Original Notice.

     Preproposal statement of inquiry was filed as WSR 02-01-118.

     Title of Rule: Chapter 16-89 WAC, Sheep and goat scrapie disease control.

     Purpose: United States Department of Agriculture, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Services, recently (August 21, 2001) adopted as final rule amendments to 9 C.F.R. Parts 54 and 79, "Scrapie in Sheep and Goats, Interstate Movement Restrictions and Indemnity Program." In order for Washington state to maintain its status as a compliant state the state scrapie rule, chapter 16-89 WAC, Sheep and goat scrapie disease control, must be amended by January 1, 2003, to remain in compliance with the federal rules.

     Statutory Authority for Adoption: Chapter 16.36 RCW.

     Statute Being Implemented: RCW 16.36.010, [16.36.]020, [16.36.]040, [16.36.]050, [16.36.]090, [16.36.]096 and [16.36.]100.

     Summary: Washington's sheep identification rule originally targeted blackfaced sheep breeds only. New federal rules target all sheep and goats and in order to remain a compliant state we need to have state rules conform to federal rules by January 1, 2003. The federal rules are adopted by reference as the basic standards for scrapie control and eradication program.

     Reasons Supporting Proposal: Sheep and goats not identified as per federal rules will not be allowed to move interstate or participate in shows or fairs that are considered interstate in nature after January 1, 2003, from noncompliant states. In order to protect Washington's sheep and goat industries from the restrictions, we need to have our rules conform by that date.

     Name of Agency Personnel Responsible for Drafting, Implementation and Enforcement: Robert W. Mead, DVM, 1111 Washington Street, Olympia, WA 98504-2577, (360) 902-1881.

     Name of Proponent: Washington State Department of Agriculture, governmental.

     Agency Comments or Recommendations, if any, as to Statutory Language, Implementation, Enforcement, and Fiscal Matters: Scrapie control has been preempted by federal regulations.

     Rule is necessary because of federal law, 9 C.F.R. Parts 54 and 79.

     Explanation of Rule, its Purpose, and Anticipated Effects: Washington's sheep identification rule originally targeted blackfaced sheep breeds only. New federal rules target all sheep and goats. In order to remain a compliant state, we need to have state rules conform to federal rules by January 1, 2003. Sheep and goats not identified as per federal rules will not be allowed to move interstate or participate in shows or fairs that are considered interstate in nature after January 1, 2003, from noncompliant states. In order to protect Washington's sheep and goat industries from such restrictions, we need to have our rules conform by that date.

     Proposal Changes the Following Existing Rules: Changes will cover all sheep and goats instead of the original blackfaced sheep breeds only. The purpose section of the WAC is changed to conform with federal rules. Clarifies the definition of blackfaced sheep in more detail. Repeals the section on identification of blackfaced breeding stock and adds two new sections on identification on sheep and goats and record keeping. Also modernizes the language and makes technical corrections in terminology.

     No small business economic impact statement has been prepared under chapter 19.85 RCW. The overall impact of these changes is fiscally neutral or positive. The regulatory burden on small agricultural businesses stays the same or is being reduced slightly because USDA-APHIS is offering the identification tags for free.

     Section 201, chapter 403, Laws of 1995, does not apply to this rule adoption. Washington State Department of Agriculture is not a listed agency in section 201.

     Hearing Location: Natural Resources Building, 1st Floor, Cafeteria Conference Room, 1111 Washington Street, Olympia, WA 98504, on November 5, 2002, at 2:00 p.m.

     Assistance for Persons with Disabilities: Contact Laurie Crose by November 4, 2002, TDD (360) 902-1996.

     Submit Written Comments to: Dr. Robert W. Mead, State Veterinarian, P.O. Box 42577, Olympia, WA 98504-2577, fax (360) 902-2087, by November 4, 2002.

     Date of Intended Adoption: December 3, 2002.

September 25, 2002

Kathy Kravit-Smith

Assistant Director

OTS-5940.1

AMENDATORY SECTION(Amending WSR 99-09-026, filed 4/15/99, effective 5/16/99)

WAC 16-89-005   Purpose.   (1) Scrapie is an insidious, fatal neurological disease of sheep and goats. The disease agent has not been definitively characterized. The incubation period is very long, usually over eighteen months. There is no treatment, and the disease is always fatal. Currently there is no live animal diagnostic test for the presence of the disease. Diagnosis is made by observation of characteristic signs in the live animal and is confirmed by post-mortem examination of brain tissue.

