Horses From Qatar; Change in Disease Status

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service

9 CFR Part 93

[Docket No. 97-131-1]

Horses From Qatar; Change in Disease Status

AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, USDA.

ACTION: Proposed rule.

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SUMMARY: We are proposing to amend the regulations concerning the

importation of horses to remove Qatar from the list of regions the

Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service considers affected with

African horse sickness. This proposed action is based on information

received from Qatar and is in accordance with standards set by the

Office International des Epizooties for recognizing a country as free

of African horse sickness. This proposed action would relieve

restrictions on the importation of horses into the United States from

Qatar.

DATES: Consideration will be given only to comments received on or

before July 13, 1998.

ADDRESSES: Please send an original and three copies of your comments to

Docket No. 97-131-1, Regulatory Analysis and Development, PPD, APHIS,

suite 3C03, 4700 River Road, Unit 118, Riverdale, MD 20737-1238. Please

state that your comments refer to Docket No. 97-131-1. Comments

received may be inspected at USDA, room 1141, South Building, 14th

Street and Independence Avenue SW., Washington, DC, between 8 a.m. and

4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, except holidays. Persons wishing to

inspect comments are requested to call ahead on (202) 690-2817 to

facilitate entry into the comment reading room.

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

Veterinarian, Products Program, National Center for Import and Export,

VS, APHIS, 4700 River Road, Unit 40, Riverdale, MD 20737-1231, (301)

734-3399; or e-mail: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

The regulations in 9 CFR part 93 (referred to below as the

regulations) prescribe the conditions for the importation into the

United States of specified animals to prevent the introduction of

various animal diseases, including African horse sickness (AHS). AHS is

a fatal equine viral disease that is not known to exist in the United

States.

Section 93.308(a)(2) of the regulations lists regions that the

Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) considers affected

with AHS and sets forth specific quarantine requirements for horses

that are imported from those regions. APHIS requires horses intended

for importation from any of the regions listed, including horses that

have stopped in or transited those regions, to enter the United States

only at the port of New York and be quarantined at the New York Animal

Import Center in Newburgh, NY, for at least 60 days. This precaution is

necessary to help ensure that the horses are not affected with AHS.

We are proposing to recognize Qatar as free of AHS. We are

proposing this action based on information given to APHIS by Qatar and

standards set by the Office International des Epizooties (OIE).

In order for a country to be recognized as free of AHS, the OIE

requires the disease to be mandatorily reportable. In addition, the

country must not have vaccinated domestic horses or other equines

against the disease during the past 12 months. The OIE also requires

that the country have no clinical, serological (in non-vaccinated

animals), or epidemiological evidence of AHS for the past 2 years.

Qatar has not had a recorded case of AHS in over 30 years, and

vaccination against AHS has not been permitted during this period.

With its request to be considered free of AHS, Qatar provided APHIS

with information about its veterinary infrastructure, animal health

monitoring system, trading practices with other regions, and other

pertinent information that we require in order to determine whether

Qatar should be recognized as free of AHS.

APHIS has reviewed the information provided by Qatar in support of

declaring it free of AHS. Based on that information, and in accordance

with OIE standards for recognizing a country to be free of AHS, we are

proposing to consider Qatar as free of AHS. Therefore, we are proposing

to amend Sec. 93.308(a)(2) by removing Qatar from the list of regions

declared affected with AHS. This proposed action would allow horses

from Qatar to be shipped to and quarantined at ports designated in

Sec. 93.303, and would reduce the quarantine period to an average of 3

days to meet the quarantine and testing requirements specified in

Sec. 93.308.

On October 28, 1997, we published a final rule and policy statement

in the Federal Register that established procedures for recognizing

regions, rather than only countries, for the purpose of importing

animals and animal products into the United States, and that

established procedures by which regions may request permission to

export animals and animal products to the United States under specified

conditions, based on the regions' disease status (see 62 FR 56000-

56033, Dockets 94-106-8 and 94-106-9). The final rule was effective on

November 28, 1997. The request from Qatar addressed by this proposed

rule is not a request to be recognized as a region, rather than a

country, nor a request to establish new import conditions based on the

disease status of regions. Therefore, we have handled and evaluated

this request in the traditional framework of recognizing a country as

affected or not affected with a specified disease. If this proposed

rule is adopted, the current regulations regarding importation of

horses from regions free of AHS will apply.

Executive Order 12866 and Regulatory Flexibility Act

This proposed rule has been reviewed under Executive Order 12866.

The rule has been determined to be not significant for the purposes of

Executive Order 12866 and, therefore, has not been reviewed by the

Office of Management and Budget.

This proposed rule would recognize Qatar as free of AHS. This

action would allow horses from Qatar to be shipped to and quarantined

at ports designated in Sec. 93.303 and would reduce the quarantine and

testing period to an

[[Page 26100]]

average of 3 days to meet quarantine requirements specified in

Sec. 93.308.

U.S. importers of competition and breeding horses from Qatar would

be affected by this rule if it is adopted. These importers would no

longer be required to quarantine horses from Qatar for 60 days at the

New York Animal Import Center in Newburgh, NY, at a cost of

approximately $5,296 per horse.

In 1996, the U.S. imported 31,633 horses. However, there have been

no horses imported into the United States from Qatar since 1992.

Removing the requirement for a 60-day quarantine for horses from Qatar

would make the importation of these horses less expensive and

logistically easier. As a result, we anticipate that U.S. importers

might begin importing horses from Qatar. However, since the current

horse population in Qatar is approximately 1500 head, we do not expect

that the number of horses exported to the United States would be

significant. In fact, in 1995, Qatar only exported 10 horses.

Furthermore, most horses imported from Qatar would probably be in the

United States on a temporary basis for particular events, such as for

races or breeding, and then transported back to Qatar. For these

reasons, we anticipate the overall economic impact on U.S. entities

would be minimal.

Under these circumstances, the Administrator of the Animal and

Plant Health Inspection Service has determined that this action would

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. If this proposed rule is adopted: (1) All State and

local laws and regulations that are inconsistent with this rule will be

preempted; (2) no retroactive effect will be given to this rule; and

(3) administrative proceedings will not be required before parties may

file suit in court challenging this rule.

Paperwork Reduction Act

This proposed rule contains no information collection or

recordkeeping requirements under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995

(44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.).

List of Subjects in 9 CFR Part 93

Animal diseases, Imports, Livestock, Poultry and poultry products,

Quarantine, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements.

Accordingly, 9 CFR part 93 would be amended as follows:

PART 93--IMPORTATION OF CERTAIN ANIMALS, BIRDS, AND POULTRY, AND

CERTAIN ANIMAL, BIRD, AND POULTRY PRODUCTS; REQUIREMENTS FOR MEANS

OF CONVEYANCE AND SHIPPING CONTAINERS

1. The authority citation for part 93 would continue to read as

follows:

Authority: 7 U.S.C. 1622; 19 U.S.C. 1306; 21 U.S.C. 102-105,

111, 114a, 134a, 134b, 134c, 134d, 134f, 135, 136, and 136a; 31

U.S.C. 9701; 7 CFR 2.22, 2.80, and 371.2(d).

Sec. 93.308 [Amended]

2. In Sec. 93.308, paragraph (a)(2) would be amended by removing

``Qatar,''.

Done in Washington, DC, this 6th day of May 1998.

Charles P. Schwalbe,

Acting Administrator, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.

[FR Doc. 98-12571 Filed 5-11-98; 8:45 am]

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