[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 222 (Thursday, November 16, 2000)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 69237-69239]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-29365]



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Rules and Regulations
                                                Federal Register
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Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 222 / Thursday, November 16, 2000 / 
Rules and Regulations

[[Page 69237]]



DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service

9 CFR Part 93

[Docket No. 00-109-1]


Spanish Pure Breed Horses from Spain

AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, USDA.

ACTION: Interim rule and request for comments.

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SUMMARY: We are amending the regulations for the importation of Spanish 
Pure Breed horses from Spain by removing the requirement that the 
health certificate accompanying imported Spanish Pure Breed horses from 
Spain specify that the horses, since reaching breeding age, have not 
been on breeding premises. In place of that requirement, we will 
require that the health certificate accompanying Spanish Pure Breed 
horses certify, among other things, that, since reaching breeding age, 
the horses have not been on a farm that is exclusively a breeding 
premises; have not been bred; have not attempted to breed; and have not 
been commingled and left unattended with adult horses of the opposite 
sex. We are also correcting the name of the horse breed association of 
Spain. We believe that this action will relieve unnecessary 
restrictions on the importation of Spanish Pure Breed horses from Spain 
while continuing to protect against the introduction and dissemination 
of contagious equine metritis into the United States.

DATES: This interim rule is effective November 16, 2000. We invite you 
to comment on this docket. We will consider all comments that we 
receive by January 16, 2001.

ADDRESSES: Please send four copies of your comment (an original and 
three copies) to: Docket No. 00-109-1, Regulatory Analysis and 
Development, PPD, APHIS, Suite 3C03, 4700 River Road, Unit 118, 
Riverdale, MD 20737-1238.
    Please state that your comment refers to Docket No. 00-109-1.
    You may read any comments that we receive on this docket in our 
reading room. The reading room is located in room 1141 of the USDA 
South Building, 14th Street and Independence Avenue SW., Washington, 
DC. Normal reading room hours are 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through 
Friday, except holidays. To be sure someone is there to help you, 
please call (202) 690-2817 before coming.
    APHIS documents published in the Federal Register, and related 
information, including the names of organizations and individuals who 
have commented on APHIS dockets, are available on the Internet at 
http://www.aphis.usda.gov/ppd/rad/webrepor.html.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. Karen A. James, Assistant 
Director, Technical Trade Services Team, National Center for Import and 
Export, VS, APHIS, 4700 River Road Unit 38, Riverdale, MD 20737-1231; 
(301) 734-8172.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    The regulations in 9 CFR part 93 (referred to below as the 
regulations) prohibit or restrict the importation of certain animals 
into the United States to prevent the introduction of communicable 
diseases of livestock and poultry. Subpart C--Horses, Sec. Sec. 93.300 
through 92.326 of the regulations, pertains to the importation of 
horses into the United States. Section 93.301 of the regulations 
contains specific provisions for the quarantine and testing of horses 
from regions affected with contagious equine metritis (CEM), a highly 
contagious bacterial venereal disease that affects breeding and 
fertility. Section 93.301 also identifies regions where CEM exists and 
regions that trade horses freely with regions where CEM exists without 
testing for CEM. Section 93.301 prohibits, with certain exceptions, the 
importation of horses into the United States from those areas. The 
European Union--of which Spain is a Member State--is listed in 
Sec. 93.301 as a region where CEM exists or may exist.
    On August 1, 2000, we published in the Federal Register a final 
rule (65 FR 46859-46861, Docket No. 99-054-2) that amended the 
regulations in Sec. 93.301 to allow Spanish Pure Breed stallions and 
mares that are more than 731 days old that have tested negative for CEM 
in the country of origin and have undergone Federal quarantine upon 
arrival in the United States to be imported into the United States 
without being subject to additional quarantine, testing, and treatment. 
Essentially, the final rule allowed Spanish Pure Breed Horses from 
Spain to be imported into the United States under the same preexport 
testing and quarantine conditions that previously applied only to 
thoroughbred horses from France, Germany, Ireland, and the United 
Kingdom.
    Under the regulations in Sec. 93.301(d), as amended by our August 
1, 2000, final rule, thoroughbred horses from France, Germany, Ireland, 
and the United Kingdom and Spanish Pure Breed horses from Spain may be 
imported into the United States under certain conditions. Those 
conditions include, among other things, a requirement that thoroughbred 
horses from France, Germany, Ireland, and the United Kingdom and 
Spanish Pure Breed horses from Spain that are presented for permanent 
entry into the United States be accompanied by a health certificate.
    Under Sec. 93.301(d)(1)(ii), the health certificate accompanying 
such horses must certify, among other things, that since reaching 731 
days of age, the horses have not been on breeding premises in the 
exporting region. This requirement is intended to protect against the 
introduction of CEM into the United States by ensuring that only virgin 
thoroughbred and Spanish Pure Breed horses from countries where CEM 
exists or may exist are eligible for importation into the United States 
under the requirements in Sec. 93.301(d). Since CEM is a venereal 
disease that is spread primarily by sexual contact between horses, we 
believe that allowing only virgin thoroughbred and Spanish Pure Breed 
horses to enter the United States greatly reduces the risk that 
thoroughbred horses from France, Germany, Ireland, and the United 
Kingdom and Spanish Pure Breed horses from Spain could introduce CEM 
into the United States.

