§ 3801. Congressional findings and declaration of purpose

The Congress hereby finds and declares that—

(1) raw garbage is one of the primary media through which numerous infectious or communicable diseases of swine are transmitted;

(2) if certain exotic animal diseases, such as foot-and-mouth disease, African swine fever, hog cholera, and swine vesicular diseases, gain entrance into the United States, such diseases may be spread through the medium of raw or improperly treated garbage which is fed to swine;

(3) African swine fever, which is potentially the most dangerous and destructive of all communicable swine diseases, has been confirmed in several countries of the Western Hemisphere, including the Dominican Republic, Haiti, and Cuba;

(4) swine in the United States have no resistance to any of such exotic diseases and in the case of African swine fever there is a particular danger because there are no effective vaccines to this deadly disease;

(5) all articles and animals which are regulated under this chapter are either in interstate or foreign commerce or substantially affect such commerce, and regulation by the Secretary and cooperation by the States and other jurisdictions as contemplated by this chapter are necessary to prevent and eliminate burdens upon such commerce, to effectively regulate such commerce, and to protect the health and welfare of the people of the United States;

(6) the interstate and foreign commerce in swine and swine products and producers and consumers of pork products could be severely injured economically if any exotic animal diseases, particularly African swine fever, enter this country;

(7) it is impossible to assure that all garbage fed to swine is properly treated to kill disease organisms unless such treatment is closely regulated;

(8) therefore, in order to protect the commerce of the United States and the health and welfare of the people of this country, it is necessary to regulate the treatment of garbage to be fed to swine and the feeding thereof in accordance with the provisions of this chapter.

(Pub. L. 96–468, § 2, Oct. 17, 1980, 94 Stat. 2229.)

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Pub. L. 96–468, § 1, Oct. 17, 1980, 94 Stat. 2229, provided: “That this Act [enacting this chapter] may be cited as the ‘Swine Health Protection Act’.”