Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service

We are amending the regulations to allow, under specified conditions, the importation of embryos from all ruminants, including cervids, camelids, and all species of cattle, and from swine from countries where rinderpest or foot-and-mouth disease exists. The regulations currently provide for importing only embryos from certain species of cattle in countries where rinderpest or foot-and-mouth disease exists. Research now indicates that embryos from all species of cattle, from ruminants other than cattle, and from swine, which are produced, collected, and handled under certain conditions in countries where rinderpest or foot-and-mouth disease exists, can be imported with virtually no risk of introducing communicable diseases of livestock into the United States. This action will make additional sources of genetic material available to domestic animal breeders.