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

26849

Vol. 61, No. 104

Wednesday, May 29, 1996

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

9 CFR Parts 92, 93, 94, 95, 96, and 98

[Docket No. 94–106–3]

RIN O579–AA71

Importation of Animals and Animal

Products; Public Hearings

AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health

Inspection Service, USDA.

ACTION: Notice of public hearings.

SUMMARY: We are advising the public

that the Animal and Plant Health

Inspection Service is hosting three

additional public hearings on the

proposed rule on the importation of

animals and animal products that was

published in the Federal Register on

April 18, 1996. One hearing has already

been held in Riverdale, MD. The

hearings will provide an additional

opportunity for the public to comment

on the proposal, which would establish

criteria for foreign ‘‘regions’’ based on

risk class levels. The criteria would be

used to establish importation

requirements for particular animals and

animal products from different regions

outside the United States.

DATES: The public hearings will be held

in Atlanta, GA, on June 17 and, if there

are more registered speakers than can be

heard in one day, on June 18; in Kansas

City, MO, on June 26 and, if there are

more registered speakers than can be

heard in one day, on June 27; and in

Denver, CO, on July 1, and, if there are

more registered speakers than can be

heard in one day, on July 2. Each public

hearing will begin at 9 a.m. and is

scheduled to end at 5 p.m each day.

ADDRESSES: The public hearings will be

held at the following locations:

1. Atlanta, GA: Peachtree Summit

Federal Center, Conference Rooms A

and B, 401 W. Peachtree Street, N.E.,

Atlanta, GA. Picture identification is

required. A pay parking garage is

adjacent to the building.

2. Kansas City, MO: Richard Boling

Federal Building, Room 111, 601 East

12th Street, Kansas City, MO. Enter

from 12th or 13th Street. Picture

identification is required. Pay parking

is available across the street from the

building.

3. Denver, CO: Denver Federal Center,

Building 25, Lecture Halls A and B,

6th and Kipling, Denver, CO. Enter

through door E2. Picture

identification is required. Pay parking

is available on the east side of the

building.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr.

Gary Colgrove, Chief Staff Veterinarian,

National Center for Import and Export,

VS, APHIS, 4700 River Road Unit 38,

Riverdale, MD 20737–1231, (301) 734–

8590.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

Three additional public hearings will

be held on the proposed rule on the

importation of animals and animal

products, published by the Animal and

Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS)

in the Federal Register on April 18,

1996 (61 FR 16977–17105, Docket No.

94–106–1). One hearing has already

been held in Riverdale, MD. The

additional public hearings will be held

in Atlanta, GA, on June 17 and, if there

are more registered speakers than can be

heard in one day, on June 18; in Kansas

City, MO on June 26 and, if there are

more registered speakers than can be

heard in one day, on June 27; and in

Denver, CO on July 1, and, if there are

more registered speakers than can be

heard in one day, on July 2.

A representative of APHIS will

preside at the public hearings. Any

interested party may appear and be

heard in person, or through an attorney

or other representative. We are

interested in obtaining the views of the

public on all aspects of the proposed

rule. Each hearing will begin with a

brief informational presentation

explaining the background, content and

organization of the proposed rule.

Persons who wish to speak at the

hearings will be asked to provide their

names and affiliations. Parties wishing

to make oral presentations may register

in advance by either: (1) Calling the

Regulatory Analysis and Development

voice mail at (301) 734–4346 and

leaving a message stating their name,

telephone number, and organization, the

location of the hearing at which they

wish to speak, and the approximate time

necessary for their presentation; or (2)

providing the above information by

electronic mail to

dkaczmarski@aphis.usda.gov. Parties

responding by e-mail may wish to use

the electronic response registration form

available at the APHIS Regionalization

Proposal Web Page. A list of persons

registered to speak at each hearing will

also be posted to the Web page shortly

before the hearing. The Web page URL

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

region. Registration will also be held for

each hearing at that hearing site

between 8 a.m. and 8:45 a.m on the day

of the hearing. Speakers will be

scheduled in the order their registration

is received. Advance registrations for

the hearings must be transmitted to

APHIS no later than the following:

1. Atlanta, GA: 5 p.m., d.s.t., June 12,

1996;

2. Kansas City, MO: 5 p.m., d.s.t., June

21, 1996; and

3. Denver, CO: 5 p.m., d.s.t., June 29,

1996.

The hearings will begin at 9 a.m. of

the first day of each hearing. The

session on the second day of each

hearing will be held only if speakers

who have registered for the first day

have not yet had a chance to speak. The

hearings are scheduled to end at 5 p.m.

each day that they are held, but may

conclude at any time if all persons

desiring to speak have been heard. The

hearing officer may limit the time for

each presentation so that all interested

persons have an opportunity to

participate. Attendees who wish to

speak but who did not register will be

provided time to speak only after all

registered speakers have been heard.

We ask that anyone who reads a

written statement provide two copies to

the presiding officer at the hearing. A

transcript will be made of the public

hearings and the transcript will be

placed in the rulemaking record and

will be available for public inspection.

The purpose of the public hearings is

to give all interested parties an

opportunity to present data, views, and

information to the Department

concerning this proposed rule.

