[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 50 (Wednesday, March 15, 1995)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 13896-13898]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-6371]



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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
9 CFR Parts 91 and 92

[Docket No. 94-076-1]


Cattle Imported In-Bond for Feeding and Return to Mexico

AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, USDA.

ACTION: Interim rule and request for comments.

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SUMMARY: We are amending the animal exportation and importation 
regulations by removing provisions that allow the temporary, in-bond 
importation of cattle from Mexico into the United States for feeding 
and return to Mexico for slaughter. We are taking this action because 
the U.S. Customs Service, to comply with provisions of the North 
American Free Trade Agreement, has discontinued its collection of 
duties and bonds on cattle imported into the United States from Mexico. 
Without a bond, we are unable to meaningfully penalize importers who 
fail to return those cattle to Mexico. We believe, therefore, that the 
current in-bond program must be terminated to prevent the dissemination 
into the United States of animal diseases by in-bond cattle that remain 
in the United States in violation of the regulations.

DATES: Interim rule effective March 30, 1995. Consideration will be 
given only to comments received on or before May 15, 1995.

ADDRESSES: Please send an original and three copies of your comments to 
APHIS, PPD, Regulatory Analysis and Development, 4700 River Road Unit 
118, Riverdale, MD 20737-1238. Please state that your comments refer to 
Docket No. 94-076-1. 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. David Vogt, Senior Staff 
Veterinarian, APHIS, Veterinary Services, Import/Export Animals Staff, 
4700 River Road Unit 39, Riverdale, MD 20737-1231; (301) 734-8170.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    The regulations in 9 CFR part 92 prohibit or restrict the 
importation of certain animals into the United States to prevent the 
introduction of communicable diseases of livestock and poultry. Subpart 
D of part 92 (Secs. 92.400 through 92.435), referred to below as the 
regulations, pertains to the importation of ruminants. Sections 92.424 
through 92.429 of the regulations contain specific provisions regarding 
the importation of ruminants, including cattle, from Mexico.
    Before the effective date of this rule, Sec. 92.427(e) of the 
regulations provided for the temporary importation of cattle from 
Mexico into the United States under United States Customs bond for 
feeding and return to Mexico for slaughter. Cattle imported under this 
in-bond program were exempt from some requirements that applied to the 
importation of other cattle from Mexico, but were subject to additional 
restrictions during the time they were in the United States that did 
not apply to other cattle imported from Mexico.
    Specifically, in-bond cattle from Mexico could be imported without 
meeting the requirements of Sec. 92.427(c)(1) regarding herd tests for 
tuberculosis and without meeting the requirements of Sec. 92.427(d)(1) 
regarding herd tests for brucellosis if the cattle were: (1) Moved 
directly by land from the port of entry to an approved quarantined 
feedlot; (2) removed from the quarantined feedlot only to be moved 
directly to a Mexican port of entry for return to Mexico for slaughter; 
and (3) moved only in trucks or railway cars that had been sealed with 
a seal applied by a U.S. Department of Agriculture inspector.
    Additionally, in-bond cattle from Mexico could be imported without 
the official record of negative brucellosis test required by 
Sec. 92.424(b) and without meeting the requirements of Sec. 92.427(d) 
regarding brucellosis if the cattle were under 24 months of age and 
were accompanied by a certificate stating that the cattle had been 
vaccinated for brucellosis.
    The movement, quarantine, and vaccination requirements discussed 
above were designed to prevent the transmission of animal diseases from 
in-bond Mexican cattle to other animals in the United States. However, 
if the importer of the in-bond Mexican cattle did not adhere to those 
requirements, there was a serious risk that those cattle, which had not 
been tested for tuberculosis or brucellosis prior to entering the 
United States, would spread disease to domestic livestock. As a means 
of ensuring that the in-bond Mexican cattle were maintained in 
accordance with the regulations while in the United States and were 
actually returned to Mexico upon completion of their feeding period in 
the United States, the regulations required that the importer of the 
Mexican cattle post a [[Page 13897]] bond with the U.S. Customs Service 
at the port of entry. The bond required by the Customs Service could be 
as high as three times the duty value of the cattle, so it was clearly 
in an importer's best interests to meet all the requirements of the 
regulations.
    However, on January 1, 1994, the U.S. Customs Service discontinued 
its collection of duties and bonds on imported Mexican cattle in order 
to comply with provisions of the North American Free Trade Agreement. 
As a consequence, importers no longer had to post a bond when importing 
cattle from Mexico into the United States for feeding and return to 
Mexico, although the Customs Service continued to track such cattle 
entering and leaving the United States. The penalty for failing to 
return in-bond Mexican cattle to Mexico upon completion of their 
feeding period has been reduced to $400.
    Since the Customs Service discontinued its collection of bonds, the 
Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) has monitored the 
in-bond program to determine whether the program could remain viable 
despite the lack of a posted bond. Recently, some importers of cattle 
under the in-bond program have indicated to APHIS that they would be 
willing to accept the $400 fine--a relatively insignificant amount when 
compared to the bond that would have been forfeited before the Customs 
Service discontinued collecting the bond--if the importers could move 
their cattle to slaughter or other destinations in the United States 
without returning the cattle to Mexico for slaughter, as required under 
the in-bond program's regulations. Evidently, those importers believe 
that even with the $400 fine, it would be more profitable to sell their 
cattle in the United States than in Mexico. In fact, we are now aware 
of at least one case in which an importer did remove his in-bond 
Mexican cattle from a quarantined feedlot and send the cattle to 
slaughter in the United States. APHIS has the option of pursuing civil 
and criminal action against an importer in such cases, but we believe 
that there remains the strong possibility that importers will choose to 
accept the risk of criminal and civil action against them sometime in 
the future in order to move their in-bond Mexican cattle to slaughter 
or other destinations in the United States.
    As stated above, in-bond Mexican cattle were exempted from meeting 
certain testing requirements for tuberculosis and brucellosis; clearly, 
cattle that have not met those testing requirements present a greater 
than average risk of spreading disease to domestic livestock. The 
quarantine and movement restrictions of the in-bond program were 
specifically designed to mitigate that increased disease risk, so it 
follows that cattle moved in violation of those quarantine and movement 
restrictions would present a greater than average disease risk. It has 
become evident that the posting of a bond is necessary to ensure 
compliance with the provisions of the in-bond program, but APHIS has no 
statutory authority to institute a bond system similar to that which 
had been administered by the U.S. Customs Service at U.S. ports of 
entry on the Mexican border prior to January 1, 1994. Therefore, we 
believe that it is necessary for us to terminate the in-bond program 
described in Sec. 92.427(e) in order to prevent the introduction into, 
and dissemination within, the United States of disease.
    Therefore, we are removing Sec. 92.427(e), ``Cattle imported in 
bond for feeding and return to Mexico,'' in its entirety. The 
termination of the in-bond program also entails the removal of five 
references to the in-bond program that are found elsewhere in part 92 
and in the animal export regulations in 9 CFR part 91. Specifically, we 
are amending:
    <bullet> Section 91.3(a) by removing a provision that exempts in-
bond Mexican cattle from the requirement that all animals intended for 
exportation to Mexico be accompanied from the State of origin of the 
export movement to the border of the United States by an origin health 
certificate;
    <bullet> Section 91.5 by removing a provision that exempts in-bond 
Mexican cattle from certain pre-export health testing requirements;
    <bullet> Section 92.424(b) by removing a provision that exempts in-
bond Mexican cattle from the requirement for an official record of 
brucellosis testing;
    <bullet> Section 92.426(a) by removing a provision requiring in-
bond Mexican cattle to be inspected at the port of entry and found free 
from communicable disease and fever tick infestation; and
    <bullet> Section 92.427(c)(2) by removing a provision that exempts 
in-bond Mexican cattle from the M-branding requirement.

