. /.   WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  G/SPS/N/USA/1842 
22 July 2008 
 (08-3532) 
Committee on Sanitary a nd Phytosanitary Measures Original:   English 
  
 
 
NOTIFICATION 
 
1. Member to Agreement notifying:  UNITED STATES
  
If applicable, name of local government involved:     
2. Agency responsible:  Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) of the US 
Department of Agriculture 
3. Products covered (provide tariff item numb er(s) as specified in national schedules 
deposited with the WTO; ICS numbers should be provided in addition, where 
applicable):  Cooked pork 
4. Regions or countries likely to be affected, to the extent relevant or practicable :  All 
countries 
5. Title, language and number of pages of the notified document:  Importation of Cooked 
Pork Skins (available in English, 4 pages) 
6. Description of content:  The Animal and Plant Health Insp ection Service is proposing to 
amend the regulations to allow for the importa tion of cooked pork skins from regions affected 
with foot-and-mouth disease, swine vesicular disease, African swine fever, and classical 
swine fever under certain conditio ns.  APHIS is taking this ac tion after preparing a risk 
assessment that concluded that the cooking met hods examined are sufficient to inactivate the 
pathogens of concern.  This action would reli eve restrictions on the importation of cooked 
pork skins while continuing to protect against the introduction of those diseases of concern.  
7. Objective and rationale:  [ X ] food safety, [   ] animal health,  [   ] plant protection, [  
 ] protect humans from animal/plant pest or disease,  [   ] protect territory from other damage from pests    
8. International standard, guideline or recommendation:  
[   ] Codex Alimentarius Commission, [   ] World Organization for Animal Health 
(OIE), [   ] International Plant Protection Convention, [ X ] None  
If an international standard, guideline or recommendation exists, give the appropriate 
reference and briefly identify deviations:    
9. Relevant documents and language (s) in which these are available:   F e d e r a l  R e g i s t e r :   
2 July 2008 (Volume 73, Number 128), Pages 37892-37896;  available in English. 
Available at Federal Register on-line via GPO Access website: 
http://www.gpoaccess.gov/fr/index.html   
Enter page #37892 under "Quick Search " and link to relevant document. G/SPS/N/USA/1842 
Page 2  
 
  10. Proposed date of adoption:  N/A 
11. Proposed date of entry into force:   N/A 
12. Final date for comments:  2 September 2008 
Comments in general will be accepted at anyt ime after publication of the notice of filing; 
however, if a final rule is promulgated, it will address only those comments that were 
received prior to publication of the final rule. 
Agency or authority designated to handle comments:  [   ] National notification 
authority, [ X ] National enquiry point, or  address, fax number and E-mail address (if 
available) of other body: 
For further information contact: 
Dr. Karen A. James-Preston, Director, Technical Trade Serv ices-Products, Na tional Centre 
for Import and Export, VS, APHIS, 4700 River Road Unit 40, Riverdale, MD 20737-1231; +(301) 734 8172 
13. Texts available from:  [ X ] National notificati on authority, [   ] Na tional enquiry point, 
or address, fax number and E-mail address (if available) of other body: 
United States SPS National Notification Aut hority, USDA Foreign Agricultural Service, 
International Regulations and Standards Division (IRSD), Stop 1027, Washington D.C. 
20250;  Tel:  +(1 202) 720 1301;  Fax:  +(1 202) 720 0433;  E-mail:  us.spsenquirypoint@fas.usda.gov