[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 217 (Wednesday, November 10, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Page 69046]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-28351]
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Notices
Federal Register
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This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER contains documents other than rules
or proposed rules that are applicable to the public. Notices of hearings
and investigations, committee meetings, agency decisions and rulings,
delegations of authority, filing of petitions and applications and agency
statements of organization and functions are examples of documents
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Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 217 / Wednesday, November 10, 2010 /
Notices
[[Page 69046]]
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service
[Docket No. APHIS-2009-0088]
Notice of Determination of the High Pathogenic Avian Influenza
Subtype H5N1 Status of Czech Republic and Sweden
AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, USDA.
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: We are advising the public of our determination regarding the
highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) subtype H5N1 status of the
Czech Republic and Sweden, following outbreaks of HPAI in Sweden during
2006 and in the Czech Republic during 2007. Based on an evaluation of
the animal health status of the Czech Republic and Sweden, which we
made available to the public for review and comment through a previous
notice, the Administrator has determined that the importation of live
birds, poultry carcasses, parts or products of poultry carcasses, and
eggs (other than hatching eggs) of poultry, game birds, and other birds
from the Czech Republic and Sweden presents a low risk of introducing
HPAI H5N1 into the United States.
DATES: Effective Date: This determination is effective November 10,
2010.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. Julia Punderson, Senior Staff
Veterinarian, Regionalization Evaluation Services-Import, National
Center for Import and Export, VS, APHIS, 4700 River Road Unit 38,
Riverdale, MD 20737-1231; (301) 734-4356.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
On April 6, 2010, we published in the Federal Register (75 FR
17368-17370, Docket No. APHIS-2009-0088) a notice \1\ in which we
announced the availability, for review and comment, of an evaluation of
the animal health status of the Czech Republic and Sweden relative to
highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) subtype H5N1. In the
evaluation, titled ``APHIS Evaluation of the Status of High
Pathogenicity Avian Influenza H5N1 (HPAI H5N1) in the Czech Republic
and Sweden'' (July 2009), we presented the results of our evaluation of
the status of HPAI H5N1 in domestic and wild poultry in the Czech
Republic and Sweden, in light of the actions taken by the Czech and
Swedish animal health authorities since the outbreaks in 2006 and 2007.
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\1\ To view the notice and the evaluation, go to http://www.regulations.gov/fdmspublic/component/main?main=DocketDetail&d=APHIS-2009-0088.
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Our evaluation concluded that the Czech Republic and Sweden were
able to effectively control and eradicate HPAI H5N1 in their domestic
poultry populations and that animal health authorities have adequate
control measures in place to rapidly identify, control, and eradicate
the disease should it be reintroduced into the Czech Republic's or
Sweden's wild birds or domestic poultry population.
In our April 2010 notice, we stated that if after the close of the
comment period we could identify no additional risk factors that would
indicate that domestic poultry in the Czech Republic and Sweden
continue to be affected with HPAI H5N1, we would conclude that the
importation of live birds, poultry carcasses, parts of carcasses, and
eggs (other than hatching eggs) of poultry, game birds, or other birds
from the Czech Republic and Sweden presents a low risk of introducing
HPAI H5N1 into the United States.
We solicited comments on the evaluation for 30 days ending on May
6, 2010. We received no comments by that date. Therefore we are
removing our prohibition on the importation of these products from the
Czech Republic and Sweden, into the United States. Specifically:
We are no longer requiring that processed poultry products
from the Czech Republic and Sweden be accompanied by a Veterinary
Service import permit and government certification confirming that the
products have been treated according to APHIS requirements;
We are allowing unprocessed poultry products from Sweden
to enter the United States in passenger luggage; however, because APHIS
has not evaluated the virulent Newcastle disease status of the Czech
Republic, unprocessed poultry products remain ineligible for entry into
the United Stated in passenger luggage from that country; and
We are removing restrictions regarding the regions of the
Czech Republic and Sweden from which processed poultry products may
originate in order to be allowed entry into the United States in
passenger luggage.
However, live birds from the Czech Republic and Sweden are still
subject to inspection at ports of entry and the post-importation
quarantines set forth in 9 CFR part 93, unless granted an exemption by
the Administrator or destined for diagnostic purposes and accompanied
by a limited permit.
Authority: 7 U.S.C. 450, 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 4th day of November 2010.
Kevin Shea,
Acting Administrator, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
[FR Doc. 2010-28351 Filed 11-9-10; 8:45 am]
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