Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service 2012 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

We are amending the Animal Welfare Act regulations to add requirements for contingency planning and training of personnel by research facilities and by dealers, exhibitors, intermediate handlers, and carriers. We are taking this action because we believe all licensees and registrants should develop a contingency plan for all animals regulated under the Animal Welfare Act in an effort to better prepare for potential disasters. This action will heighten the awareness of licensees and registrants regarding their responsibilities and help ensure a timely and appropriate response should an emergency or disaster occur.

This notice announces the availability of new data standards required to generate an official interstate certificate of veterinary inspection (ICVI). The data standards would define the minimum data elements required to generate an ICVI using an electronic data system, outline the methods by which data can be shared between participating systems, and provide methods of approving data systems for data quality control. We are making these standards available for public review and comment.

We are amending the fruits and vegetables regulations to allow the importation of sand pears (Pyrus pyrifolia) from China into the United States. As a condition of entry, sand pears from areas in China in which the Oriental fruit fly (Bactrocera dorsalis) is not known to exist will have to be produced in accordance with a systems approach that includes requirements for registration of places of production and packinghouses, sourcing of pest-free propagative material, inspection for quarantine pests at set intervals by the national plant protection organization of China, bagging of fruit, safeguarding, labeling, and importation in commercial consignments. Sand pears from areas in China in which Oriental fruit fly is known to exist may be imported into the United States if, in addition to these requirements, the places of production and packinghouses have a monitoring system in place for Oriental fruit fly and the pears are treated with cold treatment. All sand pears from China will also be required to be accompanied by a phytosanitary certificate with an additional declaration stating that all conditions for the importation of the pears have been met and that the consignment of pears has been inspected and found free of quarantine pests. This action will allow for the importation of sand pears from China into the United States while continuing to provide protection against the introduction of quarantine pests.

APHIS is amending the regulations governing the importation of certain animal embryos and animal semen by removing one of the conditions for the importation of swine semen from the APHIS-defined European CSF region, a region of Europe that we recognize as a single low-risk region for classical swine fever. We have determined that the 40-day holding period for swine semen and donor boars after the collection of swine semen is unnecessary. We are also announcing the addition of Estonia, Hungary, Slovakia, and Slovenia to the APHIS- defined European CSF region, the addition of Estonia, Slovakia, and Slovenia to the list of regions APHIS considers free of swine vesicular disease (SVD), and the addition of Slovakia and Slovenia to the list of regions APHIS considers free of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) and rinderpest. These actions will relieve some restrictions on the importation into the United States of certain animals and animal products from those regions, while continuing to protect against the introduction of CSF, SVD, FMD, and rinderpest into the United States.

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, this notice announces the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service's intention to request a revision to and extension of approval of an information collection that allows the public to report sightings of plant pests and diseases.

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, this notice announces the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service's intention to request an extension of approval of an information collection associated with the regulations for the introduction of organisms and products altered or produced through genetic engineering.

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, this notice announces the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service's intention to request an extension of approval of an information collection associated with cooperative wildlife damage management programs.

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, this notice announces the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service's intention to request an extension of approval of an information collection associated with regulations restricting the importation of products of poultry and birds into the United States in order to prevent the introduction of poultry disease.

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, this notice announces the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service's intention to revise and extend an information collection associated with regulations for the importation of live swine, pork and pork products, and swine semen from the European Union.

In accordance with the Agricultural Bioterrorism Protection Act of 2002, we are amending and republishing the list of select agents and toxins that have the potential to pose a severe threat to animal or plant health, or to animal or plant products. The Act requires the biennial review and republication of the list of select agents and toxins and the revision of the list as necessary. This action implements the findings of the third biennial review of the list. In addition, we are reorganizing the list of select agents and toxins based on the relative potential of each select agent or toxin to be misused to adversely affect human, plant, or animal health. Such tiering of the list allows for the optimization of security measures for those select agents or toxins that present the greatest risk of deliberate misuse with the most significant potential for mass casualties or devastating effects to the economy, critical infrastructure, or public confidence. We are also making a number of amendments to the regulations, including the addition of definitions and clarification of language concerning security, training, biosafety, biocontainment, and incident response. These changes will increase the usability of the select agent regulations as well as provide for enhanced program oversight.

We are giving notice that the Secretary of Agriculture intends to renew the charter of the General Conference Committee of the National Poultry Improvement Plan (Committee) for a 2year period. The Secretary of Agriculture has determined that the Committee is necessary and in the public interest.

