, and
Yucatan.
Therefore, for the reasons given in the proposed rule and in this
document, we are adopting the proposed rule as a final rule with the
changes discussed in this document.
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 adds the
Mexican States of Campeche, Quintana Roo, and Yucatan to the list of
regions considered free of exotic Newcastle disease. We have determined
that approximately 2 weeks are needed to ensure that APHIS 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
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. 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.
This rule amends the regulations by adding the Mexican States of
Campeche, Quintana Roo, and Yucatan to the list of regions considered
free of END and removing END-related restrictions on the transiting of
poultry carcasses, parts, or products from these States through the
United States that would no longer apply. The rule also adds a
certification requirement to prevent commingling of products from
Campeche, Quintana Roo, and Yucatan with products from END-affected
regions prior to export to the United States.
A number of factors may influence how much of the poultry produced
in the Yucatan Peninsula will be exported to the United States as a
result of this rulemaking. These factors include domestic and
international supply of, and demand for, poultry and poultry
substitutes, U.S. grain prices, exchange rates, freight rates, the
structure (number of large integrated operations versus the number of
traditional and semi-traditional operations) of the poultry industry in
the Yucatan Peninsula, and the ability of Yucatan Peninsula producers/
packers consistently to ship cuts that meet U.S. market specifications.
As shown in table 1, Yucatan Peninsula poultry production peaked at
roughly 100,000 metric tons (MTs) in 1997 and consistently accounted
for about 8 percent of Mexico's total poultry production from 1992
until 1999, the last year for which data were available.
Table 1.--Yucatan Poultry Production by State 1992-1999 (MTs)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Year 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Campeche........................................................ 4,152 5,821 6,322 6,438 6,679 7,440 6,604 6,784
Quintana Roo.................................................... 5,124 5,940 5,810 7,043 5,490 5,865 4,685 5,374
Yucatan......................................................... 63,027 74,311 77,841 83,311 86,485 89,698 79,900 81,470
------------
Total....................................................... 72,303 86,072 89,884 96,792 98,654 103,003 91,189 93,628
Percentage of Mexico's production............................... 8.05 8.28 7.98 7.54 7.80 ......... ......... .........
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Source: Centro de Estadistica Agropecuaria/SAGARPA.
Our analysis of poultry production in the Yucatan Peninsula
suggests 100,000 MTs as the upper limit for poultry and poultry
products that could be made available for export to the United States
at this time. The Yucatan Peninsula is a grain and oilseed deficit
area. Most of the grains and oilseeds used in poultry production (the
single largest and most expensive input in poultry production) are
imported from the United States. This dependence on imported grains and
oilseeds will tend to limit the growth of the Yucatan Peninsula's
poultry production and, consequently, the amount of poultry and poultry
products available for export to the United States.
It is far more likely that the actual amount of poultry and poultry
products that will be exported to the United States from the Yucatan
Peninsula States in the near term as a result of this rulemaking will
be significantly less than 100,000 MTs. A general analysis of Mexican
poultry production systems suggests that a maximum of 60 to 70 percent
of Yucatan Peninsula poultry production might meet U.S. import
standards.\1\ According to Foreign Agricultural Service attache reports
and Economic Research Service (ERS) analysts, most Yucatan Peninsula
production will probably be consumed locally or diverted to the local
tourist industry. Because of shipping costs, it is likely that Mexican
producers will only find it profitable to ship breast cuts to the
United States. Table 2 shows high and low estimates for possible
exports of poultry and poultry products from the Yucatan Peninsula to
the United States. As shown in the table, between 18,000 and 52,500 MTs
of Yucatan Peninsula poultry may be available for export to the United
States, depending on domestic consumption, a factor that is very
difficult to gauge or predict. Based on these figures, the amount of
breast meat cuts available for export to the United States ranges from
roughly 5,786 to 16,875 MTs.\2\
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\1\ ``Outlook for Mexican Poultry Industry and U.S.-Mexican
Poultry Trade,'' Milton Madison and David Harvey. USDA/ERS
Livestock, Dairy, and Poultry Report, July 17, 1998, LDP-52.
\2\ A 42-ounce processed broiler carcass is comprised of 12.5 to
14 ounces of breast meat, or roughly 32 percent breast meat.
