Standards for Accredited Veterinarian Duties

We are allowing, under certain conditions, accredited veterinarians to issue official animal health documents up to 30 days after inspection for animals in herds or flocks under regular health maintenance programs. For all other animals, we will allow accredited veterinarians to issue official animal health documents up to 10 days following inspection. Last, we are requiring that all official animal health documents be valid for only 30 days following inspection, regardless of the date of issuance. We will continue to require that accredited veterinarians issue official animal health documents only for animals that they have inspected. These actions will extend the time period allowed between inspection and the issuance of official animal health documents. We believe these actions will both alleviate the burden placed by the current time requirement on accredited veterinarians and reduce the costs of health inspection for the livestock industry, without significantly increasing animal disease risk.