Horses from Australia and New Zealand; Quarantine Requirements

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service

9 CFR Part 93

[Docket No. 98-069-1]

Horses from Australia and New Zealand; Quarantine Requirements

AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, USDA.

ACTION: Proposed rule.

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SUMMARY: We are proposing to amend the regulations regarding the

importation of horses to exempt horses imported from Australia and New

Zealand from testing for dourine and glanders during the quarantine

period. We believe this action is warranted because neither country has

ever had a reported case of dourine, New Zealand has never had a

reported case of

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glanders, and Australia has not had a reported case of glanders since

1891. It appears that horses imported from Australia and New Zealand

would pose a negligible risk of introducing dourine and glanders into

the United States.

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

before January 29, 1999.

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

Docket No. 98-069-1, 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. 98-069-1. 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. Glen I. Garris, Supervisory Staff

Officer, Regionalization Evaluation Staff, National Center for Import

and Export, VS, APHIS, 4700 River Road Unit 39, Riverdale, MD 20737-

1231, (301) 734-8364.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

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

regulations) govern the importation into the United States of specified

animals and animal products to prevent the introduction into the United

States of various animal diseases, including dourine and glanders.

Dourine and glanders are potentially fatal equine diseases that are not

known to exist in the United States.

Under Sec. 93.308(a)(3) of the regulations, horses imported from

any part of the world must, in order to qualify for release from

quarantine, test negative to official tests for dourine, glanders,

equine piroplasmosis, equine infectious anemia, and any other tests and

procedures that may be required by the Administrator of the Animal and

Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) to determine their freedom from

communicable diseases.

The Governments of Australia and New Zealand have requested that

the U.S. Department of Agriculture exempt horses imported from

Australia and New Zealand from testing for dourine and glanders during

the quarantine period. Australia has never had a reported case of

dourine, and the last case of glanders in that country was reported in

1891. New Zealand has never had a reported case of dourine or glanders.

The Governments of Australia and New Zealand also provided APHIS

with documentation about their veterinary infrastructure, animal health

monitoring system, trading practices with other regions, and other

pertinent information to support their requests. Copies of this

documentation may be obtained from the person listed under FOR FURTHER

INFORMATION CONTACT.

APHIS has reviewed the documentation, and based on that

documentation, we believe that horses imported from Australia and New

Zealand would pose a negligible risk of introducing dourine and

glanders into the United States. Therefore, we are proposing to amend

93.308(a)(3) of the regulations to exempt horses imported from

Australia and New Zealand from testing for dourine and glanders during

the quarantine period. However, horses imported from Australia and New

Zealand would still have to be quarantined and tested for equine

piroplasmosis, equine infectious anemia, and undergo any other tests

and procedures that may be required by the Administrator to determine

their freedom from communicable diseases.

Miscellaneous

In Sec. 93.308(a)(3), footnote 14 states that official tests for

dourine and glanders are performed at the Veterinary Services

Laboratory in Beltsville, MD; however, those tests are currently

performed at the National Veterinary Services Laboratories in Ames, IA.

We are proposing to amend the footnote to reflect the current location.

We are also proposing to make several nonsubstantive editorial changes

to Sec. 93.308(a)(3).

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 exempt horses imported into the United

States from Australia and New Zealand from the requirement for testing

for dourine and glanders during the quarantine period. As explained

previously in this document, we believe that there is a negligible risk

of horses imported from Australia and New Zealand introducing dourine

and glanders into the United States.

U.S. importers of horses from Australia and New Zealand would be

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

be required to have horses that are imported from Australia and New

Zealand tested for dourine and glanders during the quarantine period.

As a consequence, U.S. importers would save $18.00 for the cost of both

tests. However, horses imported from Australia and New Zealand would

still have to be tested for equine piroplasmosis, equine infections

anemia, and undergo any other tests and procedures that may be required

by APHIS to determine their freedom from communicable diseases.

According to the 1992 Census of Agriculture, the United States had

a total population of at least 2,049,522 horses. The United States is a

net exporter of horses. In 1997, the United States exported 56,953

horses valued at $271 million, and imported 23,794 horses valued at

$134 million. However, only 45 of the horses were imported from

Australia, and 130 of the horses were imported from New Zealand. The

total number of horses imported into the United States from Australia

and New Zealand is small due to the distances the horses must travel

and the high transportation costs, which are reflected in the prices of

the horses. For example, horses imported from Canada have an average

price of $1,490, while horses imported from Australia and New Zealand

have an average price of $20,682, and $13,781, respectively. Given

these relatively high prices and the rather small expected savings of

$18 per horse imported, we do not expect this proposed action would

result in an increase in the number of horses imported into the United

States from Australia and New Zealand, nor do we expect this proposed

action would have a significant economic impact on U.S. importers of

horses from Australia and New Zealand, regardless of their size.

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.

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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, we propose to amend 9 CFR part 93 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).

2. In Sec. 93.308, paragraph (a)(3) would be revised to read as

follows:

Sec. 93.308 Quarantine requirements.

(a) * * *

(3) To qualify for release from quarantine, all horses must test

negative to official tests for dourine, glanders, equine piroplasmosis,

and equine infectious anemia.\14\ However, horses imported from

Australia and New Zealand are exempt from testing for dourine and

glanders. In addition, all horses must undergo any other tests,

inspections, disinfections, and precautionary treatments that may be

required by the Administrator to determine their freedom from

communicable diseases.

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\14\ Because the official tests for dourine and glanders are

performed only at the National Veterinary Services Laboratories in

Ames, IA, the protocols for those tests have not been published and

are, therefore, not available; however, copies of ``Protocol for the

Complement-Fixation Test for Equine Piroplasmosis'' and ``Protocol

for the Immuno-Diffusion (Coggins) Test for Equine Infectious

Anemia'' may be obtained from the Animal and Plant Health Inspection

Service, Veterinary Services, National Center for Import-Export,

4700 River Road Unit 38, Riverdale, MD 20737-1231.

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* * * * *

Done in Washington, DC, this 20th day of November 1998.

Craig A. Reed,

Administrator, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.

[FR Doc. 98-31711 Filed 11-27-98; 8:45 am]

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