On Dec. 7, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) passed the final rule on the Commercial Transportation of Equines to Slaughter. The rule was published in the Dec. 7 issue of the Federal Register, and the 31-page document detailing revisions to the earlier proposed rule can be viewed at https://www.access.gpo.gov/su_docs/fedreg/a011207c.html. The effective date of the final rule will be Feb. 2, 2002.

Approval of the rule marked the conclusion of several years of work by officials who labored over the wording of the regulations, considering the abundance of public comments. The regulations fulfill APHIS’s responsibility under the 1996 Farm Bill to regulate the commercial transportation of equines for slaughter by individuals regularly engaged in that activity within the United States. The final rule establishes minimum standards to ensure that horses are transported humanely when being transported to slaughter facilities. The final rule covers food, water, and rest, among other things. Under the rule, the shipper or owner of the transportation will be responsible for overseeing that certain requirements are met during loading and transportation. Additionally, the regulations prohibit commercial transportation of certain horses that are unfit for travel, the use of electric prods (except in severe, human life-threatening situations), and after five years will prohibit the use of double-deck trailers for commercial transportation of horses to slaughter facilities.

To create the rule, APHIS established a working group that included participants from the USDA, including representatives from the Food Safety Inspection Service and the Agricultural Marketing Service. According to the document, APHIS also attended two meetings regarding the statute that were hosted by humane organizations and attended by representatives of the equine, auction, slaughter, and trucking industries and the research and veterinary communities.

"At these meetings, we had an opportunity to listen to diverse opinions. We have relied on the proposed rule and public comment period to obtain comments from all interested persons," said the authors of the document