[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 9, Volume 1]
[Revised as of January 1, 2007]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 9CFR92.2]

[Page 387-388]
 
                  TITLE 9--ANIMALS AND ANIMAL PRODUCTS
 
  CHAPTER I--ANIMAL AND PLANT HEALTH INSPECTION SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF 
                               AGRICULTURE
 
PART 92_IMPORTATION OF ANIMALS AND ANIMAL PRODUCTS: PROCEDURES FOR
REQUESTING RECOGNITION OF REGIONS--Table of Contents
 
Sec. 92.2  Application for recognition of the animal health status of a region.

    (a) The representative of the national government(s) of any country 
or countries who has the authority to request such a change may request 
at any time that all or part of the country or countries be recognized 
as a region, be included within an adjacent previously recognized 
region, or be made part of a region larger than an individual country. 
Requests for recognition of a region must be sent to the Administrator, 
in accordance with paragraph (c) of this section.
    (b) Each request for approval to export a particular type of animal 
or animal product to the United States from a foreign region must be 
made to the Administrator, in accordance with paragraph (c) of this 
section, and must include, in English, the following information about 
the region:
    (1) The authority, organization, and infrastructure of the 
veterinary services organization in the region.
    (2) Disease status--i.e., is the restricted disease agent known to 
exist in the region? If ``yes,'' at what prevalence? If ``no,'' when was 
the most recent diagnosis?
    (3) The status of adjacent regions with respect to the agent.
    (4) The extent of an active disease control program, if any, if the 
agent is known to exist in the region.
    (5) The vaccination status of the region. When was the last 
vaccination? What is the extent of vaccination if it is currently used, 
and what vaccine is being used?
    (6) The degree to which the region is separated from adjacent 
regions of higher risk through physical or other barriers.
    (7) The extent to which movement of animals and animal products is 
controlled from regions of higher risk, and the level of biosecurity 
regarding such movements.
    (8) Livestock demographics and marketing practices in the region.
    (9) The type and extent of disease surveillance in the region--e.g., 
is it passive and/or active; what is the quantity and quality of 
sampling and testing?
    (10) Diagnostic laboratory capabilities.
    (11) Policies and infrastructure for animal disease control in the 
region--i.e., emergency response capacity.
    (c) Requests for recognition of a region or for approval to export 
animals or animal products to the United States from a region, including 
the information required by this section, must be sent to the 
Administrator, c/o National Center for Import and Export, VS, APHIS, 
4700 River Road Unit 38, Riverdale, MD 20737-1231. (Where possible, 
include a copy of the request and accompanying information on a 3.5-inch 
floppy disk in ASCII or a word processing format.)
    (d) The information submitted in accordance with paragraph (b) of 
this section will be made available to the public prior to initiation by 
APHIS of any rulemaking action on the request.
    (e) If, after review of the information submitted, APHIS believes 
the requested importation can be safely allowed, APHIS will publish a 
proposed rule in the Federal Register to allow the importation, and the 
conditions under which the importation would be allowed, along with a 
discussion of the basis for the proposal.
    (f) APHIS will provide a period of time during which the public may 
comment on the proposal. During the comment period, the public will have 
access to the information upon which APHIS based its analysis of the 
risk of such importation, as well as to its methodology in conducting 
the analysis. Once APHIS has reviewed all comments received, it will 
make a final decision on what conditions will be necessary to allow the 
importation in question, and will publish the conditions for import in 
the Federal Register.

[[Page 388]]

    (g) If a region is granted animal health status under the provisions 
of this section, that region may be required to submit additional 
information pertaining to animal health status or allow APHIS to conduct 
additional information collection activities in order for that region to 
maintain its animal health status.

(Approved by the Office of Management and Budget under control number 
0579-0219)

[62 FR 56012, Oct. 28, 1997, as amended at 68 FR 50054, Aug. 20, 2003]