Notice of Availability of an Evaluation of the Classical Swine Fever Status of Mexico, 37043-37044 [2017-16675]

Download as PDF asabaliauskas on DSKBBXCHB2PROD with NOTICES 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 Frm 00004 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 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]


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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
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