Miscellaneous

    As noted above, we are removing Sec. 92.427(e) in its entirety, 
including footnote 10, which cites regulations of the U.S. Customs 
Service concerning movement in bond. Therefore, to keep the footnotes 
in the subpart numbered consecutively, we are amending Secs. 92.430, 
92.431, 92.433, 92.434, and 92.435 by redesignating footnotes 11 
through 22 as footnotes 10 through 21.

Emergency Action

    The Administrator of the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service 
has determined that conditions exist that warrant publication of this 
interim rule without prior opportunity for public comment. The recent 
steep devaluation of the Mexican peso has created a strong economic 
incentive for importers of in-bond cattle from Mexico to send such 
cattle to slaughter in the United States, rather than in Mexico as 
required by the regulations. Because Customs has discontinued 
collecting bonds, prompt action is necessary to prevent the 
dissemination into the United States of animal diseases by in-bond 
Mexican cattle that remain in the United States in violation of the 
regulations. We are making this rule effective 15 days after its 
publication in the Federal Register to provide importers in the United 
States and exporters in Mexico adequate notice of this action in order 
to prevent undue stress on cattle already in transit from Mexico and 
undue hardship on the owners, importers, and exporters of cattle from 
Mexico.
    Because prior notice and other public procedures with respect to 
this action are impracticable and contrary to the public interest under 
these conditions, we find good cause under 5 U.S.C. 553 to make this 
rule effective 15 days after its publication in the Federal Register. 
We will consider comments that are received within 60 days of 
publication of this rule in the Federal Register. After the comment 
period closes, we will publish another document in the Federal 
Register. It will include a discussion of any comments we receive and 
any amendments we are making to the rule as a result of the comments.

