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Rachel Iadicicco (301) 734-3255
Angela Harless (202) 720-4623
USDA RESTRICTS SURREY COUNTY, ENGLAND FOR IMPORTS COVERED BY FOOT-AND-MOUTH DISEASE
WASHINGTON, Jan. 30, 2008--The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) is restricting Surrey County, England from imports into the United States related to the county’s incident of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD).
In August 2007, APHIS placed restrictions and prohibitions, depending on the type of product and level of processing, on the importation of products from the United Kingdom derived from FMD-susceptible species following the confirmation of the disease in Surrey County.
After evaluating the overall FMD situation in the United Kingdom, APHIS is localizing the restrictions to just Surrey County after finding that FMD is not known to exist outside of the county. Also, the United Kingdom has established movement barriers to prevent the spread of FMD from Surrey County and maintains a surveillance system capable of detecting the disease should it spread, as well as the infrastructure to eliminate any occurrence of the disease.
As a result of this interim rule, the importation of any ruminant or swine, as well as fresh (chilled or frozen) meat or animal products of any ruminant or swine from Surrey County into the United States is restricted.
APHIS recognizes that the United Kingdom immediately responded to the detection of the disease in Surrey County and ensured that it did not spread beyond its borders. Due to these efforts, APHIS will reassess the situation in accordance with the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) standards at a future date.
APHIS is taking this action to prevent FMD from entering the United States, which has not had an outbreak of the highly contagious viral disease of cloven-hoofed animals since 1929. FMD is not transmissible from animals to humans, but it does have serious implications for animal agriculture in any country where the disease is detected. APHIS has a strong system in place for detecting and responding to outbreaks of foreign animal diseases like FMD and places trade restrictions on regions where the disease is detected.
This interim rule is effective retroactively to Aug. 3, 2007, and scheduled for publication in the Jan. 30, 2008 Federal Register.
Consideration will be given to comments received on or before March 31, 2008. Send an original and two copies of postal mail or commercial delivery comments to Docket No. APHIS-2007-0124, Regulatory Analysis and Development, PPD, APHIS, Station 3A-03.8, 4700 River
Road, Unit 118, Riverdale, MD 20737-1238. Comments also can be submitted on the Federal
eRulemaking portal at http://www.regulations.gov/fdmspublic/component/main?main=
DocketDetail&d=APHIS-2007-0124. Click on “Add Comments” to view public comments and any related materials available electronically.
Comments are posted on the Reglations.gov Web site and also can be reviewed at USDA, Room 1141, South Building, 14th St. and Independence Ave., S.W., Washington, D.C., 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.
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Note to Reporters: USDA news releases, program announcements and media advisories are available on the Internet. Go to the APHIS news release page at http://www.aphis.usda.gov/newsroom. Also, anyone with an e-mail address can sign up to receive APHIS press releases automatically. Send an e-mail message to lyris@mdrdlyriss10.aphis.usda.gov and leave the subject blank. In the message, type subscribe press_releases.
