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

19667

Vol. 63, No. 76

Tuesday, April 21, 1998

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Animal and Plant Health Inspection

Service

9 CFR Part 94

[Docket No. 98–002–1]

Change in Disease Status of Great

Britain Because of Exotic Newcastle

Disease

AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health

Inspection Service, USDA.

ACTION: Proposed rule.

SUMMARY: We are proposing to recognize

Great Britain as free of exotic Newcastle

disease (END). This proposed action is

based on information received from

Great Britain’s Ministry of Agriculture,

Fisheries, and Food, and is in

accordance with standards set by the

Office International des Epizooties for

recognizing a country as free of END.

This proposed action would relieve

restrictions on the importation of

carcasses, or parts or products of

carcasses, of poultry, game birds, or

other birds from Great Britain. It would

relieve the END-specific restrictions on

the importation of eggs (other than

hatching eggs) laid by poultry, game

birds, or other birds from Great Britain.

This proposed action would also relieve

the quarantine requirements for poultry

hatching eggs imported from Great

Britain.

DATES: Consideration will be given only

to comments received on or before June

22, 1998.

ADDRESSES: Please send an original and

three copies of your comments to

Docket No. 98–002–1, Regulatory

Analysis and Development, PPD,

APHIS, Suite 3C03, 4700 River Road

Unit 118, Riverdale, MD 20737–1238.

Please state that your comments refer to

Docket No. 98–002–1. Comments

received may be inspected at USDA,

room 1141, South Building, 14th Street

and Independence Avenue SW.,

Washington, DC, between 8 a.m. and

4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday,

except holidays. Persons wishing to

inspect comments are requested to call

ahead on (202) 690–2817 to facilitate

entry into the comment reading room.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr.

John Cougill, Staff Veterinarian,

Products Program, National Center for

Import and Export, VS, APHIS, 4700

River Road Unit 40, Riverdale, MD

20737–1231, (301) 734–3399; or e-mail:

jcougill@aphis.usda.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

The regulations in 9 CFR part 94

(referred to below as the regulations)

govern the importation into the United

States of specified animals and animal

products in order to prevent the

introduction of various animal diseases,

including exotic Newcastle disease

(END), into the United States. END is a

contagious, infectious, and

communicable disease of birds and

poultry.

Section 94.6(a)(1) of the regulations

provides that END is considered to exist

in all regions of the world except those

listed in § 94.6(a)(2), which are

considered to be free of END. The

importation into the United States of

any carcasses, or parts or products of

carcasses, of poultry, game birds, or

other birds that are from a region where

END is considered to exist, or that have

been imported from or moved into or

through any region where END is

considered to exist, is subject to the

restrictions contained in § 94.6(c). In

addition, the importation into the

United States of eggs (other than

hatching eggs) laid by poultry, game

birds, or other birds that are from a

region where END or Salmonella

enteritidis (SE) phage-type 4 is

considered to exist, or that have been

imported from or moved into or through

any region where END or SE phage-type

4 is considered to exist, is subject to the

restrictions contained in § 94.6(d).

Poultry eggs for hatching imported from

a region where END is considered to

exist must be quarantined in accordance

with § 93.209(b).

In this document, we are proposing to

add Great Britain to the list of regions

considered to be free of END. We are

proposing this action based on

information given to the Animal and

Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS)

by Great Britain’s Ministry of

Agriculture, Fisheries, and Food, and

standards set by the Office International

des Epizooties (OIE).

In order for a country to be recognized

as free of END following detection of

disease in that country, the OIE requires

that the country follow a strict

eradication protocol, which includes

restricted movement of poultry,

tracebacks of all affected flocks, and a

stamping out policy, which includes

slaughtering and incinerating affected

flocks. The OIE also requires that a

country have no reported cases of END

for 6 consecutive months before OIE

will consider the country free of END.

In a document published in the

Federal Register on February 7, 1997

(62 FR 5741–5742, Docket No. 97–003–

1), and effective on January 31, 1997, we

removed Great Britain from the list of

regions that were considered to be free

of END because of an outbreak of END

in Great Britain. Since that time, Great

Britain has followed a strict eradication

protocol, which included traceback of

all affected flocks, restricting movement

of poultry in the affected areas, and

slaughtering and incinerating all

affected flocks. Great Britain has had no

reported cases of END since April 1997.

With its request to be considered free

of END, Great Britain’s Ministry of

Agriculture, Fisheries, and Food

provided APHIS with information about

the eradication procedures that it

followed when the outbreak occurred

and other pertinent information that we

require in order to determine whether

Great Britain should be recognized as

free of END.

APHIS has reviewed the information

provided by Great Britain’s Ministry of

Agriculture, Fisheries, and Food in

support of declaring Great Britain to be

free of END. Based on that information,

and in accordance with OIE standards

for recognizing a country to be free of

END, we are proposing to consider Great

Britain as free of END. Therefore, we are

proposing to amend § 94.6(a)(2) by

adding Great Britain to the list of

regions considered to be free of END.

This proposed action would relieve the

restrictions of § 94.6(c) on the

importation of carcasses, or parts or

products of carcasses, of poultry, game

birds, or other birds from Great Britain

and would relieve the END-specific

restrictions of § 94.6(d)(1)(ix) on the

importation of eggs (other than hatching

eggs) laid by poultry, game birds, or

other birds from Great Britain. This
19668 Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 76 /Tuesday, April 21, 1998 / Proposed Rules

1Trade data for Great Britain alone was not

available.

proposed action would also relieve the

quarantine requirements of § 93.206(b)

for poultry hatching eggs imported from

Great Britain.

