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Contact:
Joelle Hayden (301) 734-0595
Suzanne Bond (301) 734-5175
USDA Proposes to Allow Importation of Ovine Meat from Uruguay
WASHINGTON, Feb. 24, 2011 – The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) is proposing to amend regulations to allow, under certain conditions, the importation of fresh (chilled or frozen) ovine meat from Uruguay.
The proposed regulations would allow the importation of ovine meat while continuing to protect the United States from an introduction of foot-and-mouth disease, or FMD. The requirements for both ovine meat and beef would be nearly identical.
At the request of Uruguay’s Ministry of Livestock, Agriculture and Fisheries, APHIS conducted a risk assessment and a site visit. APHIS concluded that Uruguay has in place the veterinary infrastructure to detect and effectively eradicate an FMD outbreak if necessary.
Imported ovine meat would be subject to regulations that would mitigate the risk of FMD introduction, including movement restrictions, inspections, removal of potentially affected parts and a maturation process.
FMD is a highly contagious viral disease that is only rarely transmitted to humans. APHIS has a strong system in place for detecting and responding to outbreaks of foreign animal diseases and places trade restrictions on affected regions to protect against the introduction of any disease of concern.
This action is published in today’s Feb. 24 Federal Register.
Consideration will be given to comments received on or before April 25. You may submit comments by either of the following methods:
• Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to www.regulations.gov/fdmspublic/component/main?main=DocketDetail&d=APHIS-2008-0085 to submit or view comments and to view supporting and related materials available electronically.
• Postal Mail/Commercial Delivery: Please send one copy of your comment to Docket No. APHIS-2008-0085, Regulatory Analysis and Development, PPD, APHIS, Station 3A-03.8, 4700 River Road, Unit 118, Riverdale, MD 20737-1238. Please state that your comment refers to Docket No. APHIS-2008-0085.
Comments are posted on the Regulations.gov website and may also be reviewed at USDA, Room 1141, South Building, 14th St. and Independence Ave., S.W., Washington, DC, between 8 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding holidays. To facilitate entry into the comment reading room, please call (202) 690-2817.
Note to Reporters: USDA news releases, program announcements and media advisories are available on the Internet and through Really Simple Syndication (RSS) feeds. Go to the APHIS news release page at www.aphis.usda.gov/newsroom and click on the RSS feed link.
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