Last month, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) proposed reissuing a rule to require that breeder/dealers, research facilities, intermediate handlers, carriers, and other animal enterprises subject to USDA licensing establish emergency/contingency planning in the event of a natural or manmade disaster or other business disruption.
Under the proposed rule, regulated entities must:
- Create emergency contingency plans within 180 days after the effective date the rule becomes final.
- Provide contingency training to their personnel within 60 days after the contingency plan is put in place.
Facilities, dealers, exhibitors, intermediate handlers, and carriers are not required to document their personnel’s participation in trainings. APHIS has also drafted optional forms that regulated entities may use to develop and document their contingency plan.
As previously reported, the American Kennel Club (AKC) supports the rule, and has submitted a formal comment expressing support to USDA APHIS, which may be viewed here.
For more information on this or other pending federal regulations, contact AKC GR at doglaw@akc.org, or go to AKC’s online Regulatory Resource Center at www.akcgr.org/regcenter.