This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER

contains notices to the public of the proposed

issuance of rules and regulations. The

purpose of these notices is to give interested

persons an opportunity to participate in the

rule making prior to the adoption of the final

rules.

Proposed Rules Federal Register

7721 

Vol. 76, No. 29 

Friday, February 11, 2011 

1The EC is the EU institution responsible for 

representing the EU as a whole. It proposes 

legislation, policies, and programs of action and 

implements decisions of the EU Parliament and 

Council. 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Animal and Plant Health Inspection 

Service 

9 CFR Parts 93, 94, and 98 

[Docket No. APHIS–2008–0043] 

RIN 0579–AD20 

Importation of Live Swine, Swine 

Semen, Pork, and Pork Products; 

Estonia, Hungary, Slovakia, and 

Slovenia 

AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health 

Inspection Service, USDA. 

ACTION: Proposed rule. 

SUMMARY: We are proposing to amend 

the regulations governing the 

importation of animals and animal 

products to add Estonia, Hungary, 

Slovakia, and Slovenia to the region of 

the European Union that we recognize 

as a low-risk region for classical swine 

fever (CSF). Swine, swine semen, pork, 

and pork products may be imported into 

the United States from this region under 

certain conditions. We are proposing to 

remove one of these conditions, a 40- 

day holding period for swine semen and 

donor boars after the collection of swine 

semen, based on our determination that 

it is unnecessary. We are also proposing 

to add Estonia, Slovakia, and Slovenia 

to the list of regions we consider free of 

swine vesicular disease (SVD) and to 

add Slovakia and Slovenia to the list of 

regions considered free of foot-andmouth disease (FMD) and rinderpest. 

These proposed actions would relieve 

some restrictions on the importation 

into the United States of certain animals 

and animal products from those regions, 

while continuing to protect against the 

introduction of CSF, SVD, FMD, and 

rinderpest into the United States. 

DATES: We will consider all comments 

that we receive on or before April 12, 

2011. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments 

by either of the following methods: 

• Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to 

http://www.regulations.gov/fdmspublic/

component/main?main=DocketDetail&

d=APHIS-2008-0043 to submit or view 

comments and to view supporting and 

related materials available 

electronically. 

• Postal Mail/Commercial Delivery: 

Please send one copy of your comment 

to Docket No. APHIS–2008–0043, 

Regulatory Analysis and Development, 

PPD, APHIS, Station 3A–03.8, 4700 

River Road Unit 118, Riverdale, MD 

20737–1238. Please state that your 

comment refers to Docket No. APHIS– 

2008–0043. 

Reading Room: 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. 

Other Information: Additional 

information about APHIS and its 

programs is available on the Internet at 

http://www.aphis.usda.gov. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. 

Donald Link, Import Risk Analyst, 

Regionalization Evaluation Services, 

National Center for Import and Export, 

VS, APHIS, 920 Main Campus Drive 

Suite 200, Raleigh, NC 27606; (919) 

855–7730. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background 

The Animal and Plant Health 

Inspection Service (APHIS) of the 

United States Department of Agriculture 

(USDA) regulates the importation of 

animals and animal products into the 

United States to guard against the 

introduction of animal diseases not 

currently present or prevalent in this 

country. The regulations in 9 CFR part 

94 (referred to below as the regulations) 

prohibit or restrict the importation of 

specified animals and animal products 

to prevent the introduction into the 

United States of various animal 

diseases, including classical swine fever 

(CSF), foot-and-mouth disease (FMD), 

swine vesicular disease (SVD), and 

rinderpest. These are dangerous and 

communicable diseases of ruminants 

and swine. 

The regulations in 9 CFR part 98 

govern the importation of animal 

germplasm to prevent the introduction 

of contagious diseases of livestock and 

poultry into the United States. Subparts 

A and B of part 98 apply to animal 

embryos, and subpart C (§§ 98.30 

through 98.38) applies to animal semen. 

Sections 94.9 and 94.10 of the 

regulations list regions of the world that 

are declared free of, or low-risk for, CSF. 

The APHIS-defined EU CSF region, 

consisting of the 19 Member States of 

the EU that we currently recognize as a 

single region with regard to CSF, is 

currently the only region we consider 

low-risk for CSF. Sections 94.24 and 

98.38 specify restrictions necessary to 

mitigate the risk of introducing CSF into 

the United States via pork, pork 

products, live swine, and swine semen 

from that region. We will discuss the 

restrictions on swine semen, found in 

§ 98.38, at greater length later in this 

document. 

Section 94.12 of the regulations lists 

regions that are declared free of SVD, 

and § 94.13 of the regulations lists 

regions that have been determined to be 

free of SVD, but that are subject to 

certain restrictions because of their 

proximity to, or trading relationships 

with, SVD-affected regions. 

Section 94.1 of the regulations lists 

regions of the world that are declared 

free of rinderpest or free of both 

rinderpest and FMD. Section 94.11 of 

the regulations lists regions that have 

been determined to be free of rinderpest 

and FMD, but that are subject to certain 

restrictions because of their proximity to 

or trading relationships with rinderpestor FMD-affected regions. 

On May 1, 2004, Estonia, Hungary, 

Slovakia, and Slovenia became Member 

States of the EU. As part of the 

accession process, these new EU 

Member States adopted the legislation 

of the European Commission (EC) 1

regarding animal health, welfare, and 

identification, including legislation 

pertaining to CSF, FMD, and SVD. This 

legislation became the basis for new 

standard operating procedures for 

domestic animal health matters in 

Estonia, Hungary, Slovakia, and 

Slovenia by the time of their accession. 

Estonia, Hungary, Slovakia, and 

Slovenia also adopted the harmonizing 

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7722 Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 29 / Friday, February 11, 2011 / Proposed Rules 

2To view this rule, go to http:// 

www.regulations.gov/fdmspublic/component/ 

main?main=DocketDetail&d=APHIS-2005-0028. 

EC legislation regarding sanitary 

measures applicable to import and trade 

in live animals and animal products. 

Prior to joining the EU in 2004, the 

Government of Slovakia requested 

APHIS to evaluate its animal health 

status with respect to CSF in 1997, to 

SVD in 2001, and to FMD and 

rinderpest in 2002. Likewise, the 

Government of Hungary requested that 

APHIS evaluate its animal health status 

with respect to CSF in 2001. After 

joining the EU, the Government of 

Estonia made a similar request with 

respect to CSF and SVD in 2005, and, 

that same year, the Government of 

Slovenia made a request for APHIS to 

evaluate its animal health status with 

respect to CSF, SVD, FMD, and 

rinderpest. APHIS had previously listed 

Estonia as free of FMD and rinderpest in 

a final rule published in the Federal 

Register on May 30, 2002 (67 FR 37663– 

37664, Docket No. 01–041–2), and had 

listed Hungary as free of FMD and 

rinderpest in a final rule published in 

the Federal Register on June 1, 1994 (59 

FR 28216–28218, Docket No. 93–172–2), 

and SVD in a final rule published in the 

Federal Register on August 2, 1973 (38 

FR 20610–20611). 

Summary of Proposed Changes 

In this document, we are proposing to 

add Estonia, Hungary, Slovakia, and 

Slovenia to the APHIS-defined EU CSF 

region. We are also proposing to remove 

one of the conditions pertaining to the 

importation of swine semen from that 

region. With the exception of semen 

collected from swine in Denmark, 

Finland, the Republic of Ireland, 

Sweden, or the United Kingdom, we 

require that, before swine semen may be 

exported to the United States, the semen 

and donor boars be held at the semen 

collection center for at least 40 days 

following collection of the semen, and, 

along with all other swine at the semen 

collection center, exhibit no clinical 

signs of CSF. For reasons discussed later 

in this document, we have determined 

that this requirement is unnecessary. 

We are also proposing to add Estonia, 

Slovakia, and Slovenia to the list of 

regions recognized as free of SVD, and 

to the list of SVD-free regions whose 

exports of pork and pork products to the 

United States are subject to certain 

restrictions to prevent the introduction 

of SVD into this country. 

Additionally, we are proposing to add 

Slovakia and Slovenia to the list of 

regions recognized as free of FMD and 

rinderpest. We are also proposing to add 

Slovakia and Slovenia to the list of FMD 

and rinderpest-free regions whose 

exports of ruminant and swine meat and 

products to the United States are subject 

to certain restrictions to prevent the 

introduction of FMD and rinderpest into 

this country. 

As part of our evaluation of their 

disease status, APHIS identified the 

smallest administrative units (AUs) 

within each of these EU Member States 

that we would consider designating as 

regions in the event of future animal 

disease outbreaks. See the discussion of 

these AUs under the section titled 

‘‘Administrative Units.’’ 

The Low-Risk CSF Region in the EU; 

History 

Before discussing our assessments of 

the animal health status of Estonia, 

Hungary, Slovakia, and Slovenia with 

regard to CSF and other diseases, and 

our determination that Estonia, 

Hungary, Slovakia, and Slovenia can be 

added to the APHIS-defined EU CSF 

region, we consider it helpful to explain 

how the region came about and how 

countries were added to that region. 

Later in this document, we will discuss 

under what conditions swine semen 

may currently be imported into the 

United States from that region, in order 

to provide context for the provision that 

we are proposing to remove from those 

requirements. 