[[Page 69238]]

    This requirement has not proven to be burdensome to exporters of 
thoroughbred horses because thoroughbreds are not, by standard 
practice, kept on breeding premises. However, we have been informed 
that Spanish Pure Breed horses in Spain are typically kept on premises 
where some breeding may occur. Because of this, horses from such 
premises cannot be certified as not having been on a breeding premises 
since reaching 731 days of age. The Government of Spain has requested 
that we amend the regulations in Sec. 93.301(d)(1)(ii) to provide an 
alternative set of requirements that take into account this standard 
industry practice in Spain.
    After considering the Spanish Government's request, we are removing 
the requirement that the health certificate accompanying Spanish Pure 
Breed horses must certify, among other things, that since reaching 731 
days of age, the horses have not been on breeding premises in the 
exporting region. Rather, we will require that the health certificate 
accompanying Spanish Pure Breed horses specify that, since reaching 731 
days of age:
    <bullet> Each horse has never been on a farm that is exclusively a 
breeding premises,
    <bullet> Each horse has never been bred,
    <bullet> Breeding of each horse has never been attempted, and
    <bullet> Each horse has never been commingled and left unattended 
with adult horses of the opposite sex.

We believe that these four requirements are adequate and necessary to 
ensure that any Spanish Pure Breed horses from Spain that are imported 
into the United States are virgin horses that present a minimal risk of 
introducing or disseminating CEM into the United States. Thus, from a 
disease exclusion and risk reduction standpoint, this change 
accomplishes what we intended in the August 1, 2000, final rule while 
making compliance with the regulations easier for persons exporting 
Spanish Pure Breed horses from Spain to the United States.
    This rule will have no effect on the existing requirements for 
thoroughbred horses imported from France, Germany, Ireland, and the 
United Kingdom.
    In this document, we are also correcting the name of the breed 
association in Spain that is specifically approved by the U.S. 
Department of Agriculture to provide factual, current information 
regarding the activities of Spanish Pure Breed horses for the purposes 
of Sec. 93.301(d). In the final rule mentioned above, we identified the 
breed association in Spain as ``Servicio de Cria Caballar y Remonta.'' 
The correct name of the Spanish breed association is ``Jefatura de Cria 
Caballar Registro Matricula.''

Immediate Action

    Immediate action is necessary to relieve restrictions on the 
importation of Spanish Pure Breed horses into the United States. When 
we established the existing requirements for the importation of Spanish 
Pure Breed horses from Spain, we did not anticipate that compliance 
with the requirements would be problematic for exporters of those 
horses. We believe that the changes reflected in this document will 
relieve unnecessary restrictions while continuing to protect against 
the introduction of CEM into the United States. Under these 
circumstances, the Administrator has determined that prior notice and 
opportunity for public comment are contrary to the public interest and 
that there is good cause under 5 U.S.C. 553 for making this rule 
effective less than 30 days after publication in the Federal Register.
    We will consider comments that are received within 60 days of 
publication of this rule in the Federal Register. After the comment 
period closes, we will publish another document in the Federal 
Register. The document will include a discussion of any comments we 
receive and any amendments we are making to the rule as a result of the 
comments.

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.
    On August 1, 2000, we published in the Federal Register (65 FR 
46859-46861, Docket No. 99-054-2) a final rule that amended the animal 
importation regulations by allowing Spanish Pure Breed horses to be 
imported from Spain into the United States under the same conditions 
that had previously applied only to thoroughbred horses from France, 
Germany, Ireland, and the United Kingdom. At that time, we conducted a 
regulatory flexibility analysis for the rule that determined that the 
rule would not have a significant economic impact on a substantial 
number of small entities. This rule has the same intended effect as the 
August 1, 2000, final rule, and simply amends the certification 
requirements for Spanish Pure Breed horses from Spain by providing a 
different means of certifying that those horses offered for entry into 
the United States have not been bred. Therefore, this rule will not 
result in any economic impacts other than those identified in the 
August 1, 2000, final rule.
    Under these circumstances, the Administrator of the Animal and 
Plant Health Inspection Service has determined that this action will 
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. 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

    This rule contains no new 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 are amending 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 continues 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, 136, and 136a; 31 U.S.C. 
9701; 7 CFR 2.22, 2.80, and 371.4.


    2. In Sec. 93.301, paragraph (d)(1)(ii) is amended as follows:
    a. In paragraph (d)(1)(ii), in the introductory text, second 
sentence, by removing the word ``shall'' and adding the word ``must'' 
in its place.
    b. By revising paragraph (d)(1)(ii)(B) to read as follows:


Sec. 93.301  General Prohibitions; exceptions.

* * * * *
    (d) * * *
    (1) * * *
    (ii) * * *
    (B) He or she has examined the records of the horse's activities 
maintained by a breed association

[[Page 69239]]

specifically approved by the Department \6\ and certified by the breed 
association to be current, true, and factual for the following 
information:
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    \6\ The following breed associations and their record systems 
have been approved by the Department: Jefatura de Cria Caballar 
Registro Matricula for Spain; Weatherby's Ltd. for the United 
Kingdom and Ireland; Haras du Pain for France; and Direktorium fur 
Vollblutzucht und Rennen e.v. for Germany.
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    (1) Identification of the horse by name, sex, age, breed, and all 
identifying marks;
    (2) Identification of all premises where the horse has been since 
reaching 731 days of age and the dates that the horse was at such 
premises;
    (3) For thoroughbred horses, that none of the premises where the 
horse has been since reaching 731 days of age are breeding premises; 
and
    (4) For Spanish Pure Breed horses from Spain, that since reaching 
731 days of age:
    (i) The horse has never been on a premises that is exclusively a 
breeding premises;
    (ii) The horse has never been bred;
    (iii) Breeding of the horse has never been attempted; and
    (iv) The horse has never been commingled and left unattended with 
adult horses of the opposite sex;
* * * * *

    Done in Washington, DC, this 9th day of November 2000.
Craig A. Reed,
Administrator, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
[FR Doc. 00-29365 Filed 11-15-00; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-34-U