Renewal of accreditation.

§ 161.3 Renewal of accreditation. (a) Accredited veterinarians who wish to continue participating in the National Veterinary Accreditation Program must renew their accreditation every 3 years by completing an application for accreditation renewal and submitting it to APHIS. Newly accredited veterinarians must renew their accreditation within 3 years of completing the orientation program described in § 161.1(e)(4) of this part, regardless of when their accreditation was granted. Other veterinarians must renew their accreditation within 3 years of the previous renewal. (b) Accredited veterinarians who wish to renew their accreditation under Category I must complete 3 supplemental training units approved by APHIS by the end of their 3-year tenure as an accredited veterinarian. Accredited veterinarians who wish to renew their accreditation under Category II must complete 6 supplemental training units approved by APHIS by the end of their 3-year tenure as an accredited veterinarian. Accredited veterinarians who wish to change the category in which they are accredited, rather than renew accreditation in their current accreditation category, should follow the procedure in § 161.1(f) of this part. (c) Accredited veterinarians who do not complete the required training within 3 years as specified in paragraph (a) of this section will have their accredited status expire. Veterinarians whose accreditation has expired will not be allowed to perform accredited duties until they receive notification of their reinstatement from APHIS. Veterinarians who perform duties that only accredited veterinarians are authorized to perform while their accredited status has expired will be subject to such criminal and civil penalties as are provided by the Animal Health Protection Act (7 U.S.C. 8301 et seq. ) or other applicable Federal statutes or regulations. To be reinstated, the veterinarian must complete the necessary supplemental training units for the appropriate category and submit an application for renewal of veterinary accreditation to APHIS. A veterinarian who allows his or her accredited status to expire must have completed the required number of supplemental training units within 3 years of his or her application for renewal in order to be approved for renewal. Supplemental training units completed since the veterinarian's last renewal but more than 3 years before the veterinarian's application for renewal will not count towards fulfilling his or her training requirement. (d) Veterinarians who are accredited as of February 1, 2010, may continue to perform accredited duties between February 1, 2010, and the date of their first renewal. APHIS will provide notice for 3 months to accredited veterinarians who are accredited as of February 1, 2010, to notify them that they must elect to participate in the NVAP as a Category I or Category II veterinarian. Veterinarians must elect to continue to participate by October 1, 2011, or their accredited status will expire. When APHIS receives notice from an accredited veterinarian that he or she elects to participate, APHIS will notify the accredited veterinarian of his or her date for first renewal. The accredited veterinarian must then complete all the training requirements for renewal, as described in this section, by his or her first renewal date. (Approved by the Office of Management and Budget under control number 0579–0297) [74 FR 65011, Dec. 9, 2009, as amended at 76 FR 52549, Aug. 23, 2011]