1. (a) The commission may exempt from registration a person participating in a disease surveillance program recognized by the commission.

2. (b) The commission recognizes the following disease surveillance programs:

   1. (1) National Poultry Improvement Plan ("NPIP") with the "U.S. Pullorum-Typhoid Clean'' ("PT") and "U.S. Avian Influenza Clean" ("LPAI") programs
   2. (2) The Texas Poultry Federation Avian Influenza Monitoring Program
   3. (3) sellers, distributor or transporter of only fowl classified as baby poultry, at the time of receipt, from NPIP hatchery and accompanied by NPIP Form 9-3, or APHIS Form 17-6.

3. (c) A disease surveillance program not identified in subsection (b) of this section may request approval for recognition provided it contains the following minimum elements:

   1. (1) Verifiable disease testing protocol
   2. (2) Includes PT and LPAI requirements
   3. (3) Specified risk based sample size
4. (d) In order to recognize a disease surveillance program not identified in subsection (b) of this section, a person shall submit a detailed explanation of the surveillance program to the Executive Director for consideration. A decision to recognize a disease surveillance program will be provided to the requestor within 30 days of receipt by the Executive Director.

Source Note:The provisions of this §54.3 adopted to be effective May 1, 2004, 29 TexReg 2628.