Interstate Transportation of Animals Amended

March 12, 2004 -- Effective Thursday, March 4, 2004, the regulation governing interstate transportation of animals was amended by the U.S. Department of Agriculture?s (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) to establish requirements for the collection of blood and tissues samples from livestock and poultry at slaughtering and rendering establishments when necessary for disease surveillance.

The change will mainly affect the slaughtering and rendering plants that receive animals via interstate commerce as well as the owners of herds or flocks in cases where test-positive animals are traced back to their origin.

APHIS amended the rule in an effort to improve long-term surveillance programs for animal diseases in an attempt to control or even eradicate such disease and to assist in certifying the status of the U.S. or its regions from specific animal diseases.

The Federal Register rule can be located at: Federal Register Rule.

Staff contact: Paul Rodgers, 304-647-9981

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