Department of Agriculture March 29, 2013 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 and Office of Management and Budget (OMB) regulations, the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) is announcing its intention to request a new information collection for a survey of the egg products industry.

We are amending the regulations governing the importation of animals and animal products by recognizing 25 Member States of the European Union (EU) as the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS)-defined EU poultry trade region and adding it to the list of regions we consider to be free of Newcastle disease. We are taking this action based on a risk evaluation that we prepared in which we determined that the region meets our requirements for being considered free of Newcastle disease. We also determined that the region meets our requirements for being considered free of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI). In addition, we are establishing requirements governing the importation of live birds and poultry and poultry meat and products from the APHIS-defined EU poultry trade region and updating avian disease terms and definitions. We are also allowing importation from the APHIS-defined EU poultry trade region of hatching eggs under official seal, including those that have transited a restricted zone established because of detection of HPAI within the boundaries of the APHIS-defined EU poultry trade region. These actions will facilitate the importation of live birds and poultry, including hatching eggs, and poultry meat and products from the APHIS-defined EU poultry trade region while maintaining safeguards to protect the United States from the introduction of communicable avian diseases.

This final rule establishes regulations for seasons, harvest limits, methods, and means related to taking of fish for subsistence uses in Alaska during the 2013-2014 and 2014-2015 regulatory years. The Federal Subsistence Board (Board) completes the biennial process of revising subsistence hunting and trapping regulations in even-numbered years and subsistence fishing and shellfish regulations in odd-numbered years; public proposal and review processes take place during the preceding year. The Board also addresses customary and traditional use determinations during the applicable biennial cycle. This rulemaking replaces the fish taking regulations that expire on March 31, 2013.