La. Admin. Code tit. 7 § XXI-1717

Current through Register Vol. 50, No. 9, September 20, 2024

Section XXI-1717 - Health Certificates and Health Requirements (Formerly§1515)

A. Prior to entering Louisiana, all alternative livestock, except those being transported directly to a state or federally approved slaughter facility, shall:

1. meet the general health requirements promulgated in §501 of this Part

2. have an entry permit number issued by the state veterinarian's office no more than 15 days before entry into Louisiana which entry number shall be included on the certificate of veterinary inspection;

3. have written proof of a negative test for Brucellosis in accordance with the Brucellosis Eradication in Cervidae Uniform Methods and Rules as and when published by the United States Department of Agriculture, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service. Until such time as the Brucellosis Eradication in Cervidae Uniform Methods and Rules are published, all alternative livestock six months of age and older entering Louisiana, except those being transported directly to a state or federally approved slaughter facility, shall be tested negative for Brucellosis within 30 days prior to entry into Louisiana, and written proof thereof shall be provided, unless the alternative livestock originate from a herd which has been officially declared a certified Brucellosis free herd by the state of origin;

4. have written proof of a negative tuberculin skin test or a serological test for tuberculosis that meets the following requirements:

a. the tuberculin skin test or serological test for tuberculosis is one of the official tuberculosis tests approved by the U.S. Department of Agriculture for use on the species of alternative livestock for which permission to enter the state is being sought;

b. the test was administered and read in accordance with the USDA requirements for the administering and reading of that test.

5. prior to any person importing any alternative livestock into Louisiana, LDWF shall be provided by the department a copy of the entry permits or other applicable documents which describe the alternative livestock by species, sex, age and place of origin.

B. Any alternative livestock which has been exposed to Brucellosis or tuberculosis shall be quarantined and tested for the diseases to which it has been exposed within 60 days of the date of the quarantine. The quarantine shall remain in effect until removed, in writing, by the State Veterinary Office.

C. Elk, black-tailed deer, mule deer, red deer, white-tailed deer, and any imported exotic deer as defined in LAC 7:XXI.1705 (collectively referred to in this Section as "deer") shall not be admitted or readmitted (collectively referred to as "admitted") into this state without specific written authorization from the commissioner or his designee.

1. Deer being transported through this state in interstate commerce shall be exempt from the provisions of this Section if there are no scheduled stops for offloading the deer or if such stops would reasonably place the deer in contact with other deer or cattle.

a. If deer being transported through this state in interstate commerce must be offloaded due to a mechanical breakdown or an emergency situation then the state veterinarian shall be immediately notified of the situation.

b. No deer shall be offloaded without authorization from the state veterinarian to offload the deer.

c. The deer shall be offloaded, confined, and quarantined in strict compliance with the instructions provided by the state veterinarian and shall be kept confined, quarantined and re-loaded under the direct supervision of the state veterinarian's representative.

2. Deer within this state that are moved or transported out of this state, even temporarily, shall not be admitted back into this state without the specific written authorization of the commissioner or his designee.

D. A person must provide the state veterinarian the following documentation or information as to each animal in order to obtain the authorization necessary for admission of the deer into this state.

1. A request stating the number and type of deer to be admitted, the origin of the deer, the destination of the deer, any stops made or anticipated to be made between the origination point and the final destination where the deer will be offloaded or held in proximity to other deer, the name and address of the requestor, the name and address of the owner of the deer and the reason for the admission of the deer.

2. A certificate of veterinary inspection issued within the preceding 30 days by an accredited veterinarian on the deer listed in the written request which includes a permit number obtained from the department's office of animal health services.

3. A statement by the owner of the deer that he will reimburse all costs incurred by the commissioner or the department for feeding, sheltering, caring, and disposing or destroying of any deer seized and quarantined by the department for violation of any conditions, quarantines, or restrictions placed on deer admitted to the state.

4. Written and signed certification, whether signed jointly or separately, by both the owner of the deer and the inspecting veterinarian of the following information:

a. the distance to the nearest confirmed case of CWD if the deer are to be admitted from any state that has reported a CWD case within the last five years;

b. whether the facility the deer are coming from is enclosed by a single fence or double fence;

c. that each deer:

i. is from a herd that has participated in a recognized CWD surveillance and monitoring program for at least 60 months;

ii. has been in the herd from which the deer is being moved for at least 60 months, or has been in the herd for its entire life if younger than 60 months of age, or was placed in the herd from a herd that had participated in a recognized CWD surveillance and monitoring program for at least 60 months prior to the removal of the deer from the second herd and placement in the first herd;

iii. comes from a herd that is not within 25 miles of a confirmed case of CWD occurring within the previous 60 months if the facility that the deer is coming from is a single fenced facility; or

iv. comes from a herd that is not within five miles of a confirmed case of CWD occurring within the previous 60 months if the facility that the deer is coming from is a double fenced facility.

5. Documentation that shows that each deer meets the health requirements set out in LAC 7:XXI.501 and 7:XXI.1717.

E. The commissioner or his designee shall have the discretion to refuse to authorize the admission of deer into this state, even if all the criteria set out in Subsection D have been met, if in his informed opinion based on advice and recommendations from accredited veterinarians on staff with the department or employed by the federal government or from reliable veterinarian research or other credible information, he believes that admission of the deer may jeopardized the health of the deer population in this state or run the risk of bring CWD into the state.

F. The commissioner or his designee may, at his discretion, impose conditions, quarantines, and restrictions on the admission of any deer into this state if he believes that such conditions, quarantines, and restrictions are necessary to protect the health of this state's deer population or to control the risk of bringing CWD into the state.

1. Deer admitted into the state subject to any condition, quarantine or restriction may be seized by the department and placed in quarantine on order of the commissioner, at the owner's expense, for any violation of any condition, quarantine or restriction.

2. The commissioner, on behalf of the board, may take any legal action necessary to obtain a court order to dispose of or destroy any such deer seized by the department.

La. Admin. Code tit. 7, § XXI-1717

Promulgated by the Department of Agriculture and Forestry, Office of the Commissioner, LR 24:282 (February 1998), amended LR 24:1675 (September 1998), amended by the Department of Agriculture and Forestry, Board of Animal Health, LR 38:961 (April 2012), amended by the Department of Agriculture and Forestry, Office of the Commissioner, LR 39:3247 (December 2013), repromulgated by the Department of Agriculture and Forestry, Office of Animal Health and Food Safety and the Board of Animal Health, LR 40:975 (May 2014), Amended LR 421866 (11/1/2016).

AUTHORITY NOTE: Promulgated in accordance with R.S. 3:3101.