Traditionally, we have recognized 

countries either as affected with CSF or 

free of CSF. Pork and pork products 

from a country affected with CSF could 

be imported into the United States only 

after meeting rigorous processing and 

certification requirements; live swine, 

with a few, limited exceptions, could 

not be imported into the United States 

from such countries. Conversely, swine, 

pork, pork products, and semen from 

countries that we considered free of CSF 

could be imported into the United 

States under certain conditions. 

In 1999, we prepared a risk analysis, 

titled ‘‘Biological Risk Analysis: Risk 

assessment and management options for 

imports of swine and swine products 

from the European Union—June 2, 

1999,’’ in response to a request from the 

EC that we recognize a region of 10 EU 

Member States as free of CSF. That 

analysis, along with another, 

supplemental risk analysis, ‘‘Risk 

Analysis for Importation of Classical 

Swine Fever Virus in Swine and Swine 

Products from the European Union— 

December 2000,’’ took into consideration 

the CSF history of the 10 Member States 

in the EC’s request, the CSF history of 

countries adjacent to this region, the 

veterinary infrastructure and policies of 

the region, and the historical volumes of 

imports into the United States of 

breeding swine, swine semen, pork, and 

pork products from the region. 

Moreover, the analyses also took into 

consideration the open borders among 

Member States of the EU, and the 

possibility of commingling of pork 

products from a CSF-free region and a 

CSF-affected region prior to their 

importation into the United States. 

The analyses concluded that, because 

of this open-border policy, and because 

CSF was endemic in wild boar in 

several parts of the EU, it was likely that 

limited outbreaks of CSF would 

continue to occur in domestic swine in 

the region. 

Based on the analyses, we decided 

that the unrestricted importation of 

swine, swine semen, pork, and pork 

products from the region could present 

a risk of introducing CSF into the 

United States. However, we also 

decided that this risk was low, and that 

the application of certain risk mitigation 

measures on the importation of these 

products would further reduce the risk 

of introduction of CSF into the United 

States. Therefore, we initiated a 

rulemaking that we finalized on April 7, 

2003 (68 FR 16922–16941, Docket No. 

98–090–5), to recognize a single region 

of 10 Member States or parts of Member 

States of the EU that we determined to 

present a low risk of introducing CSF 

into the United States. 

In that rule, we mentioned that we 

considered the control mechanisms for 

CSF employed by the EU to be sufficient 

to mitigate any risk that continuing 

outbreaks of CSF in the EU could pose 

to swine, swine semen, pork, or pork 

products destined for export to the 

United States. We outlined these EUimposed mitigation measures, which 

included measures to prevent 

widespread exposure and establishment 

of the disease; specific mitigation 

measures, such as wildlife surveillance 

and epidemiological investigations; and 

contingency plans establishing 

proactive approaches to CSF control. In 

sum, we stated that we considered the 

EU as a whole to be homogeneous with 

regard to CSF risk, regardless of 

individual outbreaks within Member 

States. 

Accordingly, in a rulemaking that we 

finalized on May 19, 2006 (71 FR 

29061–29072, Docket No. 02–046–2), we 

recognized the EU–15.2 We considered 

the EU–15 to be those 15 Member States 

comprising the EU as of April 20, 2004: 

Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, 

France, Germany, Greece, Italy, 

Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal, 

Republic of Ireland, Spain, Sweden, and 

the United Kingdom (England, Scotland, 

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3To view this rule, go to http://www.regulations.

gov/fdmspublic/component/main?main=Docket

Detail&d=APHIS-2006-0106. 

Wales, the Isle of Man, and Northern 

Ireland). 

Second, in recognition of the presence 

of CSF within the EU, and the 

possibility of future outbreaks of the 

disease, we also recognized ‘‘restricted 

zones,’’ or quarantined areas for CSF 

within the Member States of the EU–15. 

We defined a restricted zone in the 

regulations as ‘‘An area, delineated by 

the relevant competent veterinary 

authorities of the region in which the 

area is located, that surrounds and 

includes the location of an outbreak of 

CSF in domestic swine or detection of 

the disease in wild boar, and from 

which the movement of domestic swine 

is prohibited.’’ We stated that, once a 

restricted zone was established, a 

prohibition on the importation of swine 

and swine products from that region 

into the United States would be 

immediate, with no action required by 

APHIS. 

Finally, on November 28, 2007, we 

issued a final rule (72 FR 67227–67233, 

Docket No. APHIS–2006–0106) 3 that 

amended the regulations to add the 

Czech Republic, Latvia, Lithuania, and 

Poland to the low-risk region for CSF. 

The rule also removed the term ‘‘EU–15’’ 

and added ‘‘APHIS-defined EU CSF 

region’’ in its place, since the addition 

of these countries had rendered the 

former term obsolete. 

We will now discuss the analyses that 

have led us to propose to include 

Estonia, Hungary, Slovakia, and 

Slovenia in the EU CSF region, to 

conclude that Estonia, Slovakia, and 

Slovenia are free of SVD, and to 

conclude that Slovakia and Slovenia are 

free of FMD and rinderpest. 

APHIS Evaluations Regarding the CSF 

and SVD Status of Estonia, the CSF 

Status of Hungary, and the CSF, SVD, 

FMD, and Rinderpest Statuses of 

Slovakia and Slovenia 

APHIS has conducted an evaluation 

regarding the CSF and SVD status of 

Estonia; an evaluation regarding the CSF 

status of Hungary; an evaluation 

regarding the CSF, SVD, FMD, and 

rinderpest status of Slovakia; and an 

evaluation regarding the CSF, SVD, 

FMD, and rinderpest status of Slovenia. 

The evaluations regarding Estonia and 

Slovakia were finalized in January 2011, 

the evaluation regarding Hungary in 

May 2009, and the evaluation regarding 

Slovenia in October 2007. Each 

evaluation may be viewed on the 

Regulations.gov Web site (see 

ADDRESSES above for instructions for 

accessing Regulations.gov). In the 

following paragraphs, we summarize 

our findings for each of the 11 factors 

set out in our procedures for requesting 

recognition of regions in 9 CFR 92.2 and 

summarize our risk considerations of 

these findings following our discussion 

of the factors. 

Authority, Organization, and Veterinary 

Infrastructure 

As stated above, Estonia, Hungary, 

Slovakia, and Slovenia have adopted the 

legislation of the EC regarding animal 

health, welfare, and identification, as 

well as sanitary measures applicable to 

import and trade in live animals and 

animal products. At the time of 

accession, Commission Decisions and 

Regulations concerning CSF, SVD, and 

FMD became directly applicable in the 

new EU Member States, whereas 

Council Directives were implemented in 

national legislation. Our evaluations 

document that Estonia, Hungary, 

Slovakia, and Slovenia have, in fact, 

implemented these directives; this 

documentation was corroborated by site 

visits. 

APHIS concludes that the official 

veterinary services of Estonia, Hungary, 

Slovakia, and Slovenia have sufficient 

legal authority, personnel, and financial 

resources to carry out animal health 

activities quickly and efficiently. The 

official offices are well-organized, with 

clear lines of command and reporting, 

as well as sufficient autonomy at the 

local level to carry out the tasks 

assigned. Internal and external auditing 

practices are adequate to monitor for 

compliance with the provisions of the 

pertinent animal health legislation. 

Disease History 

CSF: The most recent outbreak of CSF 

in domestic swine in Estonia occurred 

in 1994. In Hungary, the most recent 

outbreak of CSF in domestic swine 

occurred in 1993. In Slovakia, the last 

outbreak of CSF in domestic swine 

occurred in 2008. In Slovenia, the last 

outbreak in domestic swine occurred in 

1996. 

In both Hungary and Slovakia, CSF is 

endemic within the wild boar 

population. We discuss this at greater 

length later in this document. 

SVD: SVD has never been reported to 

have occurred in either Estonia or 

Slovenia. In 1972, there were 16 cases 

of SVD reported in Slovakia; in each 

case, the swine had been imported into 

the country. 

FMD: FMD was last reported in 

Slovenia in 1968, and in Slovakia in 

1973. 

Rinderpest: Rinderpest was last 

reported in Slovakia in 1881, and in 

Slovenia in 1883; the countries are 

recognized by the World Organization 

for Animal Health (OIE) as being free of 

the disease. 

Disease Status of Adjacent Regions 

CSF: Estonia is bordered by Latvia to 

the south and Russia to the east. APHIS 

considers Latvia to be a low-risk region 

for CSF. APHIS has not evaluated 

Russia for its CSF status. However, 

Russia has experienced multiple 

outbreaks of CSF in domestic swine 

since 1996, and had its most recent 

outbreak in 2010. It is worth noting, in 

this regard, that APHIS considers any 

country that we have not evaluated for 

CSF as having a status equivalent to that 

of a CSF-affected country. 

The risk analysis for Estonia considers 

the occurrence of CSF in Russia to be a 

potential risk factor for the introduction 

of CSF into that country. However, no 

region in Russia that borders Estonia has 

reported a CSF outbreak since 2000, and 

adequate control measures appear to be 

in place to prevent the possible spread 

of the disease to Estonia. Therefore, the 

analysis concludes that the Russian 

regions adjacent to Estonia do not 

appear to pose a high risk as potential 

sources of CSF introduction. 