[[Page 3822]]
Table 2.--Estimated Yucantan Peninsula Poultry and Poultry Products
Available For Export to the United States (in MTs)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
High Low
Potential Exports estimate estimate
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Total......................................... 100,000 100,000
Acceptable for U.S. import.................... 70,000 60,000
Acceptable for U.S. import and available for 52,500 18,000
export (not consumed domestically)...........
Estimated breast meat available for export to 16,875 5,786
U.S..........................................
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Source: Centro de Estadistica Agropecuaria/SAGARPA statistics provided
by Leland Southard of USDA/ERS.
These amounts make up a minuscule share of the U.S. market. The
United States is the world's largest producer and exporter of poultry
meat. In 1999, U.S. poultry meat production totaled 35.3 billion pounds
(159,090,909 MTs), of which 83 percent was broiler meat, 15 percent was
turkey meat, and 2 percent was other chicken meat. The total farm value
of U.S. poultry production in 1999 was $22.4 billion. Broiler
production accounted for the majority of the value at $15.1 billion,
followed by eggs at $4.3 billion, turkey at $2.8 billion, and other
chicken at $68 million. The high estimate of 52,500 MTs of Yucatan
Peninsula poultry and poultry parts available for export to the United
States translates to 0.033 percent of U.S. poultry production based on
the 1999 figures. The low estimate of 18,000 MTs available for export
equals 0.0113 percent of 1999 U.S. production. The percentages for
estimated breast meat exports, of course, are even smaller.
The Regulatory Flexibility Act requires that agencies specifically
consider the economic impact of their rules on small entities. Among
the small entities potentially affected by this rule change are U.S.
producers of poultry and poultry products, U.S. freight forwarders, and
U.S. trucking and shipping firms. All of these categories are comprised
primarily of small entities. Table 3 provides a breakdown.
Table 3.--Number and Type of Small Businesses Potentially Affected By
Proposed Rule
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Total
Type of business U.S. Small
entities entities
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Local and long distance U.S. trucking firms 13,815 13,529
(refrigerated).....................................
U.S. freight forwarders............................. 5,771 5,674
Deep sea freight transport.......................... 431 273
Poultry farms....................................... 63,246 53,530
------------------------------------------------------------------------
The U.S. poultry industry is dominated by contract growing
arrangements. A small number of very large, vertically integrated
poultry companies own most poultry in the United States. The poultry
are raised to a marketable size by farmers under contract arrangements.
The vertically integrated companies do not qualify as small entities
under the Small Business Administration's standard for small poultry
enterprises--no more than $750,000 in annual revenues. Most contract
poultry growers do qualify as small entities, however.\3\ The 1997
Census of Agriculture (the most recent data on the composition of
poultry industry by size) reported a total of 63,246 farms in the
United States that raised poultry or poultry products, producing
poultry and poultry products valued at over $22 billion. According to
Census of Agriculture data, approximately 53,530 or 85 percent of the
farms raising poultry were ``small'' farms in 1997.\4\
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\3\ http://www.sba.gov, NAICS Code 112320, poultry production.
\4\ 1997 Census of Agriculture--United States data, table 50,
summary by market value of agricultural products sold.
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In theory, imported Yucatan poultry will increase the available
supply of poultry in the United States, increase competition, and
reduce prices. Such a development, while benefitting U.S. consumers,
will negatively affect net revenues of U.S. producers. Due to the
relatively small tonnage of poultry and poultry products expected to be
exported from the Yucatan Peninsula to the United States, however, this
rule is unlikely to have a measurable effect on U.S. poultry and
poultry product supplies, poultry prices, or poultry producer revenues.
The other affected small entities--U.S. freight forwarding,
trucking, or transport firms that have the capacity to transport
Mexican poultry from U.S. land border ports or U.S. maritime ports--may
benefit from increased economic activity as a result of this
rulemaking. As is the case with poultry producers, however, these
effects are likely to be very small due to the limited amount of
poultry and poultry products expected to be exported to the United
States from the Yucatan Peninsula States.
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.
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
This final rule contains an information collection requirement that
was not included in the proposed rule. Specifically, this final rule
adds an additional 50 burden hours for a certification that will have
to be completed by Federal animal health authorities in Mexico to
ensure that,
[[Page 3823]]
prior to export to the United States, poultry and poultry products from
Campeche, Quintana Roo, and Yucatan are not commingled with poultry and
poultry products from END-affected regions. In accordance with section
3507(j) of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501 et
seq.), we submitted this information collection requirement for
approval to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). OMB has approved
the information collection for a period of 6 months under control
number 0579-0228. We plan, in the near future, to request continuation
of that approval for 3 years.
