Notice of Availability of an Evaluation of the Classical Swine Fever Status of Mexico, 37043-37044 [2017-16675]
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Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 151 / Tuesday, August 8, 2017 / Notices
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: Mr.
George Balady, Senior Regulatory Policy
Specialist, PPQ, APHIS, 4700 River
Road, Unit 133, Riverdale, MD 20737–
1231; (301) 851–2240.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The
regulations in 7 CFR chapter III are
intended, among other things, to
prevent the introduction or
dissemination of plant pests and
noxious weeds into or within the United
States. Under the regulations, certain
plants, fruits, vegetables, and other
articles must be treated before they may
be moved into the United States or
interstate. The phytosanitary treatments
regulations contained in part 305 of 7
CFR chapter III (referred to below as the
regulations) set out standards for
treatments required in parts 301, 318,
and 319 of 7 CFR chapter III for fruits,
vegetables, and other articles.
In § 305.2, paragraph (b) states that
approved treatment schedules are set
out in the Plant Protection and
Quarantine (PPQ) Treatment Manual.1
Section 305.3 sets out the processes for
adding, revising, or removing treatment
schedules in the PPQ Treatment
Manual. In that section, paragraph (b)
sets out the process for adding, revising,
or removing treatment schedules when
there is an immediate need to make a
change. The circumstances in which an
immediate need exists are described in
§ 305.3(b)(1). They are:
• PPQ has determined that an
approved treatment schedule is
ineffective at neutralizing the targeted
plant pest(s).
• PPQ has determined that, in order
to neutralize the targeted plant pest(s),
the treatment schedule must be
administered using a different process
than was previously used.
• PPQ has determined that a new
treatment schedule is effective, based on
efficacy data, and that ongoing trade in
a commodity or commodities may be
adversely impacted unless the new
treatment schedule is approved for use.
• The use of a treatment schedule is
no longer authorized by the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency or by
any other Federal entity.
1 The Treatment Manual is available at https://
www.aphis.usda.gov/import_export/plants/
manuals/index.shtml or by contacting the Animal
and Plant Health Inspection Service, Plant
Protection and Quarantine, Manuals Unit, 92
Thomas Johnson Drive, Suite 200, Frederick, MD
21702.
VerDate Sep<11>2014
21:16 Aug 07, 2017
Jkt 241001
In accordance with § 305.3(b)(1), we
are providing notice that we have
determined that it is necessary to add
two new treatments to the PPQ
Treatment Manual: T409–a, a surface
spray with deltamethrin 4.75 percent
active ingredient to mitigate the risk of
Khapra beetle on aircraft; and T409–b–
3, an aerosol spray with ‘1-Shot’
treatment containing 2 percent dphenothrin and 2 percent permethrin to
mitigate the risk of Japanese beetle and
other hitchhiking pests, except Khapra
beetle, on aircraft.
To accommodate the addition of
treatment T409–b–3, we have
redesignated treatment schedule T409–
b as T409–b–1.
The reasons for these additions to the
treatment manual are described in detail
in the treatment evaluation document
(TED) we have prepared to support this
action. The TED may be viewed on the
Regulations.gov Web site or in our
reading room (see ADDRESSES above for
instructions for accessing
Regulations.gov and information on the
location and hours of the reading room).
You may also request paper copies of
the TED by calling or writing to the
person listed under FOR FURTHER
INFORMATION CONTACT. Please refer to the
subject of the TED when requesting
copies.
After reviewing the comments we
receive, we will announce our decision
regarding the new treatment schedules
described in the TED in a subsequent
notice. If we do not receive any
comments, or the comments we receive
do not change our determination that
the proposed changes are effective, we
will affirm these changes to the PPQ
Treatment Manual and make available a
new version of the PPQ Treatment
Manual reflecting these changes. If we
receive comments that cause us to
determine that additional changes need
to be made to one or more of the
treatment schedules discussed above,
we will make available a new version of
the PPQ Treatment Manual that reflects
the changes.
Authority: 7 U.S.C. 7701–7772 and 7781–
7786; 21 U.S.C. 136 and 136a; 7 CFR 2.22,
2.80, and 371.3.
Done in Washington, DC, this 2nd day of
August 2017.
Michael C. Gregoire,
Administrator, Animal and Plant Health
Inspection Service.
[FR Doc. 2017–16676 Filed 8–7–17; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410–10–P
PO 00000
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37043
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Animal and Plant Health Inspection
Service
[Docket No. APHIS–2016–0038]
Notice of Availability of an Evaluation
of the Classical Swine Fever Status of
Mexico
Animal and Plant Health
Inspection Service, USDA.
