AGRICULTURAL TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.

SEC. 361. AGRICULTURAL TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENTS. (a) Federal Seed Act.— Section 302(e)(1) of the Federal Seed Act (7 U.S.C. 1582(e)(1)) is amended by inserting “or Mexico” after “Canada”. (b) Importation of Animals.— The first sentence of section 6 of the Act of August 30, 1890 (26 Stat. 416, chapter 839; 21 U.S.C. 104), is amended by striking “: Provided,” and all that follows through the period at the end of the sentence and inserting “, except that the Secretary of Agriculture, in accordance with such regulations as the Secretary may issue, may (1) permit the importation of cattle, sheep, or other ruminants, and swine, from Canada or Mexico, and (2) permit the importation from the British Virgin Islands into the Virgin Islands of the United States, for slaughter only, of cattle that have been infested with or exposed to ticks on being freed from the ticks.”. (c) Inspection of Animals.— Section 10 of the Act of August 30, 1890 (26 Stat. 417, chapter 839; 21 U.S.C. 105), is amended— (1) by inserting above “Sec. 10.” the following new section heading: 107 STAT. 2123 “SEC. 10. INSPECTION OF ANIMALS.”; (2) by striking “Sec. 10. That the Secretary of Agriculture shall” and inserting “(a) In General.—Except as provided in subsection (b), the Secretary of Agriculture shall”; and (3) by adding at the end the following new subsection: “(b) Exception.— The Secretary of Agriculture, in accordance with such regulations as the Secretary may issue, may waive any provision of subsection (a) in the case of shipments between the United States and Canada or Mexico.”. (d) Disease-Free Countries or Regions.— (1) Tariff act of 1930.— Section 306 of the Tariff Act of 1930 (19 U.S.C. 1306) is amended— (A) in subsection (a), by striking “Rinderpest and Foot-and-Mouth Disease.—If the Secretary of Agriculture” and inserting “In General.—Except as provided in subsection (b), if the Secretary of Agriculture”; and (B) by striking subsection (b) and inserting the following new subsection: “(b) Exception.— The Secretary of Agriculture may permit, subject to such terms and conditions as the Secretary determines appropriate, the importation of cattle, sheep, other ruminants, or swine (including embryos of the animals), or the fresh, chilled, or frozen meat of the animals, from a region if the Secretary determines that the region from which the animal or meat originated is, and is likely to remain, free from rinderpest and foot-and-mouth disease.”. (2) Honeybee act.— The first section of the Act of August 31, 1922 (commonly known as the “Honeybee Act”) (42 Stat. 833, chapter 301; 7 U.S.C. 281), is amended— (A) in subsection (a)— (i) by striking “, or” at the end of paragraph (1) and inserting a semicolon; (ii) by striking the period at the end of paragraph (2) and inserting “; or”; and (iii) by adding at the end the following new paragraph: “(3) from Canada or Mexico, subject to such terms and conditions as the Secretary of Agriculture determines appropriate, if the Secretary determines that the region of Canada or Mexico from which the honeybees originated is, and is likely to remain, free of diseases or parasites harmful to honeybees, and undesirable species or subspecies of honeybees.”; and (B) in subsection (b)— (i) by inserting “(1)” after “imported into the United States only from”; and (ii) by inserting before the period the following: “, or (2) Canada or Mexico, if the Secretary of Agriculture determines that the region of Canada or Mexico from which the imports originate is, and is likely to remain, free of undesirable species or subspecies of honeybees”. (e) Poultry Products Inspection Act.— Section 17(d) of the Poultry Products Inspection Act (21 U.S.C. 466(d)) is amended— (1) in paragraph (1), by inserting after “Notwithstanding any other provision of law,” the following: “except as provided in paragraph (2),”; 107 STAT. 2124 (2) by redesignating paragraphs (2) and (3) as paragraphs (3) and (4), respectively; and (3) by inserting after paragraph (1) the following new paragraph: “(2) (A) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, all poultry, or parts or products of poultry, capable of use as human food offered for importation into the United States from Canada and Mexico shall— “(i) comply with paragraph (1); or “(ii) (I) be subject to inspection, sanitary, quality, species verification, and residue standards that are equivalent to United States standards; and “(II) have been processed in facilities and under conditions that meet standards that are equivalent to United States standards. “(B) The Secretary may treat as equivalent to a United States standard a standard of Canada or Mexico described in subparagraph (A)(ii) if the exporting country provides the Secretary with scientific evidence or other information, in accordance with risk assessment methodologies agreed to by the Secretary and the exporting country, to demonstrate that the standard of the exporting country achieves the level of protection that the Secretary considers appropriate. “(C) The Secretary may— “(i) determine, on a scientific basis, that the standard of the exporting country does not achieve the level of protection that the Secretary considers appropriate; and “(ii) provide the basis for the determination in writing to the exporting country on request.”. (f) Federal Meat Inspection Act.— Section 20(e) of the Federal Meat Inspection Act (21 U.S.C. 620(e)) is amended— (1) by striking “not be limited to—” and inserting “not be limited to the following:”; (2) by striking paragraph (1); (3) by redesignating paragraphs (2) through (6) as paragraphs (3) through (7), respectively; (4) by inserting after “not be limited to the following:” (as amended by paragraph (1)) the following new paragraphs: “(1) (A) Subject to subparagraphs (B) and (C), a certification by the Secretary that foreign plants in Canada and Mexico that export carcasses or meat or meat products referred to in subsection (a) have complied with paragraph (2) or with requirements that are equivalent to United States requirements with regard to all inspection and building construction standards, and all other provisions of this Act and regulations issued under this Act. “(B) Subject to subparagraph (C), the Secretary may treat as equivalent to a United States requirement a requirement described in subparagraph (A) if the exporting country provides the Secretary with scientific evidence or other information, in accordance with risk assessment methodologies agreed to by the Secretary and the exporting country, to demonstrate that the requirement or standard of the exporting country achieves the level of protection that the Secretary considers appropriate. “(C) The Secretary may— 107 STAT. 2125 “(i) determine, on a scientific basis, that a requirement of an exporting country does not achieve the level of protection that the Secretary considers appropriate; and “(ii) provide the basis for the determination to the exporting country in writing on request. “(2) A certification by the Secretary that, except as provided in paragraph (1), foreign plants that export carcasses or meat or meat products referred to in subsection (a) have complied with requirements that are at least equal to all inspection and building construction standards and all other provisions of this Act and regulations issued under this Act.”; (5) in paragraphs (3) through (7) (as redesignated by paragraph (3)), by striking “the” the first place it appears in each paragraph and inserting “The”; (6) in paragraphs (3) through (5) (as so redesignated), by striking the semicolon at the end of each paragraph and inserting a period; and (7) in paragraph (6) (as so redesignated), by striking “; and” at the end and inserting a period. (g) Peanut Butter and Peanut Paste.