Importation of Pork and Pork Products From Yucatan and Sonora, Mexico

We are proposing to amend the regulations concerning the importation of animal products to relieve certain restrictions on the importation of pork and pork products from the Mexican State of Yucatan. Currently, because of the existence of hog cholera in Mexico, pork and pork products from Yucatan must be heated or cured and dried to certain specifications to be eligible for entry into the United States. This proposal would establish new conditions for the importation of fresh and processed pork and pork products from Yucatan into the United States and would also provide for the movement through areas where hog cholera may exist of pork and pork products from Yucatan in transit to the United States. We are also proposing to amend the regulations that provide for the importation of fresh pork from the Mexican State of Sonora to also allow the importation of pork products from Sonora and to modify the import conditions for Sonoran pork and pork products so that those conditions parallel the import conditions proposed for pork and pork products from Yucatan. These proposed amendments would provide for the importation of pork products from Sonora and for the in-transit movement of Sonoran pork and pork products through areas where hog cholera may exist and would make it clear that pork and pork products from Sonora must be derived from swine slaughtered at federally inspected slaughter plants.