65FR37268 Pork and Pork Products from Mexico Transiting the United States
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Posting-number: Volume 65, Issue 115, Page 37268
[Federal Register: June 14, 2000 (Volume 65, Number 115)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Page 37268-37270]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr14jn00-2]
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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service
9 CFR Part 94
[Docket No. 98-095-3]
Pork and Pork Products from Mexico Transiting the United States
AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, USDA.
ACTION: Final rule.
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SUMMARY: We are amending the regulations for the importation of animal
products to allow fresh (chilled or frozen) pork and pork products from
the Mexican States of Baja California Sur, Campeche, Coahuila, Nuevo
Leon, Quintana Roo, and Sinaloa to transit the United States, under
certain conditions, for export to another country. We are taking this
action because there has been no outbreak of hog cholera in any of
these States since 1993, and we are confident that fresh (chilled or
frozen) pork and pork products from each of the above States could
transit the United States under seal with a negligible risk of
introducing hog cholera.
EFFECTIVE DATE: July 14, 2000.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. Michael David, Senior Staff
Veterinarian, Animals Program, National Center for Import and Export,
VS, APHIS, 4700 River Road Unit 39, Riverdale, MD 20737; (301) 734-
8364.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
The regulations in 9 CFR part 94 (referred to below as the
regulations) prohibit or restrict the importation of certain animals
and animal products into the United States to prevent the introduction
of certain animal diseases. Section 94.9 of the regulations prohibits
the importation of pork and pork products into the United States from
countries where hog cholera exists, unless the pork or pork products
have been treated in one of several ways, all of which involve heating
or curing and drying.
Because hog cholera exists in certain areas in Mexico, pork and
pork products from most Mexican States must meet the requirements of
Sec. 94.9 to be imported into the United States. Section 94.20 provides
an exception, allowing the importation of fresh (chilled or frozen)
pork and pork products from the Mexican States of Sonora and Yucatan.
Under Sec. 94.15, pork and pork products that are from certain
Mexican States and that are not eligible for entry
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into the United States in accordance with the regulations in Sec. 94.9
or Sec. 94.20 may transit the United States for immediate export if
certain conditions are met. These provisions were added to the
regulations in 1992, following a United States Department of
Agriculture investigation of the hog cholera situation in Sonora,
Mexico, and a determination that pork and pork products from Sonora
could transit the United States, under certain conditions, with minimal
risk of introducing hog cholera. Final rules published in the Federal
Register in 1995, 1996, and 1997 extended the provisions to Chihuahua,
Yucatan, and Baja California, respectively.
On July 19, 1999, we published in the Federal Register (64 FR
38599-38603, Docket No. 98-095-1) a proposed rule to allow fresh
(chilled or frozen) pork and pork products from the Mexican States of
Baja California Sur, Campeche, Coahuila, Nuevo Leon, Quintana Roo,
Sinaloa, and Tamaulipas to transit the United States, under these same
conditions, for export to another country. We then published another
document in the Federal Register on September 15, 1999 (64 FR 50014-
50015, Docket No. 98-095-2), that amended our proposal to clarify that
the transit of pork be allowed via land border ports only. We extended
the comment period on our original proposal to allow the public enough
time to comment on the amendment as it related to the proposed rule. We
received three comments on the proposed rule, all of which generally
supported the rule. One of the commenters requested a change in the
list of States, and one raised another issue. Their concerns are
addressed below.
Comment: The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS)
should remove the Mexican State of Tamaulipas from the list of States
eligible to transit pork through the United States due to an outbreak
of hog cholera in Tamaulipas in August of 1999.
Response: Mexico confirmed that an outbreak of hog cholera occurred
in Tamaulipas in August of 1999 and has taken efforts to control and
eradicate it in that State. Because of the outbreak, we are not
including Tamaulipas in this final rule.
Comment: APHIS should describe how it plans to monitor for
compliance with the pork transit regulations.