Hungary shares borders with seven 

countries. Of these, four are EU Member 

States: Austria, Slovakia, Romania, and 

Slovenia. The remaining three—Croatia, 

Serbia and Montenegro, and Ukraine— 

are EC-designated ‘‘third countries,’’ i.e., 

countries that are approved by the EC to 

export certain live animals and animal 

products to EU Member States because 

they meet certain animal health 

standards that are at least equivalent to 

those required of EU Member States. 

None of these three countries, however, 

is approved to export live swine, swine 

semen, pork, or pork products to the EU 

at this time. 

APHIS considers Austria to be a lowrisk region for CSF. CSF has been 

enzootic, or persistently present, within 

Romania for the last few years, although 

it currently appears to be under control. 

Hungary continues to implement 

enhanced checks for forbidden pork 

products from Romania in passenger 

baggage at and near the Hungary/ 

Romania border. The CSF disease 

histories of Slovakia and Slovenia are 

discussed earlier in this document. 

APHIS has not evaluated Croatia, 

Serbia and Montenegro, or Ukraine for 

their CSF status. Between July 2006 and 

April 2008, Croatia reported a series of 

outbreaks in its domestic swine 

population—129 occurrences in total, 

over 11 counties—with several 

occurring between 20 and 50 kilometers 

(approximately 12.4 to 31 miles) from 

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4An evaluation of the disease status of Croatia 

with regard to CSF has been initiated. 

the Hungarian border. In addition, 

according to the OIE, Serbia and 

Montenegro was known to have had 

widespread CSF in its domestic swine 

population as recently as 2005. 

Subsequently, Serbia and Montenegro 

implemented vaccination in the 

domestic swine population in order to 

control the outbreak. No evidence 

exists, however, to suggest that CSF has 

been eradicated in the country; in fact, 

there was a limited outbreak in 

domestic swine as recently as 2010. 

Finally, Ukraine reported its last CSF 

outbreak in 2001. In response to the 

outbreak, Ukraine undertook several 

disease control measures, including a 

quarantine of the area, depopulation of 

weak or sick animals, and vaccination of 

all domestic swine within a 3 kilometer 

(approximately 1.86 mile) radius. 

Because five of the seven countries 

adjacent to Hungary have had recent 

CSF outbreaks, the risk analysis for that 

country considers these countries to be 

potential sources of infection of CSF. 

The analysis notes that Hungary has 

surveillance measures in place to detect 

CSF in its wild boar population and, 

because of the harmonized control 

measures that Hungary adopted at the 

time of its accession into the EU, the 

analysis considers the risk of CSF in its 

wild boar to be sufficiently mitigated. 

Slovakia is bordered by Austria to the 

west, the Czech Republic to the 

northwest, Poland to the northeast, 

Ukraine to the east, and Hungary to the 

south. APHIS considers Austria, the 

Czech Republic, and Poland to be lowrisk regions for CSF. 

The analysis concludes that CSF 

could be introduced into domestic 

swine in Slovakia from a neighboring 

country, but that EC control measures 

serve to limit this risk, and that, 

accordingly, the risk is less immediate 

than that posed by native infected boar. 

Slovenia is bordered by Austria to the 

north, Italy to the west, Hungary to the 

upper northeast, and Croatia to the 

south and lower northeast. APHIS 

considers Austria and Italy to be low 

risk regions for CSF. Croatia has 

experienced recent outbreaks of CSF.4

The CSF disease history of Hungary is 

discussed earlier in this document. 

The risk analysis considers the 

occurrence of CSF in Croatia to present 

a potential risk factor for the 

introduction of CSF into Slovenia. 

However, APHIS recognizes that 

Slovenia, in response to outbreaks 

within Croatia, strengthened its CSF 

surveillance along the Croatian border, 

and considers this a reasonable risk 

mitigation. 

SVD: With regard to the SVD status of 

countries bordering Estonia, neither 

Latvia nor Russia has ever reported an 

outbreak of SVD. With regard to the 

status of those countries bordering 

Slovakia and Slovenia, APHIS considers 

Austria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, 

and Poland to be free of SVD. APHIS 

considers certain regions of Italy to be 

affected with SVD, and has not 

evaluated either Croatia or Ukraine for 

their SVD status. The risk analyses 

conclude that the regions adjacent to 

Estonia, Slovakia, and Slovenia appear 

to pose a low risk as potential sources 

of SVD introduction into these three 

countries. 

FMD: With regard to the FMD status 

of countries bordering Slovakia and 

Slovenia, APHIS considers Austria, the 

Czech Republic, Hungary, Italy, and 

Poland to be free of FMD, but has not 

evaluated Croatia or Ukraine for their 

FMD status. The risk analysis concludes 

that the risk of introduction of FMD into 

Slovakia or Slovenia from neighboring 

countries is low, and mitigated by 

movement controls and border 

veterinary inspection. 

Rinderpest: APHIS considers Austria, 

the Czech Republic, Hungary, Italy and 

Poland to be free of rinderpest, but has 

not evaluated Croatia or the Ukraine for 

their rinderpest status. 

Degree of Separation From Adjacent 

Regions 

Estonia is separated from most nearby 

regions by large bodies of water. It is 

bordered to the southwest by the Gulf of 

Riga, to the west by the Baltic Sea, to the 

north by the Gulf of Finland, and to the 

east by Lake Peipus, Lake Pskov, and 

the Narva River. Estonia shares land 

borders with only two countries: Latvia 

to the south, and Russia to the east. As 

mentioned above, APHIS considers 

Latvia to be a low risk for CSF, and 

Latvia has never reported an occurrence 

of SVD. There have been multiple 

outbreaks of CSF in Russia in recent 

years; however, there has not been an 

outbreak in the two administrative 

regions that border Estonia since 2000. 

Thus, land regions immediately 

adjacent to Estonia do not appear to 

pose a high risk for CSF and SVD. 

There are few natural barriers to 

animal or human movement along the 

majority of Hungary’s borders. The most 

significant natural barrier is the Danube 

River, which constitutes a portion of the 

border with Slovakia. Nonetheless, the 

analysis considers the risk of 

introduction of CSF into Hungary to be 

partially mitigated by border veterinary 

inspection and ongoing disease 

surveillance efforts, which are 

concentrated on border counties. 

There are few natural barriers to the 

introduction of CSF, FMD, SVD, or 

rinderpest via animal or human 

movement along the border between 

Slovakia and neighboring countries. As 

noted above, the Danube River forms 

part of the border between Slovakia and 

Hungary; it also runs along a portion of 

the Austro-Slovakian border. The 

Carpathian Mountains lie to the north, 

but are not high enough to substantially 

limit animal movement. Animals in 

neighboring countries that could serve 

as reservoirs for CSF, SVD, FMD, and 

rinderpest—deer, chamois, bison, and 

wild boar—tend to be nonmigratory, 

and all bordering countries except 

Ukraine are considered by APHIS to be 

free of FMD, SVD, and rinderpest. 

Accordingly, the analysis concludes that 

CSF, SVD, FMD, or rinderpest could be 

introduced into Slovakia through 

animal movement, but that the risk of 

such introduction is very low with 

regard to FMD, SVD, or rinderpest. 

There is a slightly greater risk of CSF 

introduction into Slovakia, since wild 

boars are the primary reservoir of the 

disease and may enter Slovakia from 

neighboring countries. Nonetheless, the 

risk of CSF introduction is still low, 

based on the risk-mitigation measures 

Slovakia has in place, including wildlife 

surveillance. 

Slovenia is bordered by the countries 

of Austria, Italy, Hungary, and Croatia. 

The Adriatic Sea is on its southwestern 

border. The Julian Alps provide a 

natural barrier between Slovenia and 

Austria, and substantially limit animal 

movement at their highest points. The 

Alps also separate Slovenia from Italy, 

but are more passable along this border, 

particularly since their incline drops as 

they approach the Adriatic Sea. 

Slovenia is separated from Croatia and 

Hungary by a State border alone. 

Effective movement controls, border 

veterinary inspection, and enhanced 

disease surveillance in border regions 

mitigate the risk of introduction of 

disease from these two countries. 

Extent of an Active Disease Control 

Program 

Due to the absence of CSF and SVD 

outbreaks in recent years, there are no 

CSF and SVD control programs 

currently active in Estonia. 

In response to the detection of CSF in 

wild boar along the border with 

Slovakia, Hungary has exercised disease 

control measures within the infected 

area. As pertains to the wild boar 

population, Hungary has implemented 

hunting restrictions and mandatory 

veterinary inspections for any boar shot 

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5An evaluation of the disease status of 

Switzerland with regard to CSF has been initiated. 

or found dead within an affected 

county. As pertains to the domestic 

swine population, Hungary has 

implemented a census of all swine on 

premises within the quarantined area, 

standard procedures for cleaning and 

disinfection, and enhanced reporting 

requirements for swine exhibiting 

clinical signs of CSF infection. 

Shortly before Slovakia’s accession to 

the EU, the EC recognized that CSF was 

endemic in the wild boar population in 

a certain area of the country, and thus 

designated the area a restricted area. 

Accordingly, the EC imposed movement 

restrictions on swine and swine 

products from the area, and required 

Slovakia to undertake an eradicationbased CSF vaccination program for wild 

boar within the area. Slovakia does not 

have active disease control programs for 

SVD, FMD, or rinderpest, as none of 

these diseases have been reported in the 

country in many years. 