Questions about the content of the

proposal may be part of a commenter’s

oral presentation. However, neither the

presiding officer nor any other

representative of the Department will

respond to the comments at the
26850 Federal Register / Vol. 61, No. 104 / Wednesday, May 29, 1996 / Proposed Rules

hearings, except to clarify or explain the

proposed rule.

Done in Washington, DC, this 22nd day of

May 1996.

Donald Husnik,

Acting Administrator, Animal and Plant

Health Inspection Service.

[FR Doc. 96–13407 Filed 5–28–96; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3410–34–P

Animal and Plant Health Inspection

Service

9 CFR Part 94

[Docket No. 96–025–1]

Change in Disease Status of Spain

Because of African Swine Fever

AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health

Inspection Service, USDA.

ACTION: Proposed rule.

SUMMARY: We are proposing to declare

Spain free of African swine fever.

Declaring Spain free of African swine

fever appears to be appropriate because

there have been no confirmed outbreaks

of African swine fever in Spain since

September 1994. This proposed rule

would relieve restrictions on the

importation of pork and pork products

into the United States from Spain.

However, because Spain shares common

land borders with countries affected by

certain swine diseases and because

Spain, as a member state of the

European Union, has certain trade

practices that are less restrictive than

are acceptable to the United States, the

importation into the United States of

pork and pork products from Spain

would continue to be subject to certain

restrictions.

DATES: Consideration will be given only

to comments received on or before July

29, 1996.

ADDRESSES: Please send an original and

three copies of your comments to

Docket No. 96–025–1, 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. 96–025–1. 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) 734–8688; 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 into the United States of

various animal diseases, including

rinderpest, foot-and-mouth disease,

bovine spongiform encephalopathy,

swine vesicular disease, hog cholera,

and African swine fever (ASF). These

are dangerous and destructive

communicable diseases of ruminants

and swine.

Section 94.8 of the regulations

provides that ASF exists or is

reasonably believed to exist in all the

countries of Africa, Brazil, Cuba, Haiti,

Italy, Malta, Portugal, and Spain. We

will consider declaring a country to be

free of ASF if there have been no

reported cases of the disease in that

country for at least the previous 1-year

period. The last case of ASF in Spain

occurred in September 1994. The

Government of Spain has requested that

the U.S. Department of Agriculture

(USDA) recognize Spain to be free of

ASF.

The Animal and Plant Health

Inspection Service (APHIS) has

reviewed the documentation submitted

by the Government of Spain in support

of its request. A team of APHIS officials

traveled to Spain in July 1994 to

conduct an on-site evaluation of Spain’s

animal health program with regard to

African horse sickness. The evaluation

consisted of a review of Spain’s

veterinary services, laboratory and

diagnostic procedures, vaccination

practices, and administration of laws

and regulations intended to prevent the

introduction of communicable animal

diseases into Spain. We believe that the

July 1994 on site evaluation was

sufficient to provide APHIS with a

complete picture of Spain’s animal

health program with regard to ASF, as

well. Therefore, we have used the

findings of the July 1994 on-site

evaluation as part of the basis for this

proposed rule. (Details concerning the

July 1994 on-site evaluation are

available upon written request from the

person listed under FOR FURTHER

INFORMATION CONTACT.)

Based on the information discussed

above, we are proposing to amend § 94.8

of the regulations by removing Spain

from the list of countries where ASF

exists or is reasonably believed to exist.

This action would relieve certain

restrictions on the importation of pork

and pork products into the United

States from Spain, including restrictions

on the importation of live swine and

fresh pork and pork products. This

action would also eliminate

requirements on the curing time for

Spanish hams and other pork products

offered for importation into the United

States from Spain.

However, the importation of pork and

pork products into the United States

from Spain would continue to be subject

to certain restrictions because Spain

appears in the list of countries in § 94.11

that have been declared free of

rinderpest and foot-and-mouth disease

(FMD), but from which the importation

of pork and pork products is restricted,

and Spain appears in the list of

countries in § 94.13 that have been

declared free of swine vesicular disease

(SVD), but from which the importation

of pork and pork products is restricted.

The countries listed in §§ 94.11 and

94.13 are subject to these restrictions

because they: (1) Supplement their

national pork supply by importing fresh,

chilled, or frozen pork from countries

where rinderpest, FMD, or SVD,

respectively, is considered to exist; (2)

have a common border with countries

where rinderpest, FMD, or SVD,

respectively, is considered to exist; or

(3) have certain trade practices that are

less restrictive than are acceptable to the

United States. Spain shares common

land borders with France, a country

affected by SVD, and Portugal, a country

affected by rinderpest, FMD, and SVD.

Additionally, as a member state of the

European Union (EU), Spain trades

without restrictions with other member

states of the EU that are affected by

rinderpest, FMD, and/or SVD. These

trade practices could allow live swine,

pork, or pork products produced in

Spain to be commingled with live

swine, pork, or pork products from a

country affected by rinderpest, FMD,

and/or SVD, resulting in an undue risk

of the introduction of these diseases into

the United States. As such, pork and

pork products, as well as any ship’s

stores, airplane meals, and baggage

containing such pork, offered for

importation into the United States from

Spain would be subject to the

restrictions specified in §§ 94.11 and

94.13 of the regulations and to the

applicable requirements contained in

the regulations of the USDA’s Food

Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) at

9 CFR chapter III. Sections 94.11 and

94.13 generally require that pork and

pork products be: (1) Prepared in an