Response: We intend to monitor compliance with the transit
restrictions for shipments of pork from Baja California Sur, Campeche,
Coahuila, Nuevo Leon, Quintana Roo, and Sinaloa in the same manner we
have monitored transiting shipments of pork from Baja California,
Chihuahua, Sonora, and Yucatan in the past. When pork transiting the
United States for export to another country arrives at the U.S.-Mexico
border, APHIS inspectors check to make sure that the seal number on the
container holding the pork and the seal number on the health
certificate accompanying the shipment of pork match. If the original
seal on the container has been broken, a second seal must be in place,
and the reason(s) for breaking the original seal must be explained in
detail on the certificate accompanying the pork. If the original seal
is broken and a second seal and/or proper documentation do not
accompany the pork, the container is refused entry into the United
States. APHIS also conducts spot checks at the port of export in the
United States to ensure that the seals remain intact during their
movement through the United States.
Comment: APHIS should develop a procedure to allow additions to the
list of Mexican States without having to go through rulemaking each
time. This would speed up the response time to requests by Mexico to
relieve restrictions.
Response: We make every effort to respond promptly to requests made
by foreign governments to relieve restrictions; however, APHIS must do
so in accordance with applicable laws and executive orders, including
the Administrative Procedure Act (5 U.S.C. 551 et seq.) and Executive
Order 12866, among others.
Changes to the Proposed Rule
We stated in the preamble to our proposed rule that pork from
Mexico that is eligible to transit the United States under Sec. 94.15
must be processed and packaged in Tipo Inspeccion Federal (TIF) plants
approved by the Mexican Government. TIF plants are subject to strict
Federal supervision to ensure that international health standards are
maintained. Our proposed rule did not include this requirement as a
condition of transit. However, we believe it is important and are,
therefore, adding it to Sec. 94.15(b)(2) in this final rule.
Also, Sec. 94.15 has required that the pork be moved in transit in
leakproof containers sealed with serially numbered seals approved by
APHIS. We are changing that requirement in this final rule to reflect
that such containers must be sealed with serially numbered seals of the
Government of Mexico. We are making this change because APHIS does not
formally ``approve'' the seals used by Mexico. APHIS simply recognizes
that the Mexican seals are acceptable for the purposes of this rule.
Therefore, for the reasons given in the proposed rule and in this
document, we are adopting the proposed rule as a final rule, with the
changes discussed in this document.
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 the purposes of Executive
Order 12866 and, therefore, has not been reviewed by the Office of
Management and Budget.
In accordance with 5 U.S.C. 604, we have performed a final
regulatory flexibility analysis, which is set out below, regarding the
economic effects of this rule on small entities.
This rule will allow fresh (chilled or frozen) pork and pork
products from the Mexican States of Baja California Sur, Campeche,
Coahuila, Nuevo Leon, Quintana Roo, and Sinaloa to transit the United
States, under certain conditions, for export to another country. There
appears to be little risk of hog cholera exposure from shipments of
pork and pork products from these States transiting the United States.
Assuming that proper risk management techniques continue to be applied
in Mexico, and that accident and exposure risk are minimized by proper
handling during transport, the risk of exposure to hog cholera from
pork in transit from Mexico through the United States will be
negligible.
This rule will have no direct effect on U.S. producers and
consumers of pork because Mexican pork will only transit the United
States and will not enter U.S. marketing channels. Neither the quantity
or price of pork traded in U.S. domestic markets, nor U.S. consumer or
producer surplus will be affected by this rule. Therefore, this rule
will have no economic effects on small entities, except as discussed
below.
Effects on Small Transport Firms
This rule could directly affect U.S. trucking companies in the
border states of Texas and California. These companies may benefit from
transporting an estimated 5,000 to 6,000 metric tons annually of
Mexican pork and pork products from U.S. land border ports to U.S.
maritime ports. Additional annual revenues generated by this rule would
range from $2,000 to $3,000 for California transport firms (based on an
additional 5 to 7 trips annually), and from $10,000 to $57,000 for
Texas transport firms (based on an additional 15 to 18 trips annually).
The
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majority (98 percent) of trucking firms in Texas and California meet
the Small Business Administration's definition of a small firm (less
than $18.5 million in receipts annually). However, based on the limited
number of trips and negligible amount of revenue generated by these
trips, it is safe to conclude that this rule will not have a
significant economic impact on a substantial number of small trucking
firms.
