The U.S. Department of Agriculture is proposing to declare Qatar, a small country on the Persian Gulf, free of African horse sickness. This change in disease status would relieve import restrictions on horses from Qatar.

“This action would make the importation of horses from Qatar less expensive and more practical, without endangering the health of our own horse population,” said Joan M. Arnoldi, deputy administrator for veterinary services with the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.

Current APHIS regulations require that horses being imported from regions considered to be affected with African horse sickness, a fatal equine viral disease, enter the United States only at the port of New York and be quarantined at the New York Animal Import Center in Newburgh, N.Y., for at least 60 days.

The proposed rule would allow horses from Qatar to be shipped to and quarantined at ports other than New York and would reduce the quarantine period to an average of three days to meet APHIS quarantine and testing requirements