Control measures for CSF in Slovenia 

include active systematic monitoring, 

veterinary inspection, movement 

certificates, field investigations, and 

laboratory investigations. Due to the 

prolonged absence of SVD, FMD, and 

rinderpest in Slovenia, Slovenia does 

not have aggressive active disease 

surveillance programs for these 

diseases, but maintains interlocking 

safeguards in order to prevent, detect, 

and suppress them. These safeguards 

include veterinary certificates, standard 

procedures for cleaning and 

disinfection, training of veterinarians, 

veterinary technicians, and animal 

owners, indemnity and compensation 

for diseased animals, and incentives for 

compliance with animal health 

regulations. 

Vaccination 

General preventive vaccination 

against CSF and SVD is prohibited in 

Estonia; emergency vaccinations for CSF 

are permitted only under exceptional 

circumstances to prevent the spread of 

the disease in the event of an outbreak, 

and only if sanctioned by the EC. 

Routine vaccination for CSF has been 

prohibited within Hungary since 1974. 

As noted above, the current outbreak of 

CSF in the wild boar population within 

the country is being managed through 

hunting restrictions, population control, 

and surveillance efforts. 

Routine vaccination of domestic 

swine against CSF and SVD is currently 

prohibited in Slovakia, as is vaccination 

of any animal for FMD, although FMD 

vaccinations may be implemented in the 

event of an outbreak. As noted above, 

however, there is CSF vaccination of 

wild boar in the EC-designated 

restricted area within the country. 

Moreover, since the last vaccination of 

domestic swine for CSF occurred in 

2000, there is some potential of 

detecting vaccine titers during CSF 

slaughter surveillance. Finally, FMD 

vaccinations may be implemented in the 

event of an outbreak. 

The last vaccination against CSF 

occurred in Slovenia in 2000; however, 

Slovenia has the authority to implement 

emergency vaccinations in the event of 

a CSF outbreak. SVD vaccination is 

prohibited. FMD vaccinations, although 

currently prohibited, may be 

implemented in the event of an 

outbreak. 

Movement Control From Higher Risk 

Regions 

Some forms of CSF, SVD, and FMD 

are difficult to detect in live animals or 

in post-mortem examinations without 

laboratory testing, and, in some 

instances, detection may be delayed due 

to deficiencies in active surveillance or 

diagnostic testing capabilities. Any such 

delay in detection of an outbreak could 

increase the risk that infected animals or 

animal products are exported to the 

United States. Consequently, the risk 

analyses analyze potential pathways for 

disease introduction into Estonia, 

Hungary, Slovakia, and Slovenia, such 

as importation and intra-Community 

trade in live animals and animal 

products, vehicular and human traffic, 

and commodities for human 

consumption. 

Import Controls: Importations must 

occur at specified road, rail, air, and/or 

sea ports through a border inspection 

post (BIP) approved by the EC; 

inspections and veterinary checks occur 

at such BIPs. The EC conducts a 

rigorous inspection of each BIP prior to 

approval and carries out regular audits 

to monitor the efficacy of sanitary 

controls. APHIS considers EC-approved 

BIPs to be capable of performing 

appropriate inspections and veterinary 

checks on animals and animal products; 

this was corroborated by several site 

visits to Slovakian and Hungarian BIPs 

in November 2004 and by visits to two 

BIPs in Estonia in November 2005. 

Although the site visit to Slovenia did 

not include a visit to a BIP, Slovenia 

provided APHIS with information 

certifying that each Slovenian BIP is 

approved by the EC. 

Swine, ruminants, and derived 

products such as meat, meat products, 

and genetic material are harmonized 

commodities under EC legislation, 

which means that the restrictions on 

imports from non-EU countries are 

generally standardized across all EU 

Member States. Binding EC legislation 

lists the non-EU countries, and 

establishments within those countries, 

that are approved for export of certain 

commodities to the EU. 

Slaughterhouses, cutting plants, semen 

collection centers, and other exporting 

establishments are subject to inspection 

prior to approval. Veterinary certificates 

required for export to the EU outline 

comprehensive animal health and 

testing requirements and must be 

endorsed by an official veterinarian of 

the exporting country. 

At the time the analyses were 

conducted, four non-EU countries were 

authorized to export both live swine and 

fresh pork products to EU Member 

Countries: Chile, New Zealand, Norway, 

and Switzerland. Three additional 

countries (Australia, Canada, and the 

United States) were authorized to export 

fresh pork products alone, and one 

(Iceland) was authorized to export live 

swine, but not pork products. The 

United States is free of SVD, CSF, and 

FMD. APHIS recognizes all seven other 

countries to be free of SVD (although 

some are subject to the restrictions 

specified in § 94.13), and all but 

Switzerland to be free of CSF.5 APHIS 

also considers these countries to be free 

of FMD, although some are subject to 

the restrictions specified in § 94.11. 

However, although the importation of 

swine and pork products into Estonia, 

Hungary, Slovakia, and Slovenia is 

currently limited to these eight 

countries, and although the import 

practices of Estonia, Hungary, Slovakia, 

and Slovenia have proven generally 

effective with regard to CSF, SVD, or 

FMD, EC legislation allows EU Member 

States to import fresh pork and pork 

products derived from swine from 

several regions that APHIS has not 

evaluated and therefore regards as 

having the same status as regions 

affected with these diseases. Moreover, 

EU Member States may also import 

bovine embryos and meat and meat 

products from both domestic and wild 

ruminants from regions that APHIS 

considers affected with FMD. 

Veterinary inspectors at the entry BIPs 

check that the documentation 

accompanying commodities is in order, 

including appropriate health certificates 

and other movement control documents, 

and that the shipment is properly 

identified and the identification 

matches the documentation. Veterinary 

inspectors also conduct physical 

examinations of incoming shipments in 

accordance with EC legislation. 

However, because CSF, SVD, and FMD 

testing is generally not required at the 

BIPs, the mandated inspections would 

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not usually detect subclinical infection. 

The causal agents of CSF, SVD, and 

FMD could also remain viable through 

carcass maturation, transport, and 

storage, and could be present in genetic 

material. 

Accordingly, the risk evaluations 

determined that there is some risk of 

CSF, SVD, and/or FMD introduction 

into Estonia, Hungary, Slovakia, and 

Slovenia through the importation of 

commodities from non-EU Member 

States. However, the evaluations also 

found that this risk is substantially 

mitigated by EC certification 

requirements for meat, meat products, 

and genetic material, such as veterinary 

inspection of live animals prior to 

shipment, restrictions on the sources 

(countries, regions, premises, or 

production facilities) from which trade 

is permitted, certification of disease 

status by an official veterinarian, 

veterinary inspection at BIPs, and 

requirements for processing meant to 

inactivate viral disease agents. 

Trade Controls: As EU Member States, 

Estonia, Hungary, Slovakia, and 

Slovenia may engage in intraCommunity trade with other Member 

States as governed by EC legislation that 

was transposed into national legislation 

prior to accession. Live animals and 

animal products must originate from a 

holding center or organization (e.g., 

market or assembly center) that is under 

State veterinary control, i.e., that has 

regular veterinary checks. The animals 

must be appropriately identified, must 

be accompanied by an appropriate 

health certificate signed by an official 

veterinarian of the country of origin, 

and must be segregated according to 

destination, if destined for shipment to 

multiple locations. Intra-Community 

trade in swine and swine products, 

including semen and embryos, from 

CSF- or SVD-affected regions of EU 

Member States is prohibited, and States 

with such regions must adhere to 

animal health control measures meant 

to control the spread of these diseases 

in order to engage in trade with other 

Member States. Because FMD is not 

known to be present in the EU, there are 

no current trade restrictions based on 

FMD; however, EC legislation 

authorizes the imposition of such 

restrictions in the event of an outbreak. 

Establishments such as 

slaughterhouses, processing plants, milk 

processing plants, and semen collection 

centers must be approved by the 

Member State in which they reside 

according to criteria similar to those for 

exporting establishments in non-EU 

countries. The EC and official veterinary 

services of the Member State conduct 

periodic audits to monitor compliance 

with approval criteria and certification 

requirements. 

The risk analyses conclude that there 

is some risk of CSF, SVD and/or FMD 

and rinderpest being introduced into 

Estonia, Hungary, Slovakia, and 

Slovenia from other EU Member States, 

but this risk is low, based on the 

absence of FMD in the EU and the 

mitigation measures for CSF and SVD 

imposed through EC and transposed 

national legislation. 

Veterinary Control of Passenger 

Traffic: Estonia shares a land border 

with only one non-EU country, Russia. 

Customs officials, rather than veterinary 

officers, control the majority of border 

crossings. Cars and buses are subject to 

inspections and random luggage checks; 

not all buses or pieces of luggage, 

therefore, are inspected. Cleaning and 

disinfection procedures are enforced for 

all transport vehicles carrying live 

animals; disinfection barriers also exist 

for vehicles and pedestrians at each BIP 

and point of entry. 

Informational posters are hung at 

border crossing points, press releases 

are distributed, and information is 

disseminated to customs officers and 

customs clients to publicize regulations 

regarding prohibitions and restrictions 

on personal imports of meat. During 

visits by APHIS to two Estonian BIPs in 

2005, APHIS found that prohibited food 

items were not often found in the 

luggage of individuals entering Estonia. 

