[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 115 (Wednesday, June 14, 2000)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 37268-37270]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-15012]


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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service

9 CFR Part 94

[Docket No. 98-095-3]


Pork and Pork Products from Mexico Transiting the United States

AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, USDA.

ACTION: Final rule.

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SUMMARY: We are amending the regulations for the importation of animal 
products to allow fresh (chilled or frozen) pork and pork products from 
the Mexican States of Baja California Sur, Campeche, Coahuila, Nuevo 
Leon, Quintana Roo, and Sinaloa to transit the United States, under 
certain conditions, for export to another country. We are taking this 
action because there has been no outbreak of hog cholera in any of 
these States since 1993, and we are confident that fresh (chilled or 
frozen) pork and pork products from each of the above States could 
transit the United States under seal with a negligible risk of 
introducing hog cholera.

EFFECTIVE DATE: July 14, 2000.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. Michael David, Senior Staff 
Veterinarian, Animals Program, National Center for Import and Export, 
VS, APHIS, 4700 River Road Unit 39, Riverdale, MD 20737; (301) 734-
8364.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    The regulations in 9 CFR part 94 (referred to below as the 
regulations) prohibit or restrict the importation of certain animals 
and animal products into the United States to prevent the introduction 
of certain animal diseases. Section 94.9 of the regulations prohibits 
the importation of pork and pork products into the United States from 
countries where hog cholera exists, unless the pork or pork products 
have been treated in one of several ways, all of which involve heating 
or curing and drying.
    Because hog cholera exists in certain areas in Mexico, pork and 
pork products from most Mexican States must meet the requirements of 
Sec. 94.9 to be imported into the United States. Section 94.20 provides 
an exception, allowing the importation of fresh (chilled or frozen) 
pork and pork products from the Mexican States of Sonora and Yucatan.
    Under Sec. 94.15, pork and pork products that are from certain 
Mexican States and that are not eligible for entry

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into the United States in accordance with the regulations in Sec. 94.9 
or Sec. 94.20 may transit the United States for immediate export if 
certain conditions are met. These provisions were added to the 
regulations in 1992, following a United States Department of 
Agriculture investigation of the hog cholera situation in Sonora, 
Mexico, and a determination that pork and pork products from Sonora 
could transit the United States, under certain conditions, with minimal 
risk of introducing hog cholera. Final rules published in the Federal 
Register in 1995, 1996, and 1997 extended the provisions to Chihuahua, 
Yucatan, and Baja California, respectively.
    On July 19, 1999, we published in the Federal Register (64 FR 
38599-38603, Docket No. 98-095-1) a proposed rule to allow fresh 
(chilled or frozen) pork and pork products from the Mexican States of 
Baja California Sur, Campeche, Coahuila, Nuevo Leon, Quintana Roo, 
Sinaloa, and Tamaulipas to transit the United States, under these same 
conditions, for export to another country. We then published another 
document in the Federal Register on September 15, 1999 (64 FR 50014-
50015, Docket No. 98-095-2), that amended our proposal to clarify that 
the transit of pork be allowed via land border ports only. We extended 
the comment period on our original proposal to allow the public enough 
time to comment on the amendment as it related to the proposed rule. We 
received three comments on the proposed rule, all of which generally 
supported the rule. One of the commenters requested a change in the 
list of States, and one raised another issue. Their concerns are 
addressed below.
    Comment: The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) 
should remove the Mexican State of Tamaulipas from the list of States 
eligible to transit pork through the United States due to an outbreak 
of hog cholera in Tamaulipas in August of 1999.
    Response: Mexico confirmed that an outbreak of hog cholera occurred 
in Tamaulipas in August of 1999 and has taken efforts to control and 
eradicate it in that State. Because of the outbreak, we are not 
including Tamaulipas in this final rule.
    Comment: APHIS should describe how it plans to monitor for 
compliance with the pork transit regulations.
    Response: We intend to monitor compliance with the transit 
restrictions for shipments of pork from Baja California Sur, Campeche, 
Coahuila, Nuevo Leon, Quintana Roo, and Sinaloa in the same manner we 
have monitored transiting shipments of pork from Baja California, 
Chihuahua, Sonora, and Yucatan in the past. When pork transiting the 
United States for export to another country arrives at the U.S.-Mexico 
border, APHIS inspectors check to make sure that the seal number on the 
container holding the pork and the seal number on the health 
certificate accompanying the shipment of pork match. If the original 
seal on the container has been broken, a second seal must be in place, 
and the reason(s) for breaking the original seal must be explained in 
detail on the certificate accompanying the pork. If the original seal 
is broken and a second seal and/or proper documentation do not 
accompany the pork, the container is refused entry into the United 
States. APHIS also conducts spot checks at the port of export in the 
United States to ensure that the seals remain intact during their 
movement through the United States.
    Comment: APHIS should develop a procedure to allow additions to the 
list of Mexican States without having to go through rulemaking each 
time. This would speed up the response time to requests by Mexico to 
relieve restrictions.
    Response: We make every effort to respond promptly to requests made 
by foreign governments to relieve restrictions; however, APHIS must do 
so in accordance with applicable laws and executive orders, including 
the Administrative Procedure Act (5 U.S.C. 551 et seq.) and Executive 
Order 12866, among others.