     (2) The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) ((Voluntary)) Scrapie Flock Certification Program (SFCP) is designed to monitor flocks and certify the scrapie status of the animals that are enrolled in the program. Any sheep or goat owner may apply to the USDA Veterinary Services area office in Olympia, Washington to participate in this program. It requires individual animal identification, keeping of good records, the reporting of acquisitions and deaths of animals to the USDA, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) veterinary representative and annual inspections by the APHIS veterinary representative. At the end of five years, if all criteria have been met, the flock may be certified as being free of scrapie, as long as the flock remains on the USDA Voluntary Scrapie Flock Certification Program.

     (3) The Washington state scrapie program requires that every ((blackface or blackface crossbred breeding)) sheep ((which is one year or older)) or goat unless otherwise exempted be identified with a ((Washington)) state or federal flock identification number and an individual identification upon change of ownership, possession, intrastate or interstate transport. Animals over eighteen months of age as evidenced by eruption of the second incisor in slaughter channels must be identified such that the animal may be traced to its flock of birth. Ewes that have lambed or are pregnant in slaughter channels must be so identified regardless of age. Ninety seven percent of all diagnosed scrapie cases in the United States have occurred in blackfaced breeds or crosses although whitefaced individuals can occasionally be susceptible. ((Blackface or blackface crossbred breeding stock of any age must be identified before transfer of ownership or possession.)) A few records need to be maintained((,)) to meet federal regulations. No reports to the state of deaths or new acquisitions are required under the Washington state program. The program is strictly a control and eradication program and does not lead to flock certification.

     Enrollment in the USDA ((Voluntary)) Scrapie Flock Certification Program will fulfill the requirements of the Washington state program.

[Statutory Authority: RCW 16.36.040. 99-09-026, § 16-89-005, filed 4/15/99, effective 5/16/99.]

     (1) "Director" means the director of agriculture of the state of Washington or his or her duly authorized representative.

     (2) "Department" means the Washington state department of agriculture.

     (3) "Blackface ((breeding stock)) sheep" means ((intact male or female sheep of blackface breeds and intact male or female sheep that are crosses of blackface and other breeds of)) any purebred Suffolk, Hampshire, Shropshire purebred sheep of unknown ancestry with a black face, except for hair sheep.

     (4) "Flock" means a number of animals of sheep or goat species which are kept, fed and herded together having single or multiple ownership. The term "flock" shall be interchangeable with the term "herd" and shall apply to purebred and commercial sheep.

     (5) "Washington flock identification number" means a unique flock identification number assigned to the owner or owners of each flock of blackface breeding sheep in the state of Washington.

     (6) "Official individual identification" means the unique identification of individual animals with an alphanumeric number applied as a tamper proof tag, tattoo, electronic device, or other tag approved by USDA or the director. The Washington flock identification number can serve as the official individual identification number if it contains a unique individual animal number in addition to the flock number.

     (7) "Scrapie" means a transmissible spongiform encephalopathy that is a nonfebrile, transmissible, insidious, degenerative disease affecting the central nervous system of sheep and goats.

     (8) "Scrapie exposed animal" means any animal, which has been in the same flock at the same time within the previous sixty months as a scrapie positive animal excluding limited contacts. Limited contacts are contacts between animals that occur off the premises of the flock and do not occur during or up to sixty days after parturition for any of the animals involved. Limited contacts do not include commingling or transportation to other flocks for the purposes of breeding. Examples of limited contacts include incidental contact in the show/sales ring. (See Appendix III of USDA's Voluntary Scrapie Flock Certification Program.)

     (9) "Scrapie high risk animal" means an animal determined by epidemiologic investigation to be a high risk for developing clinical scrapie because the animal was the progeny of a scrapie-positive dam, was born in the same contemporary lambing group as a scrapie-positive animal or was born in the same contemporary lambing group as progeny of a scrapie-positive dam. Based upon evidence from the latest research information available and upon recommendation of the state scrapie certification board, animals that fit the criteria for high risk animals may be exempted by the director as high risk animals if they are determined by genetic testing to be QR or RR at the 171 codon or are determined by other recognized testing procedures to pose no risk.

     (10) "Scrapie infected flock" means any flock in which a scrapie-positive animal has been identified by a state or federal animal health official.

     (11) "Scrapie positive animal" means an animal for which a diagnosis of scrapie has been made by the National Veterinary Services Laboratories, USDA, laboratories accredited by the American Association of Veterinary Laboratory Diagnosticians (AAVLD) or another laboratory authorized by state or federal officials to conduct scrapie tests through histological examinations of central nervous system or by other diagnostic procedures approved for scrapie diagnosis by USDA. Animals diagnosed by experimental tests for abnormal prion will not be considered infected animals for the purposes of this rule.

     (12) "Scrapie source flock" means a flock in which an animal was born and subsequently diagnosed as scrapie-positive at less than fifty-four months of age.

     (13) "((Voluntary)) Scrapie Flock Certification Program" means a national voluntary program for classification of flocks relative to scrapie.