On October 28, 1997, we published a

final rule and policy statement in the

Federal Register that established

procedures for recognizing regions,

rather than only countries, for the

purpose of importing animals and

animal products into the United States,

and that established procedures by

which regions may request permission

to export animals and animal products

to the United States under specified

conditions, based on the regions’

disease status (see 62 FR 56000–56033,

Dockets 94–106–8 and 94–106–9). The

final rule was effective on November 28,

1997. The request from Great Britain’s

Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, and

Food addressed by this proposed rule is

not a request to be recognized as a

region, rather than a country, nor a

request to establish new import

conditions based on the disease status of

the regions. Therefore, we have handled

and evaluated this request in the

traditional framework of recognizing a

country as free or not free of a specified

disease. If this proposed rule is adopted,

the current regulations regarding

importation of poultry products from

regions free of END will apply.

Executive Order 12866

This proposed 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.

This proposed rule would recognize

Great Britain as free of END. This

proposed action is based on information

received from Great Britain’s Ministry of

Agriculture, Fisheries, and Food and is

in accordance with OIE standards for

recognizing a country as free of END.

This proposed rule would relieve

restrictions on the importation of

carcasses, or parts or products of

carcasses, of poultry, game birds, or

other birds, from Great Britain. It would

relieve the END-specific restrictions on

the importation of eggs (other than

hatching eggs) laid by poultry, game

birds, or other birds from Great Britain.

This proposed rule would also relieve

the quarantine requirements for poultry

hatching eggs imported from Great

Britain.

The United States imports few eggs,

only about 0.1 percent of U.S.

production. The United States is a very

strong net exporter of poultry products,

with imports of only 3,546 metric tons

and exports of more than 2 million

metric tons in 1996 (‘‘World Trade

Atlas,’’ June 1997). More than 99

percent of U.S. poultry product imports

originate in Canada. Prior to January 31,

1997, when APHIS removed Great

Britain from the list of END-free regions,

U.S. imports of poultry products from

the United Kingdom, which includes

Great Britain and Northern Ireland,

accounted for less than 2 percent of the

total U.S. imports of poultry products.1

U.S. producers, consumers, and

importers of poultry products may be

potentially affected by this proposed

rule. However, because the volume of

poultry products previously imported

from the United Kingdom was so small

compared to the amount produced

domestically, and because the total

volume of overall poultry product

imports is also very small, little or no

impact on consumer and producer

prices and on importers, is expected.

Under these circumstances, the

Administrator of the Animal and Plant

Health Inspection Service has

determined 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.

Paperwork Reduction Act

This proposed 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 94

Animal diseases, Imports, Livestock,

Meat and meat products, Poultry and

poultry products, Reporting and

recordkeeping requirements.

Accordingly, 9 CFR part 94 would be

amended as follows:

PART 94—RINDERPEST, FOOT-ANDMOUTH DISEASE, FOWL PEST (FOWL

PLAGUE), EXOTIC NEWCASTLE

DISEASE, AFRICAN SWINE FEVER,

HOG CHOLERA, AND BOVINE

SPONGIFORM ENCEPHALOPATHY:

PROHIBITED AND RESTRICTED

IMPORTATIONS

1. The authority citation for part 94

would continue to read as follows:

Authority: 7 U.S.C. 147a, 150ee, 161, 162,

and 450; 19 U.S.C. 1306; 21 U.S.C. 111, 114a,

134a, 134b, 134c, 134f, 136, and 136a; 31

U.S.C. 9701; 42 U.S.C. 4331 and 4332; 7 CFR

2.22, 2.80, and 371.2(d).

§ 94.6 [Amended]

2. In § 94.6, paragraph (a)(2) would be

amended by adding the words ‘‘Great

Britain (England, Scotland, Wales, and

the Isle of Man),’’ immediately after the

word ‘‘Finland,’’.

Done in Washington, DC, this 15th day of

April 1998.

Charles P. Schwalbe,

Acting Administrator, Animal and Plant

Health Inspection Service.

[FR Doc. 98–10560 Filed 4–20–98; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3410–34–P

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Aviation Administration

14 CFR Part 39

[Docket No. 98–SW–03–AD]

Airworthiness Directives; Eurocopter

France Model SE3130, SA3180,

SE313B, SA318B, and SA318C

Helicopters

AGENCY: Federal Aviation

Administration, DOT.

ACTION: Notice of proposed rulemaking

(NPRM).

SUMMARY: This document proposes the

adoption of a new airworthiness

directive (AD) that is applicable to

Eurocopter France Model SE3130,

SA3180, SE313B, SA318B, and SA318C

helicopters. This proposal would

require initial and repetitive visual

inspections and modification, if

necessary, of the horizontal stabilizer

spar tube (spar tube). This proposal is

prompted by an in-service report of

fatigue cracks that initiated from

corrosion pits. The actions specified by

the proposed AD are intended to

prevent fatigue failure of the spar tube,

separation and impact of the horizontal

stabilizer with the main or tail rotor,

and subsequent loss of control of the

helicopter.