However, at one of these BIPs, there was 

a high volume of road traffic from 

Estonia into Russia due to the 

comparatively low price of basic 

commodities in Russia. 

In Hungary, BIP veterinary staff, 

employed by the county Agricultural 

Offices but under the direct supervisory 

and administrative responsibility of the 

central Ministry of Agriculture and 

Rural Development office in Budapest, 

oversee the operations of each BIP. 

These inspectors conduct searches, may 

seize prohibited goods, segregate live 

animals through a separate point of 

entry, and enforce cleaning and 

disinfection procedures. 

There is, however, significant 

movement of passengers who do not 

pass through these BIPs from countries 

that are not part of the EU. The 

Hungarian Frontier Guard, which 

controls the frontier borders of Hungary, 

conducts random checks and other 

control activities at these points of entry 

in conjunction with customs officials. 

During our site visits, both the Frontier 

Guards and customs officials appeared 

familiar with EU requirements and 

prohibitions regarding importation of 

meat and dairy products transported in 

personal consignments. 

In addition, while informational 

posters informing travelers of 

prohibitions on the importation of 

certain meat and dairy products were 

reported to be present at BIPs and other 

border crossings at the time of 

accession, APHIS found no such posters 

during our site visit. 

The State Veterinary and Food 

Administration controls all border 

crossing points in Slovakia, including 

all BIPs. There are, however, several 

crossings for passenger traffic that do 

not have official veterinary inspection. 

All individuals attempting to enter the 

country with agricultural products are 

redirected to a BIP with veterinary 

inspection. Customs officials visually 

check all passenger luggage at BIPs on 

the Ukrainian border, and selected 

passenger luggage at Slovakia’s airport 

BIP. Moreover, during our site visit, 

APHIS noticed wall notices informing 

travelers of prohibitions on the 

importation of certain meat and dairy 

products were present in many, but not 

all, BIPs. 

The Veterinary Administration of the 

Republic of Slovenia (VARS) includes 

both an Internal Veterinary Inspection 

Sector (10 regional offices and 2 branch 

offices) and the Border Veterinary 

Inspection Service (BVIS). The annual 

disease control program issued by VARS 

outlines the frequency and location of 

inspections for the Regional Offices to 

undertake within Slovenia itself. The 

BVIS has administrative and 

supervisory responsibility for the 6 BIPs 

in Slovenia. BVIS veterinary inspectors 

are present at the BIPs during working 

hours, but do not conduct inspections 

outside normal working hours without 

prior notice. 

Slovenian road border crossings are 

also staffed by customs officials from 

the Customs Administration of the 

Republic of Slovenia (CARS). Customs 

officials conduct searches of personal 

luggage at border crossings for 

prohibited meat and dairy products. The 

customs officials are not themselves 

veterinarians, but work in close 

coordination with the veterinary 

inspectors of VARS: VARS inspectors 

conduct their training and meet with 

them monthly to discuss areas for 

improvement. CARS produces posters, 

brochures, and Web site information to 

promote awareness of prohibitions on 

the importation of meat and other 

animal products. 

Accordingly, the analyses conclude 

that there is a risk of introduction of 

CSF, FMD, SVD, or rinderpest into 

Slovakia or Slovenia, CSF or SVD into 

Estonia, and CSF into Hungary via 

passenger traffic, but that this risk is 

significantly mitigated by the control 

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measures in place at points of entry to 

the countries. 

Livestock Demographics 

As stated above, Estonia, Hungary, 

Slovakia, and Slovenia adopted EC 

legislation with regard to animal 

identification at the time of their 

accession. Each country has in place 

herd registration and animal 

identification requirements for 

ruminants and swine that include 

movement tracking through a 

centralized database or register. Health 

certificates and/or movement 

authorization certificates are required 

for all internal movements of ruminants 

and swine. We will discuss livestock 

demographics for swine first, then 

discuss demographics for ruminants, as 

warranted. 

Between 2002 and 2004, the total 

number of swine holdings in Estonia 

was approximately 3,835. However, 30 

large-scale confinement facilities, each 

with holdings of at least 2,000 swine, 

account for the majority of all swine 

production in the country. Outdoor 

production facilities are rare, although 

some small backyard farms do keep 

swine outdoors in the summer months. 

In 2007, the domestic swine 

population in Hungary was 3.3 million. 

Approximately 70 percent of all pigs 

slaughtered in any given year, as well as 

the majority of pigs destined for 

commercial export, originate from largescale facilities of more than 100 pigs. 

However, it was once common for 

Hungarians to raise swine for personal 

consumption, and, although such smallscale farms have declined greatly in 

number in recent years, they still are 

more numerous than the large-scale 

facilities within the country. 

In 2006, there were 921,723 pigs on 

6,806 holdings in Slovakia. The majority 

of holdings have between 1 and 450 

pigs, although there are several large 

commercial confinement facilities of 

7,000 to 10,000 pigs in the eastern and 

southwestern parts of the country. 

In Slovenia, there were approximately 

26,000 swine holdings and 608,000 pigs 

in 2004. Eight large-scale confinement 

facilities, each with between 500 and 

5,700 sows, account for half of 

commercial pig production. 

In all four countries, there is some 

overlap between the distribution of 

swine holdings and areas of 

concentration of wild boars; however, 

the majority of swine in Estonia, 

Hungary, and Slovenia are housed in 

confinement facilities, with minimal to 

no outdoor access, and are moved only 

for slaughter or export. This is not the 

case with Slovakia, where small to 

medium holdings constitute the 

majority of the industry; however, many 

of these facilities either do not move 

swine or move them only for custom 

slaughter for personal consumption. 

As part of our evaluations, APHIS 

conducted site visits of production 

facilities in Hungary and Slovakia and 

a rendering plant in Estonia, and 

determined that they adhered to Statemandated biosecurity measures that are 

adequate to prevent wild animal 

incursions into the facilities and the 

spread of communicable swine diseases 

by other routes. The risk analyses for 

Estonia, Hungary, and Slovenia 

therefore conclude that the prevalence 

of large commercial confinement 

facilities in these countries, the 

distribution of the wild boar population 

in each country in relation to these 

facilities, mandatory animal 

identification requirements, movement 

controls, and other biosecurity measures 

adequately mitigate the export risk to 

the United States. The risk analysis for 

Slovakia finds that the risk posed by the 

prevalence of smaller, outdoor 

production facilities is often mitigated 

by the lack of movement of swine from 

the facilities, or their movement only for 

custom slaughter. 

In 2006, there were 524,247 cattle on 

19,904 holdings, 326,322 sheep on 4,949 

holdings, and 5,507 goats on 918 

holdings in Slovakia. Ruminant 

holdings tend to be constructed in a 

manner that allows the animals space to 

graze, and rely on biosecurity measures, 

such as perimeter fencing and cleaning 

and disinfection techniques, that 

minimize but do not prevent contact 

with wildlife or disease introduction. 

That said, Slovakia has in place 

movement restrictions, isolation 

parameters, and assembly center 

requirements that APHIS considers 

sufficient to mitigate the risk that meat 

derived from FMD-infected ruminants 

could be exported to the United States. 

Cattle are distributed throughout 

Slovenia, primarily on small- to 

medium-sized family farms. Family 

farms frequently maintain cattle for 

dairy production or breeding. There are 

large commercial breeding operations 

(of approximately 600 head apiece) in 

Slovenia, but most large commercial 

operations specialize in fattening and 

meat production. The majority of cattle 

or products from cattle that are exported 

from Slovenia originate from cattle held 

on large-scale commercial operations. 

In 2006, there were 144,000 sheep and 

goats in Slovenia, on 8,600 sheep and 

goat holdings. As for cattle and swine, 

Slovenia has in place mandatory animal 

identification and registration for sheep 

and goats, which facilitates traceability. 

In addition, APHIS’ regulations 

governing bovine spongiform 

encephalopathy currently prohibit the 

importation of ruminant-derived 

products from Slovenia. These 

safeguards address the risk of FMD 

being introduced into the United States 

through the importation of ruminantderived products from Slovenia. 

Disease Surveillance 

CSF: Estonia, Hungary, Slovakia, and 

Slovenia all have national surveillance 

programs in place for CSF in domestic 

swine and wild boar. Active 

surveillance is primarily based on 

serology for antibodies to the CSF virus, 

as is common throughout the world. 

Since antibodies usually occur late in 

CSF infection, serological surveillance 

would likely miss an early infection 

(e.g., in the first 21 days). In each 

country, training, the distribution of 

informational literature, and national 

surveillance exercises aid in passive 

surveillance for CSF by developing and 

maintaining the ability to quickly detect 

this disease. APHIS considers passive 

surveillance to be sufficient to detect 

overt clinical signs of CSF, but detection 

may be delayed in the case of moderateor low-virulence strains. 

SVD: Estonia conducts serological 

surveillance for SVD in domestic swine. 

Slovakia does not conduct active 

surveillance for SVD, but instead relies 

on passive surveillance similar to that 

employed to detect CSF. Due to the 

absence of SVD in the country, Slovenia 

relies primarily on passive surveillance 

strategies. Consequently, detection of 

SVD in Slovakia or Slovenia may be 

delayed in some instances based on the 

absence of overt clinical signs. 