Changes to the Proposed Rule

    We stated in the preamble to our proposed rule that pork from 
Mexico that is eligible to transit the United States under Sec. 94.15 
must be processed and packaged in Tipo Inspeccion Federal (TIF) plants 
approved by the Mexican Government. TIF plants are subject to strict 
Federal supervision to ensure that international health standards are 
maintained. Our proposed rule did not include this requirement as a 
condition of transit. However, we believe it is important and are, 
therefore, adding it to Sec. 94.15(b)(2) in this final rule.
    Also, Sec. 94.15 has required that the pork be moved in transit in 
leakproof containers sealed with serially numbered seals approved by 
APHIS. We are changing that requirement in this final rule to reflect 
that such containers must be sealed with serially numbered seals of the 
Government of Mexico. We are making this change because APHIS does not 
formally ``approve'' the seals used by Mexico. APHIS simply recognizes 
that the Mexican seals are acceptable for the purposes of this rule.
    Therefore, for the reasons given in the proposed rule and in this 
document, we are adopting the proposed rule as a final rule, with the 
changes discussed in this document.

Executive Order 12866 and Regulatory Flexibility Act

    This 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.
    In accordance with 5 U.S.C. 604, we have performed a final 
regulatory flexibility analysis, which is set out below, regarding the 
economic effects of this rule on small entities.
    This rule will allow fresh (chilled or frozen) pork and pork 
products from the Mexican States of Baja California Sur, Campeche, 
Coahuila, Nuevo Leon, Quintana Roo, and Sinaloa to transit the United 
States, under certain conditions, for export to another country. There 
appears to be little risk of hog cholera exposure from shipments of 
pork and pork products from these States transiting the United States. 
Assuming that proper risk management techniques continue to be applied 
in Mexico, and that accident and exposure risk are minimized by proper 
handling during transport, the risk of exposure to hog cholera from 
pork in transit from Mexico through the United States will be 
negligible.
    This rule will have no direct effect on U.S. producers and 
consumers of pork because Mexican pork will only transit the United 
States and will not enter U.S. marketing channels. Neither the quantity 
or price of pork traded in U.S. domestic markets, nor U.S. consumer or 
producer surplus will be affected by this rule. Therefore, this rule 
will have no economic effects on small entities, except as discussed 
below.

Effects on Small Transport Firms

    This rule could directly affect U.S. trucking companies in the 
border states of Texas and California. These companies may benefit from 
transporting an estimated 5,000 to 6,000 metric tons annually of 
Mexican pork and pork products from U.S. land border ports to U.S. 
maritime ports. Additional annual revenues generated by this rule would 
range from $2,000 to $3,000 for California transport firms (based on an 
additional 5 to 7 trips annually), and from $10,000 to $57,000 for 
Texas transport firms (based on an additional 15 to 18 trips annually). 
The

[[Page 37270]]

majority (98 percent) of trucking firms in Texas and California meet 
the Small Business Administration's definition of a small firm (less 
than $18.5 million in receipts annually). However, based on the limited 
number of trips and negligible amount of revenue generated by these 
trips, it is safe to conclude that this rule will not have a 
significant economic impact on a substantial number of small trucking 
firms.

