Dairy Association Says APHIS Outbreak Framework Would Facilitate Safe Trade
The zoning modifications in the recent Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service-Canadian Food Inspection Agency draft operational plan for highly contagious foreign animal disease outbreaks would facilitate continued trade between non-infected areas of the U.S. and Canada during an outbreak, said the National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF) in July 14 comments on the draft framework. APHIS published the draft in May (see 14051223). The framework requires both countries to establish and recognize quarantined “areas of control,” while allowing trade between non-infected zones.
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The U.S. and Mexico could also re-impose restrictions if the disease is found in the zones initially determined to be non-infected, according to the framework. The association also encouraged the Department of Agriculture to use the framework as a paradigm for additional programs elsewhere. Similar frameworks should be used in “other countries that are important export markets for the U.S. dairy industry,” said the comments. “In addition to Canada, the top export markets for U.S. dairy products are Mexico, China, Philippines, Indonesia, South Korea, and Japan representing approximately 60 percent of the total value of exported dairy products.”