Federal Register / Vol. 90, No. 10 / Thursday, January 16, 2025 / Notices 4713 

Request for Comments 

AMS is soliciting comments including 

data, recommendations, and other 

information from stakeholders about 

potential changes to the U.S. Classes, 

Standards, and Grades for Poultry. 

Comments may include any current 

and/or ongoing research or industry 

practice that has relevance to this 

Poultry Standard. AMS also invites 

comments about how those changes 

would be implemented in the Federal 

voluntary, fee-for-service grading 

programs. 

After reviewing the recommendations 

and information submitted in response 

to this notice, AMS will consult with 

other relevant government agencies, 

academia, industry, and stakeholders, to 

determine how updates to the Poultry 

Standards should be made. When 

updates are made, a draft of the updated 

Poultry Standards with all changes will 

be published in the Federal Register for 

an additional comment period. Any 

comments not directly related to 

updates or recommendations that are 

not accompanied by data and other 

information will not be considered. 

AMS invites responses to the 

following questions: 

1. How could the Poultry Standards 

be updated to better align with current 

and future advances in technology? 

2. Are the current Poultry Standards 

and supplemental resources easily 

interpreted by industry employees, 

particularly the authorized plant graders 

actively applying them in facilities? If 

not, what updates to the Poultry 

Standards, additional resources, or 

training material are recommended? 

3. Are there any defect categories that 

have become irrelevant or new defect 

categories that should be added? 

4. How could the tolerances for 

existing defect categories be updated to 

better suit the needs of stakeholders? 

5. Is there information in general 

which should be added to or removed 

from the current Poultry Standards? 

6. How could the Poultry Standards 

be updated to reflect current marketing 

of Poultry? Could U.S. Grade B or U.S. 

Grade C be updated to be more useful 

in the marketing of poultry products, 

similar to how USDA Choice or USDA 

Select are useful marketing terms for red 

meat commodities? 

7. How could the Poultry Standards 

be updated to be more useful to smaller 

poultry operations? 

8. How could the Poultry Standards 

be updated to be more useful to volume 

food buyers and those engaged in 

institutional purchases? 

9. How could the Poultry Standards 

be updated to be more meaningful to 

end consumers? 

10. High quality poultry products are 

procured through the Federal Nutrition 

Assistance and Child Nutrition 

Programs using the Poultry Standards. 

How could the Poultry Standards be 

updated to improve the effectiveness of 

the purchase program in regard to value 

and quality? 

11. Are there any other 

recommendations, suggestions, or ideas 

that would be relevant for AMS to 

consider? 

Melissa Bailey, 

Associate Administrator, Agricultural 

Marketing Service. 

[FR Doc. 2025–01029 Filed 1–15–25; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE P 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Animal and Plant Health Inspection 

Service 

[Docket No. APHIS–2024–0028] 

Addition of Nicaragua to the List of 

Regions Affected With Screwworm 

AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health 

Inspection Service, USDA. 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: We are advising the public 

that we have added Nicaragua to the 

Animal and Plant Health Inspection 

Service (APHIS) list maintained on the 

APHIS website of regions considered 

affected with screwworm. We took this 

action because of the confirmation of 

screwworm in this region. 

DATES: Nicaragua was added to the list 

of regions considered affected with 

screwworm effective March 29, 2024. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. 

Heather Sriranganathan, APHIS 

Veterinary Services, Regionalization 

Evaluation Services, 4700 River Road, 

Riverdale, MD 20737; phone: (717) 818– 

3582; email: AskRegionalization@

usda.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 

regulations in 9 CFR part 93 (referred to 

below as the regulations) prohibit or 

restrict the importation of certain 

animals into the United States to 

prevent the introduction of 

communicable diseases and pests of 

livestock. Subparts C, D, E, and F of the 

regulations govern the importation of 

horses, ruminants, swine, and dogs, 

respectively. 

Horses, ruminants, swine, and dogs 

may be imported into the United States 

from the regions where screwworm is 

considered to exist only if they are 

inspected and, if necessary, treated for 

screwworm according to the conditions 

outlined in the regulations for each type 

of animal. The requirements for horses 

are set out in § 93.308(a)(3) and include 

not only pre-embarkation and postarrival inspection and treatment 

requirements, but also quarantine in the 

United States for 7 days after arrival, 

and examination by a veterinarian 

before release from quarantine. The 

requirements for ruminants and swine 

are set out in §§ 93.405(a)(3) and 

93.505(b) and are the same as for horses, 

other than the 7-day quarantine and 

final examination of the animal. The 

requirements for dogs are set out in 

§ 93.600 and require that all dogs from 

affected regions be inspected and, if 

necessary, treated before importation. 

The Animal and Plant Health 

Inspection Service (APHIS) maintains a 

list of regions APHIS considers affected 

with screwworm on its website at 

https://www.aphis.usda.gov/aphis/ 

ourfocus/animalhealth/animal-andanimal-product-import-information/ 

animal-health-status-of-regions/. APHIS 

will add a region to the list upon 

determining that screwworm exists in 

the region based on reports we receive 

of detections of the pest from veterinary 

officials of the exporting country, from 

the World Organization for Animal 

Health (WOAH), or from other sources 

the Administrator determines to be 

reliable. 

On March 22, 2024, APHIS received 

a report from the U.S. Department of 

Agriculture, Trade and Foreign 

Agricultural Affairs office documenting 

an outbreak of screwworm in cattle in 

Nicaragua. This detection was 

confirmed by the Panama-United States 

Commission for the Eradication and 

Prevention of Screwworm on March 14, 

2024. Accordingly, on March 29, 2024, 

APHIS added Nicaragua to the list of 

regions APHIS considers affected with 

screwworm. As a result, horses, 

ruminants, swine, and dogs from 

Nicaragua are subject to APHIS import 

restrictions designed to mitigate risk of 

screwworm introduction into the United 

States. This notice serves as an official 

record and public notification of this 

action. 

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. 

Done in Washington, DC, this 13th day of 

January 2025. 

Michael Watson, 

Administrator, Animal and Plant Health 

Inspection Service. 

[FR Doc. 2025–01000 Filed 1–15–25; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–34–P 


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