We are adopting as a final rule, without change, an interim rule that amended the plum pox regulations to provide for the payment of compensation to eligible owners of non-fruit-bearing ornamental tree nurseries and to increase the amount of compensation that may be paid to eligible owners of commercial stone fruit orchards and fruit tree nurseries whose trees are required to be destroyed in order to prevent the spread of plum pox. The interim rule also provided updated instructions for the submission of claims for compensation. These changes were necessary to provide adequate compensation to persons who are economically affected by the plum pox quarantine and the associated State and Federal eradication efforts.

In a final rule that was published in the Federal Register on July 20, 2012, and effective on August 20, 2012, we amended the phytosanitary treatment regulations to, among other things, allow for irradiation treatment of mangoes from India upon arrival in the mainland United States rather than just at the point of origin. In the final rule, we neglected to amend the inspection requirements to address shipments that are treated upon arrival in the United States and not at the point of origin. This document corrects that error.

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, this notice announces the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service's intention to request an extension of approval of an information collection associated with the importation of swine hides, bird trophies, and deer hides.

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, this notice announces the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service's intention to request an extension of approval of an information collection associated with the bovine tuberculosis regulations.

We are advising the public that the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service has prepared an environmental assessment and finding of no significant impact relative to an oral rabies vaccination field trial in New Hampshire, New York, Ohio, Vermont, and West Virginia. Based on its finding of no significant impact, the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service has determined that an environmental impact statement need not be prepared.

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, this notice announces the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service's intention to request an extension of approval of an information collection associated with a Plant Protection and Quarantine stakeholder/customer satisfaction survey.

We are advising the public that the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service has prepared an environmental assessment relative to the release of Symnus coniferarum to control hemlock woolly adelgid. The environmental assessment considers the effects of, and alternatives to, the release of Symnus coniferarum into the eastern United States for use as a biological control agent to reduce the severity of hemlock woolly adelgid infestations. We are making the environmental assessment available to the public for review and comment.

We are giving notice of a meeting of the General Conference Committee of the National Poultry Improvement Plan (NPIP) and the NPIP's 41st Biennial Conference.

We are advising the public of our determination regarding the foot-and-mouth disease status of Japan. Based on an evaluation that we made available to the public for review and comment through a previous notice, the Administrator has determined that Japan is free of foot- and-mouth disease. As a result, the importation of whole cuts of boneless beef from Japan may resume. Other ruminant meat and meat byproducts, as well as fresh pork, live ruminants, and live swine, remain prohibited due to Japan's status for bovine spongiform encephalopathy, classical swine fever, and swine vesicular disease.

We are advising the public of our record of decision for the final supplemental environmental impact statement for the Gull Hazard Reduction Program at John F. Kennedy International Airport.

We are reopening the comment period for our interim final rule that will establish a herd certification program to control chronic wasting disease (CWD) in farmed or captive cervids in the United States. The interim final rule requested comment on our decision that our regulations will set minimum requirements for the interstate movement of farmed or captive cervids but not preempt State or local laws or regulations that are more restrictive than our regulations, except any such laws or regulations that prohibit or further restrict the transit through a State of deer, elk, and moose that are otherwise eligible for interstate movement. This action will allow interested persons additional time to prepare and submit comments on our preemption policy with respect to CWD. This document also indicates that we will consider comments on issues other than our preemption policy for future rulemaking.

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, this notice announces the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service's intention to request an extension of approval of an information collection associated with the Cooperative State-Federal Brucellosis Eradication Program.

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, this notice announces the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service's intention to initiate the Layers 2013 Study, an information collection to support the U.S. poultry industry.

We are proposing to amend the Virus-Serum-Toxin Act regulations to require that veterinary biologics prepared under the veterinary practitioner exemption must be prepared at the same facility the veterinarian utilizes in conducting the day-to-day activities associated with his or her practice. This exemption applies to veterinary biologics prepared by a veterinary practitioner solely for administration to animals in the course of a State-licensed professional practice of veterinary medicine under a veterinarian- client-patient relationship. This proposed amendment is necessary to ensure that veterinary biologics are not prepared in unlicensed establishments in violation of the Virus-Serum-Toxin Act. The effect of the proposed amendment would be to clarify the regulations regarding the preparation of product by a veterinary practitioner under a veterinarian-client-patient relationship.