Horse Protection Amendments; Postponement of Regulations

Document Headings Document headings vary by document type but may contain the following: the agency or agencies that issued and signed a document the number of the CFR title and the number of each part the document amends, proposes to amend, or is directly related to the agency docket number / agency internal file number the RIN which identifies each regulatory action listed in the Unified Agenda of Federal Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions See the Document Drafting Handbook for more details. Department of Agriculture Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service 9 CFR Part 11 [Docket No. APHIS-2022-0004] RIN 0579-AE70 AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, USDA. ACTION: Final rule; postponement of regulations. SUMMARY: On May 8, 2024, we published a final rule amending the horse protection regulations to provide, among other provisions, that the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service will screen, train, and authorize qualified persons for appointment by the management of any horse show, horse exhibition, or horse sale or auction to detect and diagnose soring at such events for the purposes of enforcing the Horse Protection Act. With the exception of § 11.19, which went into effect on June 7, 2024, the remainder of the rule was scheduled to go into effect on February 1, 2025. In this document, we are issuing a temporary postponement of the effective date of those regulations for 60 days, from February 1, 2025 to April 2, 2025. DATES: The effective date of 9 CFR 11.1 through 11.18 , published at 89 FR 39194-39251 , May 8, 2024, is delayed until April 2, 2025. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Sarah Helming, Deputy Administrator, Animal Care, 4700 River Road, Riverdale, MD 20737-1234; (970) 494-7478; sarah.j.helming@usda.gov . SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On May 8, 2024, we published a final rule ( 89 FR 39194-39251 ) (“the rule”) amending the horse protection regulations to provide, among other provisions, that the Animal and …