Notice of Availability of Assessment of the Newcastle Disease Status of the Cantons of Neuchâtel and Ticino of Switzerland
| Published date | 26 October 2020 |
| Citation | 85 FR 67705 |
| Record Number | 2020-23664 |
| Section | Notices |
| Court | Animal And Plant Health Inspection Service |
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contains documents other than rules or
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Notices Federal Register
67705
Vol. 85, No. 207
Monday, October 26, 2020
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Animal and Plant Health Inspection
Service
[Docket No. APHIS–2020–0033]
Notice of Availability of Assessment of
the Newcastle Disease Status of the
Cantons of Neucha
ˆtel and Ticino of
Switzerland
AGENCY
: Animal and Plant Health
Inspection Service, USDA.
ACTION
: Notice.
SUMMARY
: We are advising the public of
our intention to reinstate the animal
health status of the Cantons of
Neucha
ˆtel and Ticino in Switzerland as
free of Newcastle disease. This
recognition is based on an assessment
we have prepared in connection with
this action, which we are making
available for review and comment.
DATES
: We will consider all comments
that we receive on or before December
28, 2020.
ADDRESSES
: You may submit comments
by either of the following methods:
•Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to
http://www.regulations.gov/
#!docketDetail;D=APHIS-2020-0033.
•Postal Mail/Commercial Delivery:
Send your comment to Docket No.
APHIS–2020–0033, Regulatory Analysis
and Development, PPD, APHIS, Station
3A–03.8, 4700 River Road unit 118,
Riverdale, MD 20737–1238.
Supporting documents and any
comments we receive on this docket
may be viewed at http://
www.regulations.gov/
#docketDetail;D=APHIS-2020-0033 or in
our reading room, which is located in
room 1620 of the USDA South Building,
14th Street and Independence Avenue
SW, Washington, DC. Normal reading
room hours are 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.,
Monday through Friday, except
holidays. To be sure someone is there to
help you, please call (202) 799–7039
before coming.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT
: Dr.
Rebecca Gordon, Import Risk Analyst,
Regionalization Evaluation Services,
Strategy & Policy, Veterinary Services,
APHIS, USDA, 920 Main Campus Drive,
Suite 200, Raleigh, NC 27606;
AskRegionalization@usda.gov; (919)
855–7741.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION
: The
regulations in 9 CFR part 94 govern the
importation of animal products into the
United States in order to ensure that the
products do not introduce or spread
diseases or pests of livestock. Section
94.6 contains regulations governing the
importation of carcasses, meat, parts or
products of carcasses, and eggs (other
than hatching eggs) of poultry, game
birds, or other birds from areas in which
Newcastle disease (ND) is known to
exist. The section provides that the
Animal and Plant Health Inspection
Service (APHIS) will maintain a list on
the internet of regions in which ND is
not known to exist. It further provides
that, should a region be removed from
the list due to an outbreak, APHIS will
reinstate the region to the list in
accordance with the procedures in 9
CFR 92.4.
Section 92.4 provides that after
removing disease-free status from all or
part of a region, APHIS may reassess the
disease situation in that region to
determine whether it is necessary to
continue import prohibitions or
restrictions. When reassessing the
region’s disease status, APHIS considers
the standards of the World Organization
for Animal Health for reinstatement of
disease-free status, as well as all
relevant information obtained through
publicly available means or collected by
or submitted to APHIS through other
means. Prior to removing import
prohibitions or restrictions, APHIS
makes the information regarding its
assessment of the region’s disease status
available to the public for comment
through a notice published in the
Federal Register.
APHIS previously issued an import
alert on November 22, 2017, notifying
trade partners that the Canton of Ticino,
in Switzerland, which had previously
been considered to be a region in which
ND is not known to exist, was now
affected with ND. APHIS had previously
determined that the Canton of
Neucha
ˆtel was affected with ND in
2011. In accordance with the regulations
in § 94.6, concurrent to these
determinations, APHIS placed
restrictions on the importation of
poultry products for commodities from
the two cantons.
APHIS completed a Report for
Reassessment of Cantons Neucha
ˆtel and
Ticino in Switzerland as Free of
Newcastle Disease in January 2020. This
document presents the results of APHIS’
reassessment of the ND status of the
Cantons of Neucha
ˆtel and Ticino. As a
result of this reassessment, APHIS
concludes that Switzerland has
effectively controlled and eradicated ND
in its domestic poultry population in
the Cantons of Neucha
ˆtel and Ticino
and that competent veterinary
authorities of the cantons have adequate
disease control measures in place to
rapidly identify, control, and eradicate
the disease should it be reintroduced
into Switzerland. Based on the results of
the reassessment, APHIS recommends
reinstating the Cantons Neucha
ˆtel and
Ticino onto the list of regions in which
ND is not known to exist.
The report may be viewed on the
Regulations.gov website or in our
reading room. (Instructions for accessing
Regulations.gov and information on the
location and hours of the reading room
are provided under the heading
ADDRESSES
at the beginning of this
notice). The document is also available
by contacting the person listed under
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT
.
Information submitted in support of this
notice is also available by contacting the
person listed under
FOR FURTHER
INFORMATION CONTACT
.
After reviewing any comments we
receive, we will announce our decision
regarding the disease status of the
Cantons of Neucha
ˆtel and Ticino with
respect to ND in a subsequent notice.
Authority: 7 U.S.C. 1622 and 8301–8317;
21 U.S.C. 136 and 136a; 31 U.S.C. 9701; 7
CFR 2.22, 2.80, and 371.4.
Done in Washington, DC, this 21st day of
October 2020.
Michael Watson,
Acting Administrator, Animal and Plant
Health Inspection Service.
[FR Doc. 2020–23664 Filed 10–23–20; 8:45 am]
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