FMD: Slovakia and Slovenia conduct 

passive surveillance for FMD. As noted 

above, passive surveillance may delay 

the detection of the disease in some 

instances based on the absence of 

clinical signs of infection. 

Diagnostic Capabilities 

Estonia, Hungary, Slovakia, and 

Slovenia have established accredited 

national reference laboratories (NRLs) 

for animal diseases, including CSF, 

SVD, and FMD. In Slovenia, the 

National Veterinary Institute (NVI) at 

the University of Ljubljana is the NRL 

for a number of diseases, although there 

are nine regional laboratories that 

perform initial diagnostic and screening 

tests. Overall, the laboratories are well 

organized and equipped, with 

experienced scientific and technical 

staff. Standard operating procedures and 

quality control measures are in place 

throughout. 

CSF: In each country, the NRL 

provides a range of tests for the 

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diagnosis and confirmation of CSF. 

Testing includes the virus isolation and 

antigen enzyme-linked immunosorbent 

assay (ELISA) tests, as well as the nested 

polymerase chain reaction, 

immunofluorescence, and 

immunoperoxidase methods. 

During APHIS’ site visit to the NRL in 

Hungary, we had some concerns 

regarding the lack of sensitivity of one 

of the assays employed, a fluorescent 

antibody test for wild boars. In 

response, Hungary implemented more 

sensitive assays that are consistent with 

OIE specifications. Moreover, APHIS 

notes that Slovenia’s NVI Biohazard 

Level 3 containment center is not yet 

completed. Because the NVI cannot 

handle live CSF virus until this is 

constructed, it cannot perform all CSF 

diagnostic tests, and thus it has not yet 

been accredited by VARS and the EU. 

(Similar restrictions apply to FMD 

testing.) Finally, the NRLs of both 

Estonia and Slovenia rely in certain 

instances on corroborative testing that 

takes place outside of each country. 

We do not believe that any of these 

issues decisively compromises the 

ability of Estonia, Hungary, or Slovenia 

to detect CSF in samples from domestic 

swine and wild boars in a timely 

manner; we have determined that, in 

each instance, other factors mitigate the 

risk associated with the issue of 

concern; and we have therefore 

concluded that the laboratory systems of 

Estonia, Hungary, Slovakia, and 

Slovenia, on the whole, have adequate 

diagnostic capabilities for CSF. 

SVD: The NRL of Estonia currently 

conducts both serological and nucleic 

acid testing for SVD. Slovakia does not 

employ active surveillance for SVD, 

hence there is no required testing for the 

disease. However, the NRL of Slovakia 

does provide a partial range of 

diagnostic tests for the detection of SVD, 

as such testing is requested. The NRL of 

Slovenia has historically conducted 

limited ELISA testing for SVD: In 2004, 

there were 30 samples tested, each of 

which tested negative for SVD, while 

there were no samples tested in either 

2005 or 2006. A monitoring program 

was designed for 2008. The NRL can, 

however, process up to 500 samples by 

ELISA each day. 

FMD: The NRLs of Slovakia and 

Slovenia are capable of performing 

ELISA tests for FMD antigens. However, 

because the NRL of Slovakia cannot 

perform virus isolation tests, 

confirmatory testing is currently 

conducted in Riems, Germany. 

Similarly, because the NRL of Slovenia 

lacked accreditation for handling live 

FMD virus at the time of our analysis, 

samples were being sent instead to 

Pirbright, United Kingdom, for 

virological testing. Should either of 

these procedures continue, they could 

result in a slight delay in confirming an 

outbreak in the two countries. 

Emergency Response Capacity 

Estonia, Hungary, Slovakia, and 

Slovenia all have contingency plans in 

place and supporting legislation to 

control and eradicate CSF outbreaks in 

domestic swine. In addition, Estonia has 

in place a contingency plan to control 

and eradicate SVD; Slovakia, SVD and 

FMD; and Slovenia, FMD. These 

contingency plans conform closely to 

the provisions of EC legislation. The EC 

has a stamping out policy with regard to 

CSF, SVD, and FMD. Eradication is 

carried out by compulsory depopulation 

of all animals on the affected premises 

with burial or incineration of the 

carcasses, as well as certain cleaning 

and disinfection protocols. All live 

animals, animal products, and genetic 

material moved from affected premises 

during the time between disease 

introduction and detection of the 

outbreak must be destroyed. 

Additionally, surveillance zones of at 

least a 10-kilometer radius from the 

affected premises are established, and 

the movement of live animals, animal 

products, and genetic material is 

suspended until the restrictions are 

lifted. 

While Slovenia currently has no 

contingency plan for the control and 

eradication of SVD, the disease has 

never been reported to have occurred in 

that country. Furthermore, APHIS 

recognizes Slovenia’s thorough 

contingency plans for CSF and FMD. In 

particular, the FMD contingency plan 

encourages the detection and reporting 

of vesicular diseases that could lead to 

an SVD diagnosis. 

Release Assessment Conclusions 

APHIS found no evidence to suggest 

CSF or SVD exists within Estonia. 

Moreover, we determined that there are 

measures or factors in place which 

mitigate the pathways through which 

these diseases could be introduced into 

Estonia: Migration of wild boar, trade of 

swine and swine products, vehicle and 

human traffic, and importation of swine 

products for personal consumption. 

APHIS concludes that the risk of 

introduction of these diseases into 

Estonia is therefore low. Moreover, 

APHIS concludes that the risk of 

introduction of CSF or SVD into the 

United States from products imported 

from Estonia is mitigated by additional 

import restrictions already specified in 

the regulations. 

APHIS found that CSF exists in the 

wild boar population living within 

Hungary, as evidenced by a 2009 

outbreak of CSF in wild boar. Moreover, 

APHIS has determined that, even if CSF 

were eradicated in wild boar within the 

country, there is a risk of reintroduction 

of the disease because the wild boar 

populations in neighboring countries 

are known to be affected with CSF. 

However, as noted earlier, APHIS does 

not consider the presence of CSF in 

wild boar within a country grounds for 

precluding that region’s inclusion in the 

APHIS-defined EU CSF low-risk region. 

Moreover, APHIS has determined that 

swine operations within Hungary, 

especially larger commercial ones, 

adhere to biosecurity measures intended 

to preclude the introduction of CSF into 

their holdings. 

Upon being added to the EU CSF 

region, Hungary would be subject to the 

requirement, under the existing 

regulations in § 94.24, that its veterinary 

authorities certify that live swine and 

swine products exported to the United 

States did not originate from the 

restricted zone in Hungary and have 

never been commingled with swine or 

swine products from that area. We 

consider this requirement, in 

conjunction with the risk mitigation 

measures imposed by Hungary and the 

EC, sufficient to mitigate the CSF risk 

associated with the importation of pork 

and pork products from Hungary. 

APHIS found that CSF exists within 

Slovakia in wild boar in the ECdesignated eradication zone. While 

surveillance and vaccination within this 

area have reduced the incidence of CSF 

in recent years, there is a clear risk of 

disease introduction to domestic swine 

via contact with such boars, although 

the risk of exposure to infected boars is 

substantially mitigated by commercial 

production and biosecurity practices on 

swine confinement operations. 

Exposure to wild boar is more likely on 

small farms without such measures; 

however, such farms often raise pigs 

only for personal consumption. 

Upon being added to the EU CSF 

region, Slovakia would be subject to the 

requirement, under the existing 

regulations in § 94.24, that its veterinary 

authorities certify that live swine and 

swine products imported into the 

United States did not originate from the 

CSF-restricted zone in Slovakia, and 

have never been commingled with 

swine or swine products from that area. 

We consider this requirement, in 

conjunction with the risk mitigation 

measures imposed by Slovakia and the 

EC, sufficient to mitigate the CSF risk 

associated with the importation of pork 

and pork products from Slovakia. 

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APHIS has no evidence that SVD, 

FMD, or rinderpest currently exists in 

Slovakia. The most likely sources of 

introduction of these two diseases into 

Slovakia are migration of wild boar or 

smuggled agricultural products. 

Slovakia has adequate mitigation 

measures in place to detect the 

smuggling of agricultural products. It is 

possible that infected wild boar could 

enter Slovakia and come in contact with 

domestic swine; this risk is somewhat 

mitigated, but not altogether removed, 

by the biosecurity measures of 

commercial confinement facilities 

within Slovakia. However, the 

introduction of SVD, FMD, or rinderpest 

into the domestic herd in Slovakia 

would only pose a risk of disease 

introduction into the United States if 

diseased swine or animal products 

derived from diseased swine were not 

detected prior to export. APHIS regards 

the risk of this occurring to be low. 

APHIS found no evidence to suggest 

that CSF, SVD, FMD, or rinderpest 

exists in Slovenia. The most likely 

source of introduction of CSF, SVD or 

FMD into Slovenia is wild boar from 

neighboring countries affected with the 

diseases. However, the introduction of 

these diseases into Slovenia’s domestic 

herd would only pose a risk of disease 

introduction into the United States if 

diseased swine or animal products 

derived from diseased swine were not 

detected prior to export. APHIS regards 

the risk of this occurring to be low. 

Furthermore, should these diseases be 

introduced, APHIS has evaluated EC 

control measures and found them 

efficacious in detecting and controlling 

outbreaks of CSF, SVD, and FMD in 

domestic livestock. 