Effects on U.S. Pork Exporters
The extent to which this rule will affect U.S. pork exporters is
unclear, but, based on historical data on Mexican pork exports, it
appears that the overall effect of the rule will be to increase the
quantity of Mexican pork destined for the Japanese frozen pork market.
According to Japanese import statistics, Japan imported 382,000 metric
tons of frozen swine cuts valued at roughly $1.9 billion in 1997.
Denmark, Taiwan, and the United States were the top three suppliers,
but Mexico and Canada, who are relative newcomers to the Japanese
frozen pork market, have gained market share in recent years. As
discussed above, we estimate that an additional 5,000 to 6,000 metric
tons of frozen pork from Mexico would transit the United States for
Japan annually after the effective date of this rule. This is roughly
1.4 percent of the total quantity imported by Japan in 1997.
During the period 1996 through 1997, Mexican frozen pork exports to
Japan increased from 12,953 metric tons (valued at $76 million) to
24,408 metric tons (valued at $122 million). During the same period,
U.S. frozen pork exports to Japan decreased from 64,500 metric tons
valued at $360 million to 48,000 metric tons valued at $244 million.
Analysts cite price advantage and the willingness of Mexican packers to
tailor pork cuts to Japanese specifications as key reasons for Mexico's
increased market share in 1997.
Since this rule simply allows pork from additional Mexican States
to transit the United States for immediate export, it is unclear
whether this rule will result in increased volumes of Mexican exports
to foreign regions (e.g., Japan), although it will likely result in
increased volumes of pork transiting the United States. It is possible
that the volume of Mexico's total pork exports will remain constant,
though the volume of pork in transit through the United States will
increase. This scenario will likely have a minimal economic effect on
U.S. pork exporters, whether small or large. However, since we are
unable to determine whether this rule will result in increased volumes
of Mexican pork exports, we cannot determine the effect of this rule on
U.S. pork exporters, whether small or large.
Trade Relations
This rule removes some restrictions on the importation of pork and
pork products from Mexico and attempts to encourage a positive trading
environment between the United States and Mexico and other regions
where hog cholera is considered to exist by stimulating economic
activity and providing export opportunities to foreign pork processing
industries.
This rule contains information collection requirements that have
been approved by the Office of Management and Budget (see ``Paperwork
Reduction Act,'' below).
Executive Order 12988
This final rule has been reviewed under Executive Order 12988,
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
In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C.
3501 et seq.), the information collection or recordkeeping requirements
included in this rule have been approved by the Office of Management
and Budget (OMB) under OMB control number 0579-0145.
List of Subjects in 9 CFR Part 94
Animal diseases, Imports, Livestock, Meat and meat products, Milk,
Poultry and poultry products, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements.
Accordingly, we are amending 9 CFR part 94 as follows:
PART 94--RINDERPEST, FOOT-AND-MOUTH 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 continues 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).
2. In Sec. 94.15, paragraph (b) introductory text and paragraph
(b)(2) are revised to read as follows:
Sec. 94.15 Animal products and materials; movement and handling.
* * * * *
(b) Pork and pork products from Baja California, Baja California
Sur, Campeche, Chihuahua, Coahuila, Nuevo Leon, Quintana Roo, Sinaloa,
Sonora, and Yucatan, Mexico, that are not eligible for entry into the
United States in accordance with this part may transit the United
States via land border ports for immediate export if the following
conditions are met:
* * * * *
(2) The pork or pork products are packaged at a Tipo Inspeccion
Federal plant in Baja California, Baja California Sur, Campeche,
Chihuahua, Coahuila, Nuevo Leon, Quintana Roo, Sinaloa, Sonora, or
Yucatan, Mexico, in leakproof containers and sealed with serially
numbered seals of the Government of Mexico, and the containers remain
sealed during the entire time they are in transit across Mexico and the
United States.
* * * * *
Done in Washington, DC, this 9th day of June 2000.
Bobby R. Acord,
Acting Administrator, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
[FR Doc. 00-15012 Filed 6-13-00; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3140-34-P