[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 186 (Monday, September 28, 2009)]
[Notices]
[Pages 49361-49362]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-23320]


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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service

[Docket No. APHIS-2009-0054]


Fiscal Year 2010 Veterinary Import/Export User Fees and 
Veterinary Diagnostic Services User Fees

AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, USDA.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: This notice pertains to user fees charged for import- and 
export-related services that we provide for animals, animal products, 
birds, germ plasm, organisms, and vectors and for certain veterinary 
diagnostic services. The purpose of this notice is to remind the public 
of the user fees for fiscal year 2010 (October 1, 2009, through 
September 30, 2010).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For information on Veterinary Services 
import and export program operations, contact Dr. Freeda Isaac, 
Director, National Center for Import and Export, VS, APHIS, 4700 River 
Road, Unit 39, Riverdale, MD 20737-1231; (301) 734-8364.
    For information on Veterinary Diagnostic program operations, 
contact Dr. Elizabeth Lautner, Director, National Veterinary Services 
Laboratories, VS, APHIS, 1800 Dayton Avenue, Ames, IA 50010; (515) 663-
7301.
    For information concerning user fee rate development, contact Mrs. 
Kris Caraher, Section Head, User Fees Section, Financial Services 
Branch, FMD, MRPBS, APHIS, 4700 River Road, Unit 54, Riverdale, MD 
20737; (301) 734-5901.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background

Veterinary Import/Export User Fees

    The regulations in 9 CFR part 130 (referred to below as the 
regulations) list user fees for import- and export-related services 
provided by the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) for 
animals, animal products, birds, germ plasm, organisms, and vectors.
    These user fees are authorized by section 2509(c)(1) of the Food, 
Agriculture, Conservation, and Trade Act of 1990, as amended (21 U.S.C. 
136a), which provides that the Secretary of Agriculture may establish 
and collect fees that will cover the cost of providing import- and 
export-related services for animals, animal products, birds, germ 
plasm, organisms, and vectors.
    In a final rule published in the Federal Register on March 30, 2009 
(74 FR 13999-14006, Docket No. APHIS-2006-0144), and effective April 
29, 2009, we established, for fiscal years 2009 through 2013, user fees 
for those services.
    The veterinary import/export user fees are found in Sec. Sec.  
130.2 through 130.11 and Sec. Sec.  130.20 through 130.30 of the 
regulations and cover the following:
    <bullet> Any service rendered by an APHIS representative for each 
animal or bird receiving standard housing, care, feed and handling 
while quarantined in the APHIS-owned or -operated animal import center 
or quarantine facility;
    <bullet> Birds or poultry, including zoo birds or poultry, 
receiving nonstandard housing, care, or handling to meet special 
requirements while quarantined in an APHIS-owned or -operated animal 
import center or quarantine facility;
    <bullet> Exclusive use of space at APHIS Animal Import Centers;
    <bullet> Processing import permit applications;
    <bullet> Any service rendered by an APHIS representative for live 
animals presented for importation or entry into the United States 
through a land border port along the United States-Mexico border;

[[Page 49362]]

    <bullet> Any service rendered for live animals at land border ports 
along the United States-Canada border;
    <bullet> Miscellaneous services;
    <bullet> Pet birds;
    <bullet> The inspection of various import and export facilities and 
establishments;
    <bullet> The endorsement of export health certificates that do not 
require the verification of tests or vaccinations;
    <bullet> The endorsement of export health certificates that require 
the verification of tests and vaccinations; and,
    <bullet> Hourly rate and minimum user fees.
    On October 1, 2009, the veterinary import/export user fees for 
fiscal year 2010 will take effect. You may view the regulations in 9 
CFR part 130, which includes charts showing all the fiscal year 2010 
veterinary import/export user fees, on the Internet at Regulation.gov, 
at http://www.regulations.gov/fdmspublic/component/main?main=DocketDetail&d=APHIS-2009-0054.

Veterinary Diagnostic Services User Fees

    User fees to reimburse APHIS for the costs of providing veterinary 
diagnostic services are also contained in 9 CFR part 130. These user 
fees are authorized by section 2509(c) of the Food, Agriculture, 
Conservation, and Trade Act of 1990, as amended (21 U.S.C. 136a), which 
provides that the Secretary of Agriculture may, among other things, 
prescribe regulations and collect fees to recover the costs of 
veterinary diagnostics relating to the control and eradication of 
communicable diseases of livestock and poultry within the United 
States.
    In a final rule published in the Federal Register on December 19, 
2007 (72 FR 71744-71750, Docket No. APHIS-2006-0161), and effective 
January 18, 2008, we established, for fiscal years 2008 through 2012 
and beyond, user fees for certain veterinary diagnostic services, 
including certain diagnostic tests, reagents, and other veterinary 
diagnostic materials and services. Veterinary diagnostics is the work 
performed in a laboratory to determine whether a disease-causing 
organism or chemical agent is present in body tissues or cells and, if 
so, to identify those organisms or agents. Services in this category 
include: (1) Performing identification, serology, and pathobiology 
tests and providing diagnostic reagents and other veterinary diagnostic 
materials and services for the National Veterinary Services 
Laboratories (NVSL) in Ames, IA; and (2) performing laboratory tests 
and providing reagents and other veterinary diagnostic materials and 
services at the NVSL Foreign Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory (NVSL 
FADDL) in Greenport, NY.
    The veterinary diagnostic services user fees are found in 
Sec. Sec.  130.12 through 130.19 and cover the following:
    <bullet> Virology identification tests performed at NVSL (excluding 
FADDL) or other authorized sites;
    <bullet> Bacteriology serology tests performed at NVSL (excluding 
FADDL) or other authorized sites;
    <bullet> Virology serology tests performed at NVSL (excluding 
FADDL) or other authorized sites;
    <bullet> Veterinary diagnostic tests performed at the Pathobiology 
Laboratory at NVSL (excluding FADDL) or other authorized sites;
    <bullet> Bacteriology reagents produced by the Diagnostic 
Bacteriology Laboratory at NVSL (excluding FADDL) or other authorized 
sites;
    <bullet> Virology reagents produced by the Diagnostic Virology 
Laboratory at NVSL (excluding FADDL) or other authorized sites; and,
    <bullet> Other veterinary diagnostic services or materials 
available from NVSL (excluding FADDL).
    On October 1, 2009, the veterinary diagnostic services user fees 
for fiscal year 2010 will take effect. You may view the regulations in 
9 CFR part 130, which includes charts showing all the fiscal year 2010 
veterinary import/export user fees, on the Internet at Regulation.gov, 
at http://www.regulations.gov/fdmspublic/component/main?main=DocketDetail&d=APHIS-2009-0054.

    Done in Washington, DC, this 23rd day of September 2009.
Karen Grillo,
Acting Administrator, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
[FR Doc. E9-23320 Filed 9-25-09; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-34-P