Effects on U.S. Pork Exporters

    The extent to which this rule will affect U.S. pork exporters is 
unclear, but, based on historical data on Mexican pork exports, it 
appears that the overall effect of the rule will be to increase the 
quantity of Mexican pork destined for the Japanese frozen pork market. 
According to Japanese import statistics, Japan imported 382,000 metric 
tons of frozen swine cuts valued at roughly $1.9 billion in 1997. 
Denmark, Taiwan, and the United States were the top three suppliers, 
but Mexico and Canada, who are relative newcomers to the Japanese 
frozen pork market, have gained market share in recent years. As 
discussed above, we estimate that an additional 5,000 to 6,000 metric 
tons of frozen pork from Mexico would transit the United States for 
Japan annually after the effective date of this rule. This is roughly 
1.4 percent of the total quantity imported by Japan in 1997.
    During the period 1996 through 1997, Mexican frozen pork exports to 
Japan increased from 12,953 metric tons (valued at $76 million) to 
24,408 metric tons (valued at $122 million). During the same period, 
U.S. frozen pork exports to Japan decreased from 64,500 metric tons 
valued at $360 million to 48,000 metric tons valued at $244 million. 
Analysts cite price advantage and the willingness of Mexican packers to 
tailor pork cuts to Japanese specifications as key reasons for Mexico's 
increased market share in 1997.
    Since this rule simply allows pork from additional Mexican States 
to transit the United States for immediate export, it is unclear 
whether this rule will result in increased volumes of Mexican exports 
to foreign regions (e.g., Japan), although it will likely result in 
increased volumes of pork transiting the United States. It is possible 
that the volume of Mexico's total pork exports will remain constant, 
though the volume of pork in transit through the United States will 
increase. This scenario will likely have a minimal economic effect on 
U.S. pork exporters, whether small or large. However, since we are 
unable to determine whether this rule will result in increased volumes 
of Mexican pork exports, we cannot determine the effect of this rule on 
U.S. pork exporters, whether small or large.

Trade Relations

    This rule removes some restrictions on the importation of pork and 
pork products from Mexico and attempts to encourage a positive trading 
environment between the United States and Mexico and other regions 
where hog cholera is considered to exist by stimulating economic 
activity and providing export opportunities to foreign pork processing 
industries.
    This rule contains information collection requirements that have 
been approved by the Office of Management and Budget (see ``Paperwork 
Reduction Act,'' below).

Executive Order 12988

    This final rule has been reviewed under Executive Order 12988, 
Civil Justice Reform. This rule: (1) Preempts all State and local laws 
and regulations that are inconsistent with this rule; (2) has no 
retroactive effect; and (3) does not require administrative proceedings 
before parties may file suit in court challenging this rule.

Paperwork Reduction Act

    In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 
3501 et seq.), the information collection or recordkeeping requirements 
included in this rule have been approved by the Office of Management 
and Budget (OMB) under OMB control number 0579-0145.

List of Subjects in 9 CFR Part 94

    Animal diseases, Imports, Livestock, Meat and meat products, Milk, 
Poultry and poultry products, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements.

    Accordingly, we are amending 9 CFR part 94 as follows:

PART 94--RINDERPEST, FOOT-AND-MOUTH DISEASE, FOWL PEST (FOWL 
PLAGUE), EXOTIC NEWCASTLE DISEASE, AFRICAN SWINE FEVER, HOG 
CHOLERA, AND BOVINE SPONGIFORM ENCEPHALOPATHY: PROHIBITED AND 
RESTRICTED IMPORTATIONS

    1. The authority citation for part 94 continues to read as follows:

    Authority: 7 U.S.C. 147a, 150ee, 161, 162, and 450; 19 U.S.C. 
1306; 21 U.S.C. 111, 114a, 134a, 134b, 134c, 134f, 136, and 136a; 31 
U.S.C. 9701; 42 U.S.C. 4331 and 4332; 7 CFR 2.22, 2.80, and 
371.2(d).

    2. In Sec. 94.15, paragraph (b) introductory text and paragraph 
(b)(2) are revised to read as follows:


Sec. 94.15  Animal products and materials; movement and handling.

* * * * *
    (b) Pork and pork products from Baja California, Baja California 
Sur, Campeche, Chihuahua, Coahuila, Nuevo Leon, Quintana Roo, Sinaloa, 
Sonora, and Yucatan, Mexico, that are not eligible for entry into the 
United States in accordance with this part may transit the United 
States via land border ports for immediate export if the following 
conditions are met:
* * * * *
    (2) The pork or pork products are packaged at a Tipo Inspeccion 
Federal plant in Baja California, Baja California Sur, Campeche, 
Chihuahua, Coahuila, Nuevo Leon, Quintana Roo, Sinaloa, Sonora, or 
Yucatan, Mexico, in leakproof containers and sealed with serially 
numbered seals of the Government of Mexico, and the containers remain 
sealed during the entire time they are in transit across Mexico and the 
United States.
* * * * *

    Done in Washington, DC, this 9th day of June 2000.
Bobby R. Acord,
Acting Administrator, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
[FR Doc. 00-15012 Filed 6-13-00; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3140-34-P