APHIS Proposes Rule to Modify Regulations on BSE Minimal Risk Regions (C urrently only Canada )

(In a final rule published on January 4, 2005, APHIS amended the regulations regarding the importation of animals and animal products to establish a category of regions that present a minimal risk of introducing BSE into the U.S. via live ruminants and ruminant products and byproducts, and added Canada to this category. APHIS also established conditions for the importation of certain live ruminants and ruminant products and byproducts from such regions. See ITT's Online Archives or 01/05/05 and 01/06/05 news, 05010535 and 05010620, for Parts I and II of BP summary of the January 2005 final rule on bovines, etc. from minimal risk regions.

On March 14, 2006, APHIS published a technical amendment that clarified its intent with regard to certain provisions in the January 2005 final rule and corrected several inconsistencies within the rule. See ITT's Online Archives or 03/21/06 news, 06032120, for BP summary of the technical amendment to APHIS' final rule.)

Highlights of APHIS' Proposed Changes to the BSE Regulations

The following are highlights of the proposed amendments to APHIS' BSE regulations at 9 CFR Parts 93, 94, and 95 (partial list):

APHIS would allow individual identification instead of only eartags, etc. Instead of requiring that live bovines imported into the U.S. from a BSE minimal-risk region must be individually identified by means of an official eartag of the country of origin, and instead of requiring that sheep and goats imported into the U.S. from Canada must be individually identified by an official Canadian Food Inspection Agency eartag, APHIS is proposing to provide instead in 9 CFR 93.419(c) and 93.436(a)(3) and (b)(4) that the animals must be officially identified with individual identification before the animals' arrival at the port of entry into the U.S.

APHIS also proposes: (1) to require that the health certificate record the required official identification (instead of the eartag), and (2) to amend the definition of "officially identified" to mean "individually identified by means of an official identification device or method."

APHIS would allow gelatin derived from hides of bovines to be imported into U.S. Because there appears to be no scientific reason to prohibit the importation of certain gelatin from BSE minimal-risk regions, APHIS proposes to amend 9 CFR 94.19(f) to add that gelatin derived from the hides of bovines that have been in any region listed in Sec. 94.18(a)(3) may be imported into the U.S. In order to help ensure that such gelatin is not contaminated with the BSE agent, it is also proposing as a condition for such importation that the gelatin was not commingled with materials ineligible for entry into the U.S. APHIS notes that it would also apply the non-commingling requirement to gelatin derived from bones from bovines from BSE minimal-risk regions.

APHIS would eliminate inconsistencies in nonruminant material regulations. APHIS is proposing to amend certain parts of 9 CFR 95.4 in order to eliminate the inconsistency with other provisions of its January 2005 final rule. Among other things, APHIS notes that requiring nonruminant materials to be processed in separate facilities from ruminant materials is inconsistent with other provisions of its final rule; therefore, it is proposing to amend its regulations in 9 CFR 95.4 to eliminate these inconsistencies.

(See APHIS' proposed rule for complete details of the proposed amendments and additions to 9 CFR Parts 93, 94 and 95.)

- APHIS will consider all comments that it receives on or before October 10, 2006.

APHIS Proposed Rule (D/N APHIS-2006-0026, FR Pub 08/09/06) available athttp://a257.g.akamaitech.net/7/257/2422/01jan20061800/edocket.access.gpo.gov/2006/pdf/E6-12944.pdf