ACTION: Notice of availability.
AGENCY:
We are advising the public
that we are proposing to recognize
Mexico as free of classical swine fever,
subject to conditions in the regulations
governing the importation of live swine,
pork, and pork products from certain
regions into the United States. We are
proposing this action based on a risk
evaluation that we have prepared in
connection with this action and that we
are making available to the public for
review and comment.
DATES: We will consider all comments
that we receive on or before October 10,
2017.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments
by either of the following methods:
• Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to
https://www.regulations.gov/
#!docketDetail;D=APHIS-2016-0038.
• Postal Mail/Commercial Delivery:
Send your comment to Docket No.
APHIS–2016–0038, 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 https://
www.regulations.gov/
#!docketDetail;D=APHIS-2016-0038 or
in our reading room, which 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) 799–7039
before coming.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr.
Chip Wells, Senior Staff Veterinarian,
Regionalization Evaluation Services,
National Import Export Services, VS,
APHIS, USDA, 4700 River Road, Unit
38, Riverdale, MD 20737–1231;
Chip.J.Wells@aphis.usda.gov; (301) 851–
3317.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The
Animal and Plant Health Inspection
Service (APHIS) of the United States
Department of Agriculture (USDA)
regulates the importation of animals and
animal products into the United States
SUMMARY:
E:\FR\FM\08AUN1.SGM
08AUN1
asabaliauskas on DSKBBXCHB2PROD with NOTICES
37044
Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 151 / Tuesday, August 8, 2017 / Notices
to guard against the introduction of
animal diseases not currently present or
prevalent in this country. The
regulations in 9 CFR part 94 (referred to
below as the regulations) prohibit or
restrict the importation of specified
animals and animal products to prevent
the introduction into the United States
of various animal diseases, including
classical swine fever (CSF), foot-andmouth disease, swine vesicular disease,
and rinderpest. These are dangerous and
communicable diseases of ruminants
and swine.
APHIS currently recognizes nine
Mexican States as free of CSF: Baja
California, Baja California Sur,
Campeche, Chihuahua, Nayarit,
Quintana Roo, Sinaloa, Sonora, and
Yucatan. Because of the proximity of
those nine States to CSF-affected regions
and/or other risk factors, however, their
live swine, pork, and pork products may
only be imported into the United States
under the conditions specified in
§ 94.32. These conditions include,
among others, a requirement for
certification by a full-time salaried
veterinary officer of the national
government of the region of export that
the pork or pork products originated in
a CSF-free region, requirements that the
pork or pork products be derived only
from swine that were born and raised in
such a region and never lived in a CSFaffected region, a prohibition against the
comingling of the pork or pork products
with pork or pork products that have
been in an affected region, and a
requirement that any processing of the
pork or pork products be done in a
federally inspected processing plant in
a CSF-free region.
The regulations in 9 CFR part 92,
§ 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.
Between 2007 and 2009, the
Government of Mexico submitted a
series of requests to APHIS seeking
recognition of additional States as CSFfree. The last of those requests,
submitted in January 2009, after the
VerDate Sep<11>2014
21:16 Aug 07, 2017
Jkt 241001
Government of Mexico had declared
that CSF had been eradicated in the
country, was for APHIS to recognize all
of Mexico as CSF-free.
In response to these requests, we
conducted a qualitative risk evaluation
to evaluate the CSF status of the
Mexican States not already recognized
by APHIS as CSF-free. This evaluation
included site visits to farms and
diagnostic laboratories, as well as
examinations of Mexico’s capabilities
with respect to veterinary control and
oversight, disease history and
vaccination, livestock demographics
and traceability, epidemiological
separation from potential sources of
infection, disease surveillance,
diagnostic laboratory capabilities, and
emergency preparedness and response.
The resulting risk evaluation document,
‘‘APHIS Evaluation of the CSF Status of
a Region in Mexico’’ (referred to below
as the ‘‘2013 risk evaluation’’), did not
support CSF-free recognition of all of
Mexico; however, it did support access
to the U.S. domestic market under
certain risk-mitigating conditions.
Based on the findings of the 2013 risk
evaluation, on July 29, 2014, we
published in the Federal Register (79
FR 43974–43980, Docket No. APHIS–
2013–0061) a proposal 1 to amend the
regulations by recognizing a new
APHIS-defined low-risk CSF region
consisting of all Mexican States except
the nine CSF-free States and the State of
Chiapas, which we did not recognize as
CSF-free.