[Statutory Authority: RCW 16.36.040. 99-09-026, § 16-89-010, filed 4/15/99, effective 5/16/99.]

[Statutory Authority: RCW 16.36.040. 99-09-026, § 16-89-015, filed 4/15/99, effective 5/16/99.]

     (a) Commercial goats in intrastate commerce that have not been in contact with sheep as there has been no case of scrapie in a commercial goat in the past ten years that originated in the state of Washington or attributed to exposure to infected sheep and there are no exposed commercial goat herds in the state of Washington.

     (b) Commercial whitefaced sheep or commercial hair sheep under eighteen months of age in intrastate commerce as there has been no case of scrapie in this exempted class that originated in the state of Washington in the last ten years and there are no exposed commercial whitefaced or hair sheep flocks in the state that have been exposed by a female animal.

     (2) The exemptions granted in subsection (1)(a) and (b) of this section will be void after ninety days if the conditions in subsection (1)(a) and (b) of this section no longer exist.

[]

     (1) If the person assigned the numbers is a flock owner, so that the assigned numbers are directly linked to the flock of origin in the nation scrapie data base, record the following information on a document:

     (a) The premises identification number or serial numbers;

     (b) The number of animals so identified;

     (c) The date the animals were identified;

     (d) For animals born after January 1, 2002, that were not identified to the previous flock of origin, the individual identification number applied and the name, street address, including the city and state, or the township, county, and state, and the telephone number, if the telephone number is available, of the flock of birth if known.

     (2) If the person assigned the numbers is a veterinarian, extension agent, auction market operator, dealer, or any person other than the owner of the flock of origin, record the following information on a document:

     (a) All serial numbers applied to a sheep or goat;

     (b) Any other serial numbers and approved identification appearing on the sheep or goat;

     (c) The street address, including the city and state, or the township, county and state, of the premises where the approved means of identification was applied;

     (d) The date the identification was applied;

     (e) The name, street address, including the city and state, or the township, county, and state, and the telephone number if the telephone number is available, of the owner of the flock of origin and, if different, the person who owns or possesses the sheep or goat;

     (f) For animals born after January 1, 2002, that were not born in the flock of origin and that are not identified to the previous flock of origin, the individual identification number applied and the name, street address, including the city and state, or the township, county, and state, and the telephone number if the telephone number is available, of the flock of birth if known; and

     (g) The serial numbers, the manufacturer, and the type and color of all official tags received. Usually maintaining the tag invoice will meet this requirement.

     (3) Maintain these records for five years; and

     (4) Make these records available for inspection and copying during ordinary business hours (8:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., Monday through Friday) or any regular shift upon request by any authorized employee of the United States Department of Agriculture or the state, and presentation of his or her official credentials.

[]

[Statutory Authority: RCW 16.36.040. 99-09-026, § 16-89-030, filed 4/15/99, effective 5/16/99.]

     The scrapie positive animal must:

     (1) Be identified with a Washington state flock identification number on a tamper proof tag; or an official federal eartag, electronic device, ear tattoo, or flank tattoo which is correlated to the Washington state or federal flock identification number on flock records; or

     (2) Be identified by genetic testing; or

     (3) Possess the original registry eartag or individual identification ear tag along with the movement, production, and registry records indicating birth in the source flock; or

     (4) Be traced to the flock by a veterinary epidemiologist through a thorough epidemiological investigation of records and all other available evidence.

[Statutory Authority: RCW 16.36.040. 99-09-026, § 16-89-050, filed 4/15/99, effective 5/16/99.]

     (2) Indemnity payments will be paid only to an owner of sheep or goats that were born in the state of Washington or were imported into the state in compliance with existing Washington state statutes and rules. Payment of indemnity does not apply to animals belonging to the federal government or any of its agencies, this state or any of its agencies, or any municipal corporation. Indemnity may not be paid on animals eligible for federal indemnity payments.

     (3) The amount of indemnity to be paid for each animal will be determined by the state veterinarian and will not exceed seventy-five percent of the appraised value of the animal up to the following maximum amounts:

     (a) Ewes or does one year of age or older - three hundred dollars per head.

     (b) Rams or ((billies)) bucks one year of age or older -six hundred dollars per head.

     (c) Lambs or kids under one year of age - one hundred twenty-five dollars per head.

     (4) In addition to the indemnity payments authorized in subsection (3) of this section, owners who voluntarily destroy rams found to be genetically prone to scrapie will be paid up to twenty-five dollars of the laboratory diagnostic fee.

[Statutory Authority: RCW 16.36.040. 99-09-026, § 16-89-100, filed 4/15/99, effective 5/16/99.]

     The following section of the Washington Administrative Code is repealed:

WAC 16-89-020

Identification of blackface breeding stock.

© Washington State Code Reviser's Office