USDA Proposes Updated Bovine Import Regulations to Open Trade Barriers
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA’s) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) has issued a 66-page proposed rule that would update import rules for bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE). The topic was discussed in Issue 427 of this Update.
Current U.S. trade rules prohibit beef imports from countries that have outbreaks or high risks of BSE, commonly known as mad cow disease. Under the proposal, APHIS would adopt criteria used by the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) that identify a country’s BSE risks as negligible, controlled or undetermined. Basing its import policy for a particular country on that country’s risk classification, APHIS would also conduct its own assessment, such as when a country is not yet classified by the OIE for BSE risk and requests APHIS to conduct a risk evaluation using OIE criteria. Countries would be considered an undetermined BSE risk unless officially recognized as negligible or controlled.
Calling the proposal an “important step forward” in bringing U.S. import
regulations in line with science-based, international health standards, APHIS
Deputy Administrator and Chief Veterinary Officer John Clifford noted that the
proposal will also assist the agency “in future negotiations to reopen important
trade markets that remain closed to U.S. beef.” APHIS seeks comments by May
15, 2012. See APHIS News Release, March 9, 2012; Federal Register, March 16,
2012.
