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The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), Animal and Plant Health Inspectorate Service (APHIS) are amending their regulations concerning the importation of animals and animal products to recognize a region in the European Union as a region in which hog cholera (classical swine fever) is not known to exist, and from which breeding swine, swine semen, and pork and pork products may be imported into the United States under certain conditions, in the absence of restrictions associated with other foreign animal diseases of swine.

Additionally, APHIS are recognizing Greece and four Regions in Italy as free of swine vesicular disease.

These actions are based on a request from the European Commission’s (EC’s) Directorate General for Agriculture and on our analysis of the supporting documentation supplied by the EC and individual Member States.

These actions will relieve some restrictions on the importation into the United States of certain animals and animal products from those regions.

However, because of the status of those regions with respect to other diseases, and, in some cases, because of other factors that could otherwise result in a risk of introducing animal diseases into the United States, the importation of animals and animal products into the United States from those regions will continue to be subject to certain restrictions.

Effective Date: April 7, 2003.

For further information contact :
Dr. Gary Colgrove, Director, Sanitary Trade Issues Team,
VS, APHIS,
4700 River Road Unit 38,
Riverdale,
MD 20737– 1231;
(301) 734–4356.

The full risk analysis and economic analysis associated with this rule may be obtained electronically at http://www.aphis.usda.gov/vs/ncie/regrequest.html, or by contacting the person listed under this heading.

To read the full version of this report (PDF document - 21 pages) - Click Here

Source: Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service - 7th April 2003