Change in Disease Status of Italy, Except the Island of Sardinia, Because of African Swine Fever

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service

9 CFR Parts 94 and 96

[Docket No. 97-002-2]

Change in Disease Status of Italy, Except the Island of Sardinia,

Because of African Swine Fever

AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, USDA.

ACTION: Final rule.

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SUMMARY: We are declaring Italy, with the exception of the island of

Sardinia, free of African swine fever because there have been no

confirmed outbreaks of African swine fever in Italy, except on the

island of Sardinia, since 1983. This action will relieve certain

restrictions on the importation into the United States of pork and pork

products, including swine casings, from all regions of Italy except

Sardinia. However, because hog cholera and swine vesicular disease

exist in Italy, and because Italy, as a member state of the European

Union, has certain trade practices regarding live swine and pork and

pork products that are less restrictive than are acceptable to the

United States, the importation into the United States of live swine and

pork and pork products from Italy will continue to be subject to

certain restrictions.

EFFECTIVE DATE: September 17, 1997.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. John Cougill, Staff Veterinarian,

Products Program, National Center for Import and Export, VS, APHIS,

4700 River Road, Unit 40, Riverdale, MD 20737-1231, (301) 734-8695; or

e-mail: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

The regulations in 9 CFR part 94 (referred to below as the

regulations) prohibit or restrict the importation into the United

States of specified animals and animal products in order to prevent the

introduction into the United States of various animal diseases,

including rinderpest, foot-and-mouth disease, bovine spongiform

encephalopathy, swine vesicular disease, hog cholera, and African swine

fever (ASF). These are dangerous and destructive communicable diseases

of ruminants and swine.

On June 12, 1997, we published in the Federal Register (62 FR

32051-32053, Docket No. 97-002-1) a proposal to amend the regulations

to declare Italy, with the exception of the island of Sardinia, free of

ASF. In that document, we noted that because hog cholera and swine

vesicular disease exist in Italy, and because Italy, as a member state

of the European Union, has certain trade practices regarding live swine

and pork and pork products that are less restrictive than are

acceptable to the United States, the importation into the United States

of live swine and pork and pork products from Italy would continue to

be subject to certain restrictions. We further proposed to amend

Secs. 94.8 and 96.2 to include the words ``or part of a country'' after

references to ``a country'' or ``any country'' affected with ASF so

that the regulations in those sections would remain accurate in light

of the proposal to recognize less than the entire country of Italy as

free of ASF. We also proposed to make two nonsubstantive editorial

changes to the regulations in part 94.

We solicited comments concerning our proposal for a 60-day period

ending on August 11, 1997. We received two comments by that date. The

comments we received were from two foreign meat processor associations

and supported the proposed rule.

Therefore, based on the rationale set forth in the proposed rule,

we are

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adopting the provisions of the proposal as a final rule without change.

Effective Date

This is a substantive rule that relieves restrictions and, pursuant

to the provisions of 5 U.S.C. 553, may be made effective less than 30

days after publication in the Federal Register. This rule removes

certain restrictions on the importation into the United States, from

all regions of Italy except Sardinia, of pork and pork products,

including swine casings. We have determined that approximately 2 weeks

are needed to ensure that Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service

personnel at ports of entry receive official notice of this change in

the regulations. Therefore, the Administrator of the Animal and Plant

Health Inspection Service has determined that this rule should be made

effective 15 days after publication in the Federal Register.

Executive Order 12866 and Regulatory Flexibility Act

This rule has been reviewed under Executive Order 12866. For this

action, the Office of Management and Budget has waived its review

process required by Executive Order 12866.

This rule amends the regulations in part 94 by removing Italy,

except the island of Sardinia, from the list of countries where ASF

exists or is reasonably believed to exist. This action relieves certain

restrictions on the importation of pork and pork products, including

swine casings, into the United States from all areas of Italy except

the island of Sardinia. However, because hog cholera and swine

vesicular disease exist in Italy, and because Italy, as a member state

of the European Union, has certain trade practices regarding live swine

and pork and pork products that are less restrictive than are

acceptable to the United States, the importation into the United States

of live swine and pork and pork products from Italy will continue to be

subject to restrictions. For this reason, no live swine, or fresh,

chilled, or frozen pork will be imported from Italy as a result of this

rule change.

Entities in the United States likely to be affected by this rule

are those entities engaged in the production of swine and processed

pork products. According to the Small Business Administration (SBA)

definition, a ``small entity'' in the production of swine is an entity

whose total annual sales are less than $0.5 million. Under this

definition, approximately 96.3 percent of domestic producers are

considered to be small entities. According to the SBA definition, a

small entity in the production of pork products, including meat packing

plants, is an entity employing fewer than 500 workers. In 1992, the

most recent year for which complete figures are available, over 95

percent of pork processors of all types were considered small entities.

It is possible that imports of processed pork products will be

affected by this rule, but we believe any change will be minimal. Italy

has not been declared free of swine vesicular disease or hog cholera,

so there will continue to be restrictions on the importation into the

United States of pork and pork products, including dry-cured pork

products, from anywhere in Italy. Given those continuing restrictions,

we believe any potential increase in imports of processed pork products

derived from Italian swine will be minimal. The economic impact of a

slight increase in those imports on U.S. swine producers and processors

of pork and pork products is likewise expected to be minimal.

Under these circumstances, the Administrator of the Animal and

Plant Health Inspection Service has determined that this action will

not have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small

entities.