Executive Order 12866 and Regulatory Flexibility Act

    This rule has been reviewed under Executive Order 12866. The rule 
has been determined to be not significant for purposes of Executive 
Order 12866 and, therefore, has not been reviewed by the Office of 
Management and Budget.
    This rule amends the animal exportation and importation regulations 
by removing provisions regarding the temporary, in-bond importation of 
cattle from Mexico into the United States for feeding and return to 
Mexico for slaughter.
    Several feedlots in the United States could be economically 
affected by this proposed change in the regulations, but we anticipate 
that the impact will be minimal. In fiscal year 1993, approximately 
61,000 Mexican cattle were imported into the United States for feeding 
and return to Mexico for [[Page 13898]] slaughter under U.S. Customs 
bond. They included 24,811 cattle imported into Arizona, 3,878 into 
California, 69 into New Mexico, and 32,059 into Texas. APHIS estimates 
that as many as 18 different feedlots in Arizona, California, New 
Mexico, and Texas were used for the feeding of in-bond Mexican cattle 
during the height of in-bond activity. Currently, there are about 10 
feedlots that have facilities for the feeding of in-bond Mexican 
cattle, but only about 5 of those feedlots have been used recently to 
feed in-bond Mexican cattle.
    The termination of the in-bond program is expected to have a 
negligible impact on feedlots in the United States. Most are large 
businesses (defined as having more than $1.0 million in annual gross 
receipts, according to Small Business Administration size criteria) and 
usually use only a small portion of the feedlot for in-bond Mexican 
cattle. The majority of the area in the feedlots is generally used to 
feed either other imported Mexican cattle or domestic cattle. With the 
termination of the in-bond program, we anticipate that any affected 
feedlots will use their entire areas to feed other imported Mexican 
cattle or domestic cattle.
    Under these circumstances, the Administrator of the Animal and 
Plant Health Inspection Service has determined that this action will 
not have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small 
entities.

Executive Order 12778

    This rule has been reviewed under Executive Order 12778, Civil 
Justice Reform. This rule: (1) Preempts all State and local laws and 
regulations that are inconsistent with this rule; (2) has no 
retroactive effect; and (3) does not require administrative proceedings 
before parties may file suit in court challenging this rule.

Paperwork Reduction Act

    This rule contains no information collection or recordkeeping 
requirements under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1980 (44 U.S.C. 3501 
et seq.).

List of Subjects

9 CFR Part 91

    Animal diseases, Animal welfare, Exports, Livestock, Reporting and 
recordkeeping requirements, Transportation.

9 CFR Part 92

    Animal diseases, Imports, Livestock, Poultry and poultry products, 
Quarantine, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements.

    Accordingly, 9 CFR parts 91 and 92 are amended as follows:

PART 91--INSPECTION AND HANDLING OF LIVESTOCK FOR EXPORTATION

    1. The authority citation for part 91 is revised to read as 
follows:

    Authority: 21 U.S.C. 105, 112, 113, 114a, 120, 121, 134b, 134f, 
136, 136a, 612, 613, 614, and 618; 46 U.S.C. 466a and 466b; 49 
U.S.C. 1509(d); 7 CFR 2.17, 2.51, and 371.2(d).


Sec. 91.3  [Amended]

    2. In Sec. 91.3, paragraph (a), the second sentence is amended by 
removing the words ``, except cattle from Mexico imported into the 
United States in bond for temporary feeding and return to Mexico,''.
Sec. 91.5  [Amended]

    3. In Sec. 91.5, the introductory text is amended by removing the 
words ``, except cattle from Mexico imported into the United States in 
bond for temporary feeding and return to Mexico, except cattle from 
Mexico imported into the United States in bond for temporary feeding 
and return to Mexico,''.

PART 92--IMPORTATION OF CERTAIN ANIMALS AND POULTRY AND CERTAIN 
ANIMAL AND POULTRY PRODUCTS; INSPECTION AND OTHER REQUIREMENTS FOR 
CERTAIN MEANS OF CONVEYANCE AND SHIPPING CONTAINERS THEREON

    4. The authority citation for part 92 continues to read as follows:

    Authority: 7 U.S.C. 1622; 19 U.S.C. 1306; 21 U.S.C. 102-105, 
111, 114a, 134a, 134b, 134c, 134d, 134f, 135, 136, and 136a; 31 
U.S.C. 9701; 7 CFR 2.17, 2.51, and 371.2(d).


Sec. 92.424  [Amended]

    5. In Sec. 92.424, paragraph (b), the second sentence is amended by 
removing the words ``pursuant to Sec. 92.427(e)(2), or''.


Sec. 92.426  [Amended]

    6. In Sec. 92.426, paragraph (a), the first sentence is amended by 
removing the words ``or in bond for temporary entry in accordance with 
Sec. 92.427(e) of this part''.


Sec. 92.427  [Amended]

    7. In Sec. 92.427, paragraph (c)(2), the first sentence is amended 
by removing the words ``or in bond for temporary entry in accordance 
with Sec. 92.427(e) of this part''.
    8. In Sec. 92.427, paragraph (e), including footnote 10, is 
removed.


Secs. 92.430 through 92.435  [Amended]

    9. In Secs. 92.430 through 92.434, footnotes 11 through 21 and 
their references in the text are redesignated as footnotes 10 through 
20, respectively.

    Done in Washington, DC, this 9th day of March 1995.
Terry L. Medley,
Acting Administrator, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
[FR Doc. 95-6371 Filed 3-14-95; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-34-P