§93.324. Detention for quarantine. — Inbound Citations

(a) Except as provided in this section and in § 93.324, horses intended for importation into the United States from any part of the world shall be shipped directly to a port designated in §§ 93.303 and 92.324 and be quarantined at said port until negative results to port of entry tests are obtained and the horses are certified by the port veterinarian to be free from clinical evidence of disease.

(1) Except as provided in §§ 93.317 (horses from Canada) and 93.324 (horses from Mexico), horses intended for importation from regions that APHIS considers to be affected with Venezuelan equine encephalomyelitis shall be quarantined at a port designated in § 93.303 to be evaluated for signs of Venezuelan equine encephalomyelitis. Each horse must be accompanied at the time of importation by an import permit in accordance with § 93.304.

(i) A list of regions that APHIS considers affected with Venezuelan equine encephalomyelitis is maintained on the APHIS website at www.aphis.usda.gov/aphis/ourfocus/animalhealth/animal-and-animal-product-import-information/animal-health-status-of-regions. Copies of the list can be obtained via postal mail or email upon request to Regionalization Evaluation Services, Strategy and Policy, Veterinary Services, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, 4700 River Road Unit 38, Riverdale, Maryland 20737; [email protected].

(ii) APHIS will add a region to the list upon determining that the disease exists in the region based on reports APHIS receives of outbreaks of the disease from veterinary officials of the exporting country, from the World Organization for Animal Health (WOAH), or from other sources the Administrator determines to be reliable. APHIS will remove a region from the list after conducting an evaluation of the region in accordance with § 92.2 of this subchapter and finding that the disease is not present in the region. In the case of a region formerly not on this list that is added due to an outbreak, the region may be removed from the list in accordance with the procedures for reestablishment of a region's disease-free status in § 92.4 of this subchapter.

(2) Horses intended for importation from regions APHIS considers to be affected with African horse sickness may enter the United States only at the port of New York, and must be quarantined at the New York Animal Import Center in Newburgh, New York, for at least 60 days. This restriction also applies to horses that have stopped in or transited a region considered affected with African horse sickness. Each horse must be accompanied at the time of importation by an import permit in accordance with § 93.304.

(i) A list of regions that APHIS considers affected with African horse sickness is maintained on the APHIS website at https://www.aphis.usda.gov/animalhealth/disease-status-of-regions. Copies of the list can be obtained via postal mail or email upon request to Regionalization Evaluation Services, Strategy and Policy, Veterinary Services, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, 4700 River Road, Unit 38, Riverdale, Maryland 20737; [email protected].

(ii) APHIS will add a region to the list upon determining that the disease exists in the region based on reports APHIS receives of outbreaks of the disease from veterinary officials of the exporting country, from the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE), or from other sources the Administrator determines to be reliable. APHIS will remove a region from the list after conducting an evaluation of the region in accordance with § 92.2 of this subchapter and finding that the disease is not present in the region. In the case of a region formerly not on this list that is added due to an outbreak, the region may be removed from the list in accordance with the procedures for reestablishment of a region's disease-free status in § 92.4 of this subchapter.

(3) Horses from regions where APHIS considers screwworm to exist may be imported into the United States only if they meet the requirements in paragraphs (a)(3)(i) through (vii) of this section, obtain an import permit in accordance with § 93.304, and meet all other applicable requirements of this part. A list of regions where screwworm is considered to exist is maintained on the APHIS website at www.aphis.usda.gov/animalhealth/disease-status-of-regions. Copies of the list will also be available via postal mail, fax, or email upon request to the Regionalization Evaluation Services, Strategy and Policy, Veterinary Services, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, 4700 River Road Unit 38, Riverdale, MD 20737; [email protected]. APHIS will add a region to the list upon determining that screwworm exists in the region based on reports APHIS receives of detections of the pest from veterinary officials of the exporting country, from WOAH, or from other sources the Administrator determines to be reliable. APHIS will remove a region from the list after conducting an evaluation of the region in accordance with § 92.2 of this subchapter and finding that screwworm is not present in the region. In the case of a region formerly not on this list that is added due to a detection, the region may be removed from the list in accordance with the procedures for reestablishment of a region's disease-free status in § 92.4 of this subchapter.

(i) A veterinarian must treat horses with ivermectin 3 to 5 days prior to the date of export to the United States according to the recommended dose prescribed on the product's label.

(ii) Horses must be examined for screwworm by a full-time salaried veterinary official of the exporting country within 24 hours prior to shipment to the United States. The official must fully examine the horses, including their external genitalia. If horses are found to be infested with screwworm, they must be treated until free from infestation.

