. /.   WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  G/SPS/N/USA/615/Rev.1 
9 February 2007 
 (07-0548) 
Committee on Sanitary a nd Phytosanitary Measures Original:   English 
  
 
 
NOTIFICATION 
 
Revision
 
 
1. Member to Agreement notifying:  UNITED STATES  
If applicable, name of local government involved:   
2. Agency responsible:  Animal Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) of the US 
Department of Agriculture 
3. Products covered (provide tariff item number(s) as specified in national schedules 
deposited with the WTO; ICS numbers should be provided in addition, where 
applicable):   Horses  (imported)  
4. Regions or countries likely to be affected , to the extent relevant or practicable:  
Trading partners 
5. Title, language and number of p ages of the notified document:  Horses for Import; 
Standards for Permanent, Privately Owned Horse Quarantine Facilities (Available in 
English, 20 pages) 
6. Description of content:  The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service is proposing to 
amend the regulations pertaining to the importa tion of horses to establish standards for the 
approval of permanent, privately owned quara ntine facilities for horses. We are taking this 
action because demand for quarantine services for horses exceeds the space available at 
existing facilities. This proposed rule replaces a previously published proposed rule, which 
we are withdrawing as part of this documen t, that contained substantially different 
restrictions on ownership and substantially different requirements for the physical plant, 
operating procedures, and compliance date. We believe that allowing imported horses to be 
quarantined in permanent, privately owne d quarantine facilities that meet these newly 
proposed criteria would facilitate the importa tion of horses while continuing to protect 
against the introduction of communicable diseases of horses. 
7. Objective and rationale: [   ] food safety,  [ X ] 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:   G/SPS/N/USA/615/Rev.1 
Page 2  
 
  9. Relevant documents and language(s) in which these are available:   
[Federal Register: 13 December 2006 (Volume 71, Number 239) 
Page 74827-74847 
 http://www.regulations.gov  
10. Proposed date of adoption:  N/A 
11. Proposed date of entry into force:  N/A 
12. Final date for comments:  12 February 2007 
Comments in general will be accepted at anytime 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 publica tion 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:   
Submit written or electronic comments by any of the following methods: 
• Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov  Follow the instructions for 
submitting comments. 
• Postal Mail/Commercial Delivery: Regulatory Analysis and Development, PPD, 
APHIS, Station 3A-03.8, 4700 River Road  Unit 118, Riverdale, MD  20737-1238 
Instructions: All submissions received must in clude the agency name and Docket Number 
APHIS-2006-0121 for this rulemaking.  
For further information contact:  
Dr. Freeda Isaac, Staff Veterinarian, National Center for Import and Export, VS, APHIS, 
4700 River Road Unit 39, Riverdale, MD 20737-1231; (301) 734-8364.  
13. Texts available from:  [ X ] National notifi cation authority, [   ] National enquiry 
point, or address, fax number and E-mail address (if available) of other body:  United 
States SPS National Notification Authority, USDA/ Foreign Agricultural Service, International Regulations and Standards Di vision (ISRD), Stop 1027, Washington, DC  
20250, Tel 202-720-1301 Fax: 202 690-0677, fstsd@fas.usda.gov