In February 2015, Mexico received
notice that the World Organization for
Animal Health (OIE) recognized the
country as CSF-free. Citing the OIE
decision, the Government of Mexico
then requested that APHIS suspend its
rulemaking and instead continue
evaluating Mexico for CSF-free status.
In response to this request, APHIS
reopened its evaluation of the CSF
status of Mexico. This reevaluation
incorporated findings from a 2015
APHIS site visit report, along with
updated surveillance data and
information submitted by Mexico. These
findings are documented in an April
2016 addendum to the 2013 risk
evaluation.
Based on improved conditions
observed through the end of 2015,
APHIS has determined that concerns
identified in the 2013 risk evaluation
that had supported the July 2014
proposed rule have been addressed and
that conditions now support CSF-free
1 To
view the 2013 risk evaluation, the proposed
rule, and the comments we received, go to https://
www.regulations.gov/#!docketDetail;D=APHIS2013-0061.
PO 00000
Frm 00005
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 9990
recognition for all of Mexico.
Additionally, our determinations
support including the entire country of
Mexico on the Web-based list 2 of
regions that are considered to be free of
CSF but from which live swine, pork,
and pork products may only be
imported into the United States under
the conditions specified in § 94.32. As
stated in the April 2016 addendum to
the 2013 risk evaluation, we consider
the risk of the introduction of CSF into
the United States via the importation of
live swine, pork, and pork products
from Mexico to be very low. We would
note, however, that this determination
applies only to Mexico’s CSF status and
that any existing restrictions on the
importation of live swine, pork, and
pork products from that country into the
United States due to other animal
diseases will remain in place.
Therefore, in accordance with
§ 92.2(e), we are announcing the
availability of our updated risk
evaluation of the CSF status of Mexico
for public review and comment. The
risk evaluation may be viewed on the
Regulations.gov Web site 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.)
Information submitted in support of
Mexico’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 CSF status of Mexico and
the import status of live swine, pork,
and pork products from that country in
a subsequent notice.
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 2nd day of
August 2017.
Michael C. Gregoire,
Acting Administrator, Animal and Plant
Health Inspection Service.
[FR Doc. 2017–16675 Filed 8–7–17; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410–34–P
2 The list is located on the APHIS Web site at:
https://www.aphis.usda.gov/aphis/ourfocus/
animalhealth/animal-and-animal-product-importinformation/import-live-animals/ct_classical_
swine_fever_information.
E:\FR\FM\08AUN1.SGM
08AUN1
Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 151 (Tuesday, August 8, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 37043-37044]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-16675]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service
[Docket No. APHIS-2016-0038]
Notice of Availability of an Evaluation of the Classical Swine
Fever Status of Mexico
AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, USDA.
ACTION: Notice of availability.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: We are advising the public that we are proposing to recognize
Mexico as free of classical swine fever, subject to conditions in the
regulations governing the importation of live swine, pork, and pork
products from certain regions into the United States. We are proposing
this action based on a risk evaluation that we have prepared in
connection with this action and that we are making available to the
public for review and comment.
DATES: We will consider all comments that we receive on or before
October 10, 2017.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by either of the following methods:
Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to https://www.regulations.gov/#!docketDetail;D=APHIS-2016-0038.
Postal Mail/Commercial Delivery: Send your comment to
Docket No. APHIS-2016-0038, 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 https://www.regulations.gov/#!docketDetail;D=APHIS-2016-
0038 or in our reading room, which 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) 799-7039 before coming.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. Chip Wells, Senior Staff
Veterinarian, Regionalization Evaluation Services, National Import
Export Services, VS, APHIS, USDA, 4700 River Road, Unit 38, Riverdale,
MD 20737-1231; Chip.J.Wells@aphis.usda.gov; (301) 851-3317.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Animal and Plant Health Inspection
Service (APHIS) of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA)
regulates the importation of animals and animal products into the
United States
[[Page 37044]]
to guard against the introduction of animal diseases not currently
present or prevalent in this country. The regulations in 9 CFR part 94
(referred to below as the regulations) prohibit or restrict the
importation of specified animals and animal products to prevent the
introduction into the United States of various animal diseases,
including classical swine fever (CSF), foot-and-mouth disease, swine
vesicular disease, and rinderpest. These are dangerous and communicable
diseases of ruminants and swine.