As a result of our analyses, we have 

concluded that the risk profiles for 

Estonia, Hungary, Slovakia, and 

Slovenia are equivalent in CSF risk to 

the APHIS-defined EU CSF region. The 

region is defined in §§ 93.500, 94.0, and 

98.30, and is recognized as a single 

region of low-risk for CSF in §§ 94.9 and 

94.10. The region is subject to the 

import restrictions specified in § 94.24 

for live swine, pork, and pork products, 

and § 98.38 for swine semen. Therefore, 

we are proposing to amend the 

definition of the APHIS-defined EU CSF 

region §§ 93.500, 94.0, and 98.30 in 

order to include Estonia, Hungary, 

Slovakia, and Slovenia in the region, 

and, accordingly, to allow the 

importation of live swine, swine semen, 

pork, and pork products into the United 

States from these four countries under 

the restrictions listed in the regulations. 

We are proposing to recognize 

Estonia, Slovakia, and Slovenia as free 

of SVD, and Slovakia and Slovenia as 

free of FMD and rinderpest. In addition 

to proposing to include Estonia, 

Slovakia, and Slovenia in the list in 

§ 94.12(a) of regions declared free of 

SVD, and Slovakia and Slovenia to the 

list in § 94.1(a)(2) of regions declared 

free of both rinderpest and FMD, we are 

also proposing to add Estonia, Slovakia, 

and Slovenia to the list in § 94.13 of 

regions declared free of SVD whose 

exports of pork and pork products are 

also subject to restrictions and to add 

Slovakia and Slovenia to the list in 

§ 94.11(a) of regions declared free of 

rinderpest and FMD whose exports of 

meat and other animal products to the 

United States are nevertheless subject to 

certain restrictions. 

Risk Mitigation Measures for the 

Importation of Swine Semen From the 

APHIS-Defined EU CSF Region and the 

40-Day Post-Collection Holding Period 

Currently, the requirements for the 

importation of swine semen from the 

APHIS-defined EU CSF region, which 

are found in paragraphs (a) through (i) 

of § 98.38, provide, among other things, 

that semen must come from an 

approved semen collection center, that 

it must come from a donor boar that has 

never been in or transited a region 

where CSF is known to exist or a 

restricted zone for CSF, that it must 

come from a donor boar that has never 

commingled with swine that have been 

in such regions or zones, that the donor 

boar must be held in isolation for 30 

days prior to semen collection, and that 

the boar must be tested for CSF prior to 

being held in isolation with negative 

results. In addition, paragraph (h) of the 

section currently requires that, except 

for semen collected from swine in 

Denmark, Finland, Sweden, the 

Republic of Ireland, and the United 

Kingdom, before the semen is exported 

to the United States, the donor boar 

must be held at the semen collection 

center for at least 40 days following 

collection of the semen, and, along with 

all other swine at the semen collection 

center, exhibit no clinical signs of CSF. 

After reviewing relevant information, 

we are proposing to remove paragraph 

(h) from the regulations. 

Three considerations, which are 

documented in a risk assessment titled 

‘‘APHIS Risk Considerations on the 

Necessity of the 40-Day Post-Collection 

Holding Period for Swine Semen 

Imported from the European Union’’ 

(June 2008) that accompanies this 

proposed rule, led us to this conclusion. 

First, in recognizing the APHIS-defined 

EU CSF region, we decided that EC 

quarantine regulations with respect to 

areas affected by CSF would form the 

basis for the additional restrictions or 

mitigation measures that we would 

impose upon imports of swine and 

swine products from that region. We 

will only impose additional restrictions 

in circumstances where we have 

determined that, in the absence of such 

restrictions, EC regulations would prove 

insufficient to adequately mitigate the 

risk of CSF being introduced into the 

United States by such animals and 

animal products. In other words, the 

restrictions that our regulations impose 

upon the EU CSF region are dependent 

on the restrictions in the EC regulations 

themselves; as the latter become more or 

less restrictive, our regulations should 

change accordingly. 

Since we recognized the EU CSF 

region, significant changes have been 

made to the EC regulations to strengthen 

its controls for CSF introduction or 

dissemination via infected swine 

germplasm. These include additional 

controls on the intra-community trade 

of swine semen, the immediate halt of 

the movement of swine semen from 

collection centers within all restricted 

zones established during an outbreak of 

CSF, and additional testing 

requirements for all animals in swine 

semen centers prior to releasing an area 

from restrictions following an outbreak. 

Second, since we conducted the 1999 

risk analysis that suggested the need for 

the 40-day holding period, we have 

strengthened our regulations governing 

the importation of swine semen from a 

CSF-affected area within the EU CSF 

region and added additional mitigation 

measures for products imported from 

that region. For example, we have since 

added a 6-month restriction on the 

importation into the United States of 

swine and swine products from a 

restricted zone within the EU CSF 

region following an outbreak. 

Finally, at the time we put the 40-day 

holding period in place, we believed 

that it would not be overly burdensome 

for exporters of swine semen or 

otherwise inhibit trade. However, we 

have since learned that artificial 

insemination of sows relies 

overwhelmingly on fresh boar semen or 

semen that has been chilled for no more 

than 5 days; indeed, such semen 

accounts for approximately 99 percent 

of all artificial insemination worldwide. 

Methods, such as freezing, exist to 

preserve swine semen for longer periods 

of time; however, swine semen is 

extremely sensitive to freezing and 

thawing, losing both potency and 

fertility in the process. Given the other 

increased restrictions on the 

importation of swine semen from the EU 

CSF region, continuing to require the 

40-day hold, and thus to interfere with 

trade in swine semen, no longer appears 

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7730 Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 29 / Friday, February 11, 2011 / Proposed Rules 

necessary. Accordingly, we are 

proposing to remove § 98.38(h), which 

requires the 40-day hold, from the 

regulations. 

Administrative Units 

On October 28, 1997, we published in 

the Federal Register a final rule (62 FR 

56000–56026, Docket No. 94–106–9) 

and a policy statement (62 FR 56027– 

56033, Docket No. 941068) that 

established procedures for recognizing 

regions and levels of risk for the 

purpose of regulating the importation of 

animals and animal products. With the 

establishment of those procedures, 

APHIS can consider requests to allow 

importations from regions based on 

levels of risk, as well as to recognize 

entire countries as free of a disease. In 

subsequent rules, we identified the 

smallest administrative jurisdictions, 

referred to as administrative units 

(AUs), in the APHIS-defined EU CSF 

region that we would use to regionalize 

those Member States in the event of 

future animal disease outbreaks. As 

discussed in those documents, we 

believe that each of those jurisdictions 

is the smallest that can be demonstrated 

to have oversight of normal animal 

movements into, out of, and within that 

Member State, and that, in association 

with national authorities, if necessary, 

has effective control over animal 

movements and animal diseases locally. 

We have identified the following AUs 

for each country addressed in this 

proposal: For both Estonia and Hungary, 

the AU would be the county; for 

Slovakia, the district; and for Slovenia, 

the region. 

We have also reevaluated the AUs 

that we currently recognize for other 

countries in the EU to determine 

whether any modifications to these 

recognitions were necessary. Prior to 

July 29, 2005, the AU for Italy was the 

region. In a notice that we published in 

the Federal Register (70 FR 43838– 

43839, Docket No. 04–081–2) on that 

date, we advised the public that, among 

other things, we considered the aziende 

sanitarie locali (local health unit), a 

smaller administrative unit, the AU for 

Italy. Since that time, we have 

determined that this unit does not have 

sufficient control over local animal 

movements to fulfill the criteria 

established for an AU. Therefore, we 

intend to once again identify the region 

as the AU for Italy. We invite comments 

on that determination. 

Accordingly, these AUs would be 

used to regionalize those Member States 

in the event of future animal disease 

outbreaks. 

Executive Order 12866 and Regulatory 

Flexibility Act 

This proposed rule has been 

determined to be not significant for the 

purposes of Executive Order 12866, and 

has therefore not been reviewed by the 

Office of Management and Budget. 

In accordance with the Regulatory 

Flexibility Act, we have analyzed the 

potential economic effects of this action 

on small entities. The analysis is 

summarized below. Copies of the full 

analysis are available by contacting the 

person listed under FOR FURTHER

INFORMATION CONTACT or on the 

Regulations.gov Web site (see 

ADDRESSES above for instructions for 

accessing Regulations.gov). 

The analysis identifies hog and pig 

producers as the small entities most 

likely to be affected by this action and 

considers the effects on domestic prices 

associated with increased imports of 

swine, swine semen, pork, and pork 

products. Based on the information 

presented in the analysis, we expect that 

domestic pork producers would 

experience only a minimal loss in 

welfare as a result of this action. The 

analysis provides a basis for the APHIS 

Administrator’s determination that this 

action would not have a significant 

economic impact on a substantial 

number of small entities. 

Executive Order 12988 

This proposed rule has been reviewed 

under Executive Order 12988, Civil 

Justice Reform. If this proposed rule is 

adopted: (1) All State and local laws and 

regulations that are inconsistent with 

this rule will be preempted; (2) no 

retroactive effect will be given to this 

rule; and (3) administrative proceedings 

will not be required before parties may 

file suit in court challenging this rule. 

