importation of sliced and prepackaged dry-cured pork products 5 pages the animal and plant health inspection service aphis is proposing to allow dry-cured pork products that have been sliced and packaged prior to shipment to the united states to be imported into the united states under specified conditions. under us regulations certain animal products including whole hams pork shoulders and pork loins from countries where foot-and-mouth disease rinderpest african swine fever hog cholera or swine vesicular disease exist may be imported into the united states only under certain conditions. to be eligible for importation these products must have been dry-cured and otherwise handled in accordance with procedures specified in the regulations. however under our current regulations these same products are not eligible for importation if they have been sliced and packaged prior to shipment. we have prohibited importation of sliced and packaged dry-cured hams pork shoulders and pork loins because it is difficult to verify the origin of the meat and how it has been processed. without this information we cannot easily determine whether the meat has been treated and otherwise handled in a manner that ensures it is free of disease agents. the italian ministry of health has petitioned us to allow presliced and prepackaged dry-cured pork to be imported into the united states from countries where foot-and-mouth disease rinderpest swine vesicular disease african swine fever and hog cholera exist if the meat would except for its having been sliced and packaged meet all current requirements for importation. the italian ministry proposed various inspection recordkeeping and labelling requirements that would allow verification of the meats origin treatment and handling. we have carefully considered this petition and concluded that prescliced and prepackaged dry-cured pork can be imported into the united states without undue risk under conditions explained in the full text of the proposed rule document. we are therefore proposing to amend our regulations to allow such importations