APHIS currently recognizes nine Mexican States as free of CSF: Baja
California, Baja California Sur, Campeche, Chihuahua, Nayarit, Quintana
Roo, Sinaloa, Sonora, and Yucatan. Because of the proximity of those
nine States to CSF-affected regions and/or other risk factors, however,
their live swine, pork, and pork products may only be imported into the
United States under the conditions specified in Sec. 94.32. These
conditions include, among others, a requirement for certification by a
full-time salaried veterinary officer of the national government of the
region of export that the pork or pork products originated in a CSF-
free region, requirements that the pork or pork products be derived
only from swine that were born and raised in such a region and never
lived in a CSF-affected region, a prohibition against the comingling of
the pork or pork products with pork or pork products that have been in
an affected region, and a requirement that any processing of the pork
or pork products be done in a federally inspected processing plant in a
CSF-free region.
The regulations in 9 CFR part 92, Sec. 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.
Between 2007 and 2009, the Government of Mexico submitted a series
of requests to APHIS seeking recognition of additional States as CSF-
free. The last of those requests, submitted in January 2009, after the
Government of Mexico had declared that CSF had been eradicated in the
country, was for APHIS to recognize all of Mexico as CSF-free.
In response to these requests, we conducted a qualitative risk
evaluation to evaluate the CSF status of the Mexican States not already
recognized by APHIS as CSF-free. This evaluation included site visits
to farms and diagnostic laboratories, as well as examinations of
Mexico's capabilities with respect to veterinary control and oversight,
disease history and vaccination, livestock demographics and
traceability, epidemiological separation from potential sources of
infection, disease surveillance, diagnostic laboratory capabilities,
and emergency preparedness and response. The resulting risk evaluation
document, ``APHIS Evaluation of the CSF Status of a Region in Mexico''
(referred to below as the ``2013 risk evaluation''), did not support
CSF-free recognition of all of Mexico; however, it did support access
to the U.S. domestic market under certain risk-mitigating conditions.
Based on the findings of the 2013 risk evaluation, on July 29,
2014, we published in the Federal Register (79 FR 43974-43980, Docket
No. APHIS-2013-0061) a proposal \1\ to amend the regulations by
recognizing a new APHIS-defined low-risk CSF region consisting of all
Mexican States except the nine CSF-free States and the State of
Chiapas, which we did not recognize as CSF-free.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ To view the 2013 risk evaluation, the proposed rule, and the
comments we received, go to https://www.regulations.gov/#!docketDetail;D=APHIS-2013-0061.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
In February 2015, Mexico received notice that the World
Organization for Animal Health (OIE) recognized the country as CSF-
free. Citing the OIE decision, the Government of Mexico then requested
that APHIS suspend its rulemaking and instead continue evaluating
Mexico for CSF-free status.
In response to this request, APHIS reopened its evaluation of the
CSF status of Mexico. This reevaluation incorporated findings from a
2015 APHIS site visit report, along with updated surveillance data and
information submitted by Mexico. These findings are documented in an
April 2016 addendum to the 2013 risk evaluation.
Based on improved conditions observed through the end of 2015,
APHIS has determined that concerns identified in the 2013 risk
evaluation that had supported the July 2014 proposed rule have been
addressed and that conditions now support CSF-free recognition for all
of Mexico. Additionally, our determinations support including the
entire country of Mexico on the Web-based list \2\ of regions that are
considered to be free of CSF but from which live swine, pork, and pork
products may only be imported into the United States under the
conditions specified in Sec. 94.32. As stated in the April 2016
addendum to the 2013 risk evaluation, we consider the risk of the
introduction of CSF into the United States via the importation of live
swine, pork, and pork products from Mexico to be very low. We would
note, however, that this determination applies only to Mexico's CSF
status and that any existing restrictions on the importation of live
swine, pork, and pork products from that country into the United States
due to other animal diseases will remain in place.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\2\ The list is located on the APHIS Web site at: https://www.aphis.usda.gov/aphis/ourfocus/animalhealth/animal-and-animal-product-import-information/import-live-animals/ct_classical_swine_fever_information.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Therefore, in accordance with Sec. 92.2(e), we are announcing the
availability of our updated risk evaluation of the CSF status of Mexico
for public review and comment. The risk evaluation may be viewed on the
Regulations.gov Web site 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.)
Information submitted in support of Mexico'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 CSF status of Mexico and the import status of
live swine, pork, and pork products from that country in a subsequent
notice.
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 2nd day of August 2017.
Michael C. Gregoire,
Acting Administrator, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
[FR Doc. 2017-16675 Filed 8-7-17; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-34-P