Approval
(vi) Approval or denial. Based on this documentation provided under this paragraph (a)(1), as well as any other information the Service and the Official State Agency determine to be necessary, the Service and the Official State Agency will approve or deny the classification of the compartment as U.S. H5/H7 Avian Influenza and ND Clean. (2) Company activities for maintenance of the compartment. (i) The primary breeder company's management of biosecurity, surveillance, and disease control efforts must be uniform and equivalent among all components that are a part of the compartment. Oversight and inspection of these management practices must be conducted by the company's licensed, accredited veterinarians. (ii) Veterinary staff from the Official State Agency and NPIP staff will work in partnership with licensed, accredited veterinarians to train and certify auditors through Service-approved workshops. The trained auditors will conduct biosecurity and operational audits at least once every 2 years to ensure the integrity of the compartment. These audits will include evaluation of the critical control points and standard operating practices within the compartment, verification of the health status of the flock(s) contained within the compartment, and examination of the biosecurity and management system of the integrated components of the compartment. (iii) In addition, the company must demonstrate compliance with paragraph (a)(1) of this section for remaining in the U.S. H5/H7 Avian Influenza and ND Clean classifications, surveillance for H5/H7 AI and ND within the compartment, and conducting tests in State or Federal laboratories or in NPIP authorized laboratories. Accredited veterinarians are responsible for the enforcement of active and passive surveillance of H5/H7 AI and ND in primary breeder flocks. Baseline health status must be maintained for all flocks or subpopulations within the compartment, indicating the dates and negative results of all avian influenza and ND surveillance and monitoring testing, the dates and history of last disease occurrence (if any), the number of outbreaks, and the methods of disease control that were applied. (iv) Documentation will be maintained in the company's database and will be verified as required by the Service and/or the Official State Agency. (3) Service and Official State Agency activities for maintenance of the compartment. The Service will work in cooperation with the Official State Agencies to ensure the continued integrity of any recognized compartments. Activities will include: (i) Oversight of the establishment and management of compartments; (ii) Establishment of effective partnerships between the Service, the Plan, and the primary breeder industry; (iii) Approval or denial of classification of compartments as U.S. H5/H7 Avian Influenza and ND Clean Compartments under paragraph (a)(1) of this section; (iv) Official certification of the health status of the compartment, and commodities that may be traded from it through participation in the Plan for avian diseases, including the U.S. H5/H7 Avian Influenza Clean program as described in 145.43(g) and ND Clean program as described in 145.43(h) and diagnostic surveillance for H5/H7 low pathogenicity AI as described in 145.15; (v) Conducting audits of compartments at least once every 2 years to: (A) Confirm that the primary breeding company's establishments are epidemiologically distinct and pathways for the introduction of disease into the compartment are closed through routine operational procedures; and (B) Evaluate and assess the management and husbandry practices relating to biosecurity to determine whether they are in compliance with hygiene and biosecurity procedures for poultry primary breeding flocks and hatcheries in accordance with part 147 of this subchapter; (vi) Providing, upon request, model plans for management and husbandry practices relating to biosecurity in accordance with part 147 of this subchapter, risk evaluations in conjunction with the primary breeder industry (including disease surveillance such as VS Form 9-4, Summary of Breeding Flock Participation), and diagnostic capability summaries and systems for initial State response and containment plans in accordance with 56.10 of this chapter; and (vii) Publicizing and sharing compartment information with international trading partners, upon request, to establish approval and recognition of the compartment, including timeliness and accuracy of disease reporting and surveillance measures as described in 145.15 and 145.43(g) and (h). (4) Emergency response and notification. In the case of a confirmed positive of H5/H7 AI and ND in the subpopulation of the compartment, the management of the compartment must notify the Service. The Service will immediately suspend the status of the compartment. A compartment will be eligible to resume trade with importing countries only after the compartment has adopted the necessary measures to reestablish the biosecurity level and confirm that H5/H7 AI and ND is not present in the compartment and the Service has reevaluated the management and biosecurity measures of the compartment and approved said compartment for trade.