Executive Order 12988

This rule has been reviewed under Executive Order 12988, Civil

Justice Reform. This rule: (1) Preempts all State and local laws and

regulations that are inconsistent with this rule; (2) has no

retroactive effect; and (3) does not require administrative proceedings

before parties may file suit in court challenging this rule.

Paperwork Reduction Act

This rule contains no new information collection or recordkeeping

requirements under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501

et seq.).

List of Subjects

9 CFR Part 94

Animal diseases, Imports, Livestock, Meat and meat products, Milk,

Poultry and poultry products, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements.

9 CFR Part 96

Imports, Livestock, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements.

Accordingly, 9 CFR parts 94 and 96 are amended as follows:

PART 94--RINDERPEST, FOOT-AND-MOUTH DISEASE, FOWL PEST (FOWL

PLAGUE), EXOTIC NEWCASTLE DISEASE, AFRICAN SWINE FEVER, HOG

CHOLERA, AND BOVINE SPONGIFORM ENCEPHALOPATHY: PROHIBITED AND

RESTRICTED IMPORTATIONS

1. The authority citation for part 94 continues to read as follows:

Authority: 7 U.S.C. 147a, 150ee, 161, 162, and 450; 19 U.S.C.

1306; 21 U.S.C. 111, 114a, 134a, 134b, 134c, 134f, 136, and 136a; 31

U.S.C. 9701; 42 U.S.C. 4331 and 4332; 7 CFR 2.22, 2.80, and

371.2(d).

Sec. 94.4 [Amended]

2. In Sec. 94.4, in the introductory text of paragraph (b)(8) and

in paragraph (b)(8)(i)(C), footnotes 1 and 2 and their references in

the text are redesignated as footnotes 2 and 3, respectively.

Sec. 94.6 [Amended]

3. Section 94.6 is amended as follows:

a. In paragraph (c)(2), footnote 1 and its reference in the text

are redesignated as footnote 4.

b. In the introductory text of paragraph (d), footnote 2 and its

reference in the text are redesignated as footnote 5.

c. In paragraph (d)(1)(ix)(C)(1), footnote 3 and its reference in

the text are redesignated as footnote 6.

Sec. 94.8 [Amended]

4. Section 94.8 is amended as follows:

a. In the introductory text of the section, footnote 1 and its

reference in the text are redesignated as footnote 7, and, in the text

of newly redesignated footnote 7, the words ``or a part of a country''

are added after the word ``country'' the first time it appears.

b. In the introductory text of the section, the words ``All the

countries of Africa, Brazil, Cuba, Haiti, Italy, Malta, and Portugal''

are removed and the words ``All the countries of Africa; Brazil, Cuba,

Haiti, Malta, and Portugal; and the island of Sardinia, Italy'' are

added in their place.

c. In the introductory text of paragraph (a), the words ``or part

of a country'' are added after the word ``country''.

d. In paragraph (a)(3)(i)(A), the words ``or part of a country''

are added after the word ``country''.

e. In paragraph (a)(3)(i)(B), footnote 2 and its reference in the

text are redesignated as footnote 8, and the words ``country listed''

are removed and the words ``country or part of a country listed'' are

added in their place.

f. In paragraph (a)(3)(iv)(A), the words ``or parts of countries''

are added after the word ``countries''.

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g. In paragraph (a)(3)(v), the words ``or part of a country'' are

added after the word ``country''.

h. In paragraph (c), the words ``or part of a country'' are added

after the word ``country''.

Sec. 94.9 [Amended]

5. In Sec. 94.9, paragraph (a), footnote 1 and its reference in the

text are redesignated as footnote 9, and in paragraph (b)(3) footnote 2

and its reference in the text are redesignated as footnote 10.

Sec. 94.12 [Amended]

6. In Sec. 94.12, paragraph (b)(1)(iii)(B), footnote 1 and its

reference in the text are redesignated as footnote 11, and in paragraph

(b)(3) footnote 2 and its reference in the text are redesignated as

footnote 12.

Sec. 94.16 [Amended]

7. In Sec. 94.16, paragraph (b)(2), footnote 1 and its eight

references in the text are redesignated as footnote 13.

Sec. 94.17 [Amended]

8. In Sec. 94.17, in paragraph (a), the word ``subpart'' is removed

and the word ``section'' is added in its place, and in paragraph (e),

footnote 1 and its reference in the text are redesignated as footnote

14.

Sec. 94.18 [Amended]

9. In Sec. 94.18, in paragraph (c)(2), footnote 1 and its reference

in the text are redesignated as footnote 15, and in paragraph (d)(1),

footnote 2 and its reference in the text are redesignated as footnote

16.

PART 96--RESTRICTION OF IMPORTATIONS OF FOREIGN ANIMAL CASINGS

OFFERED FOR ENTRY INTO THE UNITED STATES

10. The authority citation for part 96 continues to read as

follows:

Authority: 21 U.S.C. 111, 136, and 136a; 7 CFR 2.22, 2.80, and

371.2(d).

Sec. 96.2 [Amended]

11. In Sec. 96.2, paragraph (a) is amended by adding the words ``or

part of a country'' after the word ``country'' each time it appears.

Done in Washington, DC, this 26th day of August 1997.

Craig A. Reed,

Acting Administrator, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.

[FR Doc. 97-23213 Filed 8-29-97; 8:45 am]

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