National Environmental Policy Act 

To provide the public with 

documentation of APHIS’ review and 

analysis of any potential environmental 

impacts associated with the proposed 

addition of Estonia, Hungary, Slovakia, 

and Slovenia to the list of EU countries 

considered to be a low risk CSF, 

Estonia, Slovakia, and Slovenia to the 

list of regions recognized as free of SVD, 

but that are subject to certain import 

restrictions, and Slovakia and Slovenia 

to the list of regions recognized as free 

of FMD and rinderpest, but that are 

subject to certain import restrictions, we 

have prepared environmental 

assessments for each country. 

The environmental assessments were 

prepared in accordance with: (1) The 

National Environmental Policy Act of 

1969 (NEPA), as amended (42 U.S.C. 

4321 et seq.), (2) regulations of the 

Council on Environmental Quality for 

implementing the procedural provisions 

of NEPA (40 CFR parts 1500–1508), (3) 

USDA regulations implementing NEPA 

(7 CFR part 1b), and (4) APHIS’ NEPA 

Implementing Procedures (7 CFR part 

372). 

The environmental assessments may 

be viewed on the Regulations.gov Web 

site or in our reading room. We invite 

the public to comment on those 

environmental assessments. Comments 

on the environmental assessments may 

be submitted using the same process as 

comments on the proposed rule. 

Instructions for accessing 

Regulations.gov and for submitting 

comments and information on the 

location and hours of the reading room 

are provided under the heading 

ADDRESSES at the beginning of this 

proposed rule. In addition, copies may 

be obtained by calling or writing to the 

individual listed under FOR FURTHER

INFORMATION CONTACT. 

Paperwork Reduction Act 

This proposed rule contains no 

information collection or recordkeeping 

requirements under the Paperwork 

Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501 

et seq.). 

List of Subjects 

9 CFR Part 93 

Animal diseases, Imports, Livestock, 

Poultry and poultry products, 

Quarantine, Reporting and 

recordkeeping requirements. 

9 CFR Part 94 

Animal diseases, Imports, Livestock, 

Meat and meat products, Milk, Poultry 

and poultry products, Reporting and 

recordkeeping requirements. 

9 CFR Part 98 

Animal diseases, Imports. 

Accordingly, we propose to amend 9 

CFR parts 93, 94, and 98 as follows: 

PART 93—IMPORTATION OF CERTAIN 

ANIMALS, BIRDS, FISH, 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 and 8301–8317; 

21 U.S.C. 136 and 136a; 31 U.S.C. 9701; 7 

CFR 2.22, 2.80, and 371.4. 

2. In § 93.500, the definition of 

APHIS-defined EU CSF region is revised 

to read as follows: 

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Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 29 / Friday, February 11, 2011 / Proposed Rules 7731 

§ 93.500 Definitions. 

* * * * * 

APHIS-defined EU CSF region. The 

European Union Member States of 

Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, 

Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, 

Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, 

Lithuania, Luxembourg, the 

Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Republic 

of Ireland, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, 

Sweden, and the United Kingdom 

(England, Scotland, Wales, the Isle of 

Man, and Northern Ireland). 

* * * * * 

PART 94—RINDERPEST, FOOT-ANDMOUTH DISEASE, EXOTIC 

NEWCASTLE DISEASE, AFRICAN 

SWINE FEVER, CLASSICAL SWINE 

FEVER, SWINE VESICULAR DISEASE, 

AND BOVINE SPONGIFORM 

ENCEPHALOPATHY: PROHIBITED 

AND RESTRICTED IMPORTATIONS 

3. The authority citation for part 94 

continues to read as follows: 

Authority: 7 U.S.C. 450, 7701–7772, 7781– 

7786, and 8301–8317; 21 U.S.C. 136 and 

136a; 31 U.S.C. 9701; 7 CFR 2.22, 2.80, and 

371.4. 

4. In § 94.0, the definition of APHISdefined EU CSF region is revised to read 

as follows: 

§ 94.0 Definitions. 

* * * * * 

APHIS-defined EU CSF region. The 

European Union Member States of 

Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, 

Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, 

Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, 

Lithuania, Luxembourg, the 

Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Republic 

of Ireland, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, 

Sweden, and the United Kingdom 

(England, Scotland, Wales, the Isle of 

Man, and Northern Ireland). 

* * * * * 

§ 94.1 [Amended] 

5. In § 94.1, paragraph (a)(2) is 

amended by adding the words 

‘‘Slovakia, Slovenia,’’ immediately after 

the word ‘‘Portugal,’’. 

§ 94.11 [Amended] 

6. In § 94.11, paragraph (a) is 

amended by adding the words 

‘‘Slovakia, Slovenia,’’ immediately after 

the word ‘‘Portugal,’’. 

7. In § 94.12, paragraph (a) is revised 

to read as follows: 

§ 94.12 Pork and pork products from 

regions where swine vesicular disease 

exists. 

(a) Swine vesicular disease is 

considered to exist in all regions of the 

world except Australia, Austria, the 

Bahamas, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, 

Central American countries, Chile, the 

Czech Republic, Denmark, Dominican 

Republic, Estonia, Fiji, Finland, France, 

Germany, Greece, Greenland, Haiti, 

Hungary, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, 

Luxembourg, Mexico, the Netherlands, 

New Zealand, Norway, Panama, Poland, 

Portugal, Republic of Ireland, Romania, 

Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, 

Switzerland, Trust Territories of the 

Pacific, the United Kingdom (England, 

Scotland, Wales, the Isle of Man, and 

Northern Ireland), Yugoslavia, and the 

Regions in Italy of Friuli, Liguria, 

Marche, and Valle d’Aosta. 

* * * * * 

8. In § 94.13 introductory text, the 

first sentence is revised to read as 

follows: 

§ 94.13 Restrictions on importation of pork 

or pork products from specified regions. 

Austria, the Bahamas, Belgium, 

Bulgaria, Chile, the Czech Republic, 

Denmark, Estonia, France, Germany, 

Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, 

Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Poland, 

Portugal, Republic of Ireland, Slovakia, 

Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland, the 

United Kingdom (England, Scotland, 

Wales, the Isle of Man, and Northern 

Ireland), Yugoslavia, and the Regions in 

Italy of Friuli, Liguria, Marche, and 

Valle d’Aosta are declared free of swine 

vesicular disease in § 94.12(a). * * * 

* * * * * 

PART 98—IMPORTATION OF CERTAIN 

ANIMAL EMBRYOS AND ANIMAL 

SEMEN 

9. The authority citation for part 98 

continues to read as follows: 

Authority: 7 U.S.C. 1622 and 8301–8317; 

21 U.S.C. 136 and 136a; 31 U.S.C. 9701; 7 

CFR 2.22, 2.80, and 371.4. 

10. In § 98.30, the definition of 

APHIS-defined EU CSF region is revised 

to read as follows: 

§ 98.30 Definitions. 

* * * * * 

APHIS-defined EU CSF region. The 

European Union Member States of 

Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, 

Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, 

Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, 

Lithuania, Luxembourg, the 

Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Republic 

of Ireland, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, 

Sweden, and the United Kingdom 

(England, Scotland, Wales, the Isle of 

Man, and Northern Ireland). 

* * * * * 

§ 98.38 [Amended] 

11. Section 98.38 is amended as 

follows: 

a. In the introductory text, by 

removing the words ‘‘, except as noted 

in paragraph (h) of this section with 

regard to swine semen imported from 

Denmark, Finland, the Republic of 

Ireland, Sweden, or the United 

Kingdom’’. 

b. By removing paragraph (h). 

c. By redesignating paragraph (i) as 

paragraph (h). 

d. In newly redesignated paragraph 

(h), by removing the words ‘‘through (h)’’ 

and adding the words ‘‘through (g)’’ in 

their place. 

Done in Washington, DC, this 7th day of 

February 2011. 

Kevin Shea, 

Acting Administrator, Animal and Plant 

Health Inspection Service. 

[FR Doc. 2011–3112 Filed 2–10–11; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–34–P 

FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM 

12 CFR Part 225 

[Regulation Y; Docket No. R–1405] 

RIN 7100–AD64 

Definitions of ‘‘Predominantly Engaged 

in Financial Activities’’ and 

‘‘Significant’’ Nonbank Financial 

Company and Bank Holding Company 

AGENCY: Board of Governors of the 

Federal Reserve System (‘‘Board’’). 

ACTION: Notice of proposed rulemaking 

and request for comment. 

SUMMARY: The Board is publishing for 

comment proposed amendments to 

Regulation Y that establish the criteria 

for determining whether a company is 

‘‘predominantly engaged in financial 

activities’’ and define the terms 

‘‘significant nonbank financial 

company’’ and ‘‘significant bank holding 

company’’ for purposes of Title I of the 

Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and 

Consumer Protection Act of 2010 (the 

‘‘Dodd-Frank Act’’ or ‘‘Act’’). These terms 

are relevant to various provisions of 

Title I of the Dodd-Frank Act, including 

section 113, which authorizes the 

Financial Stability Oversight Council 

(‘‘Council’’) to designate a nonbank 

financial company for supervision by 

the Board if the Council determines that 

the company could pose a threat to the 

financial stability of the United States. 

The Council recently requested 

comment on a proposed rule to 

implement section 113 of the DoddFrank Act. 

DATES: Comments: Comments should be 

received on or before March 30, 2011. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, 

identified by Docket No. R–1405 and 

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