— (1) In general.— Except as provided in paragraph (2), all peanut butter and peanut paste in the United States domestic market shall be processed from peanuts that meet the quality standards established for peanuts under Marketing Agreement No. 146. (2) Imports.— Peanut butter and peanut paste imported into the United States shall comply with paragraph (1) or with sanitary measures that achieve at least the same level of sanitary protection. (h) Animal Health Biocontainment Facility.— (1) Grant for construction.— The Secretary of Agriculture shall make a grant to a land grant college or university described in paragraph (2) for the construction of a facility at the college or university for the conduct of research in animal health, disease-transmitting insects, and toxic chemicals that requires the use of biocontainment facilities and equipment. The facility to be constructed with the grant shall be known as the “Southwest Regional Animal Health Biocontainment Facility”. (2) Grant recipient described.— To be eligible for the grant under paragraph (1), a land grant college or university must be— (A) located in a State adjacent to the international border with Mexico; and (B) determined by the Secretary of Agriculture to have an established program in animal health research and education and to have a collaborative relationship with one or more colleges of veterinary medicine or universities located in Mexico. (3) Activities of the facility.— The facility constructed using the grant made under paragraph (1) shall be used for conducting the following activities: (A) The biocontainment facility shall offer the ability to organize multidisciplinary international teams working on basic and applied research on diagnostic method development and disease control strategies, including development of vaccines. 107 STAT. 2126 (B) The biocontainment facility shall support research that will improve the scientific basis for regulatory activities, decreasing the need for new regulatory programs and enhancing international trade. (C) The biocontainment facility shall allow academic institutions, governmental agencies, and the private sector to conduct research in basic and applied research biology, epidemiology, pathogenesis, host response, and diagnostic methods, on disease agents that threaten the livestock industries of the United States and Mexico. (D) The biocontainment facility may be used to support research involving food safety, toxicology, environmental pollutants, radioisotopes, recombinant microorganisms, and selected naturally resistant or transgenic animals. (4) Authorization of appropriations.— There are authorized to be appropriated for each fiscal year such sums as are necessary to carry out this subsection. (i) Reports on Inspection of Imported Meat, Poultry, Other Foods, Animals, and Plants.— (1) Definitions.— As used in this subsection: (A) Imports.— The term “imports” means any meat, poultry, other food, animal, or plant that is imported into the United States in commercially significant quantities. (B) Secretary.— The term “Secretary” means the Secretary of Agriculture. (2) In general.— In consultation with representatives of other appropriate agencies, the Secretary shall prepare an annual report on the impact of the Agreement on the inspection of imports. (3) Contents of reports.— The report required under this subsection shall, to the maximum extent practicable, include a description of— (A) the quantity or, with respect to the Customs Service, the number of shipments, of imports from a NAFTA country that are inspected at the borders of the United States with Canada and Mexico during the prior year; (B) any change in the level or types of inspections of imports in each NAFTA country during the prior year; (C) in any case in which the Secretary has determined that the inspection system of another NAFTA country is equivalent to the inspection system of the United States, the reasons supporting the determination of the Secretary; (D) the incidence of violations of inspection requirements by imports from NAFTA countries during the prior year— (i) at the borders of the United States with Mexico or Canada; or (ii) at the last point of inspection in a NAFTA country prior to shipment to the United States if the agency accepts inspection in that country; (E) the incidence of violations of inspection requirements of imports to the United States from Mexico or Canada prior to the implementation of the Agreement; (F) any additional cost associated with maintaining an adequate inspection system of imports as a result of the implementation of the Agreement; (G) any incidence of transshipment of imports— 107 STAT. 2127 (i) that originate in a country other than a NAFTA country; (ii) that are shipped to the United States through a NAFTA country during the prior year; and (iii) that are incorrectly represented by the importer to qualify for preferential treatment under the Agreement; (H) the quantity and results of any monitoring by the United States of equivalent inspection systems of imports in other NAFTA countries during the prior year; (I) the use by other NAFTA countries of sanitary and phytosanitary measures (as defined in the Agreement) to limit exports of United States meat, poultry, other foods, animals, and plants to the countries during the prior year; and (J) any other information the Secretary determines to be appropriate. (4) Frequency of reports.— The Secretary shall submit— (A) the initial report required under this subsection not later than January 31, 1995; and (B) an annual report required under this subsection not later than 1 year after the date of the submission of the initial report and the end of each 1-year period thereafter through calendar year 2004. (5) Report to congress.— The Secretary shall prepare and submit the report required under this subsection to the Committee on Agriculture of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry of the Senate.