Government Paperwork Elimination Act Compliance
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service is committed to
compliance with the Government Paperwork Elimination Act (GPEA), which
requires Government agencies in general to provide the public the
option of submitting information or transacting business electronically
to the maximum extent possible. For information pertinent to GPEA
compliance related to this rule, please contact Mrs. Celeste Sickles,
APHIS' Information Collection Coordinator, at (301) 734-7477.
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.
0
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, CLASSICAL
SWINE FEVER, AND BOVINE SPONGIFORM ENCEPHALOPATHY: PROHIBITED AND
RESTRICTED IMPORTATIONS
0
1. The authority citation for part 94 continues to read as follows:
Authority: 7 U.S.C. 450, 7701-7772, and 8301-8317; 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.
Sec. 94.6 [Amended]
0
2. In Sec. 94.6, paragraph (a)(2) is amended by adding the words
``Mexico (States of Campeche, Quintana Roo, and Yucatan),'' after the
word ``Luxembourg,''.
0
3. A new Sec. 94.25 is added to read as follows:
Sec. 94.25 Restrictions on importation of live poultry, poultry meat,
and other poultry products from specified regions.
The Mexican States of Campeche, Quintana Roo, and Yucatan, which
are declared in Sec. 94.6(a)(2) to be free of exotic Newcastle disease
(END), supplement their meat supply by the importation of fresh
(chilled or frozen) poultry meat from regions designated in Sec.
94.6(a) as regions where END is considered to exist, have a common land
border with regions where END is considered to exist, or import live
poultry from regions where END is considered to exist under conditions
less restrictive than would be acceptable for importation into the
United States. Thus, even though the Department has declared such
regions to be free of END, live poultry originating in such free
regions may be commingled with live poultry originating in an END-
affected region and the meat and other animal products produced in such
free regions may be commingled with the fresh (chilled or frozen) meat
of animals from an END-affected region, resulting in an undue risk of
introducing END into the United States. Therefore, live poultry,
poultry meat and other poultry products, and ship stores, airplane
meals, and baggage containing such meat or animal products originating
in the free regions listed in this section may not be imported into the
United States unless the following requirements, in addition to all
other applicable requirements of part 93 of this chapter and of chapter
III of this title, are met:
(a) Additional certification. Live poultry, poultry meat, and other
poultry products from any region designated in this section must be
accompanied by an additional certification by a full-time salaried
veterinary officer of the Government of Mexico. Upon arrival of the
live poultry, poultry meat, or other poultry product in the United
States, the certification must be presented to an authorized inspector
at the port of arrival.
(b) Live poultry. The certification accompanying live poultry must
identify the exporting region of the poultry as a region designated in
Sec. 94.6 as free of END at the time the poultry were in the region and
must state that:
(1) The poultry have not been in contact with poultry or poultry
products from any region where END is considered to exist;
(2) The poultry have not lived in a region where END is considered
to exist; and
(3) The poultry have not transited through a region where END is
considered to exist unless moved directly through the region in a
sealed means of conveyance with the seal intact upon arrival at the
point of destination.
(c) Poultry meat or other poultry products. The certification
accompanying poultry meat or other poultry products must state that:
(1) The poultry meat or other poultry products are derived from
poultry that meet all requirements of this section and that have been
slaughtered in a region designated in Sec. 94.6 as free of END at a
federally inspected slaughter plant that is under the direct
supervision of a full-time salaried veterinarian of the Government of
Mexico and that is approved to export poultry meat and other poultry
products to the United States in accordance with Sec. 381.196 of this
title;
(2) The poultry meat or other poultry products have not been in
contact with poultry meat or other poultry products from any region
where END is considered to exist;
(3) The poultry meat or other poultry products have not transited
through a region where END is considered to exist unless moved directly
through the region in a sealed means of conveyance with the seal intact
upon arrival at the point of destination; and
(4) If processed, the poultry meat or other poultry products were
processed in a region designated in Sec. 94.6 as free of END in a
federally inspected processing plant that is under the direct
supervision of a full-time salaried veterinarian of the Government of
Mexico.
(Approved by the Office of Management and Budget under control
number 0579-0228)
Done in Washington, DC, this 21st day of January, 2004.
Peter Fernandez,
Acting Administrator, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
[FR Doc. 04-1735 Filed 1-23-04; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-34-P