(iii) At the time horses are loaded onto a means of conveyance for export, a veterinarian must treat any visible wounds on the animals with a solution of coumaphos dust at a concentration of 5 percent active ingredient.

(iv) Horses must be accompanied to the United States by a certificate signed by a full-time salaried veterinary official of the exporting country. The certificate must state that the horses, including their external genitalia, have been thoroughly examined and found free of screwworm and that the horses have been treated in accordance with paragraphs (a)(3)(i) and (iii) of this section.

(v) Horses must be quarantined upon arrival in the United States at a port designated in § 93.303 for at least 7 days.

(vi) Horses must be examined for screwworm by a veterinarian within 24 hours after arrival at a port designated in § 93.303. The examining veterinarian must examine horses, including their external genitalia, to determine whether the horse is infested with screwworm.

(vii) Horses must be held at the animal import center for a minimum of 7 days. On day 7, prior to the horses' release, the horses must be examined by a veterinarian at the expense of the owner or broker. For this examination, male horses must be tranquilized or sedated so that the external genitalia of the horses can be thoroughly examined. If screwworm is found during this examination, the horses must be held in quarantine and treated until free of infestation.

(4) To qualify for release from quarantine, all horses, except horses from Iceland, must test negative to official tests for dourine, glanders, equine piroplasmosis, and equine infectious anemia. 1 However, horses imported from Australia and New Zealand are exempt from testing for dourine and glanders. In addition, all horses must undergo any other tests, inspections, disinfections, and precautionary treatments that may be required by the Administrator to determine their freedom from communicable diseases.

(5) Any quarantine period required for a horse shall be counted using the first day after arrival of the horse at the quarantine facility as the first day of quarantine and may be extended for such additional period as the Administrator may require to determine its freedom from disease. Any horse which is positive to any of the port of entry tests named in this paragraph or any other test required by the Administrator, or which is found by the port veterinarian to exhibit evidence of communicable disease during quarantine shall be refused entry into the United States and removed by the importer to a country other than the United States within 10 days of the date that the importer is notified by APHIS that such horse has been refused entry into the United States. Upon request, the Administrator may grant additional time for the removal of a horse from the United States in any case in which he or she determines that delay is unavoidable due to unforeseen circumstances and the additional time for removal of the horse will not present a threat of the spread of communicable disease to other animals in the United States. At the option of the importer, such horse may be disposed of in accordance with such conditions as the Administrator believes necessary to prevent the dissemination of communicable disease into the United States. The importer shall be responsible for all costs of such removal or disposal.

(a) All horses offered for entry from Mexico, including such horses intended for movement through the United States in bond for immediate return to Mexico, shall be inspected at a facility described in § 93.324, and all such horses found to be free from communicable disease and fever tick infestation, and not to have been exposed thereto, shall be admitted into the United States subject to the other applicable provisions of this part. Horses found to be affected with or to have been exposed to a communicable disease, or infested with fever ticks, shall be refused entry. Horses refused entry, unless exported within a time fixed in each case by the Administrator, shall be disposed of as said Administrator may direct.

Horses offered for entry from Mexico shall be inspected as provided in §§ 93.306 and 93.323; shall be accompanied by a certificate and otherwise handled as provided in § 93.314; and shall be quarantined and tested as provided in § 93.324: Provided, That horses offered for importation from tick-infected areas of Mexico shall be chute inspected, unless in the judgment of the inspector a satisfactory inspection can be made otherwise. If upon inspection they are found to be apparently free from fever ticks, before entering the United States they shall be dipped once in a permitted arsenical solution or be otherwise treated in a manner approved by the Administrator.

Horses may be imported from Mexico, subject to the applicable provisions of §§ 93.321, 93.322, and 93.323 for immediate slaughter if accompanied by a certificate of a salaried veterinarian of the Mexican Government, or by a certificate issued by a veterinarian accredited by the Mexican Government and endorsed by a salaried veterinarian of the Mexican Government, thereby representing that the veterinarian issuing the certificate was authorized to do so, stating that he or she has inspected such horses on the premises of origin and found them free of evidence of communicable disease, and that, so far as it has been possible to determine, they have not been exposed to any such disease common to animals of their kind during the preceding 60 days, and if the horses are shipped by rail or truck, the certificate shall further specify that the horses were loaded into cleaned and disinfected cars or trucks for transportation directly to the port of entry. Such horses shall be consigned from a facility described in § 93.324 to a recognized slaughtering establishment and there slaughtered within 2 weeks from the date of entry. Such horses shall be moved from the port of entry in conveyances sealed with seals of the United States Government.