Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service March 31, 2009 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

We are proposing further amendments that would establish a herd certification program to eliminate chronic wasting disease from farmed or captive cervids in the United States. Under the 2006 Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) rule, participating deer, elk, and moose herds would have to follow CWD Herd Certification Program requirements for animal identification, testing, herd management, and movement of animals into and from herds. This document proposes additional changes to the program regarding recognition of State bans on the entry of farmed or captive cervids for reasons unrelated to CWD, the number of years an animal must be monitored for CWD before it may move interstate, interstate movement of cervids that originated from herds in proximity to a CWD outbreak, herd inventory procedures, and several other matters. These actions are intended to help eliminate CWD from the farmed or captive cervid herds in the United States.