Department of Agriculture July 8, 2013 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

We are advising the public that we have prepared a pest risk analysis that evaluates the risks associated with the importation of Swiss chard from Colombia into the continental United States. Based on that analysis, we have concluded that the application of one or more designated phytosanitary measures will be sufficient to mitigate the risks of introducing or disseminating plant pests or noxious weeds via the importation of Swiss chard from Colombia. We are making the pest risk analysis available to the public for review and comment.

As part of the National Institute of Food and Agriculture's (NIFA) strategy to successfully implement the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI), NIFA intends to initiate a new challenge area within AFRI in Fiscal Year (FY) 2014 to address water issues. NIFA will be holding a web-based listening session in order to solicit stakeholder input on this new challenge area. It is open to the public and the focus of the listening session is to gather stakeholder input that will be used in developing the Request for Applications (RFA) in FY 2014. NIFA is particularly interested in input on how best to achieve the most impact, within budget constraints, in the early years of this new challenge area. All comments must be received by close of business on July 30, 2013, to be considered in the initial drafting of the FY 2014 AFRI Water program RFA.