Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service January 2005 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

We are advising the public that the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service has received a petition from Syngenta Seeds, Inc., seeking a determination of nonregulated status for cotton designated as transformation Event COT102, which has been genetically engineered for insect resistance. The petition has been submitted in accordance with our regulations concerning the introduction of certain genetically engineered organisms and products. In accordance with those regulations, we are soliciting public comments on whether this cotton presents a plant pest risk. We are also making available for public comment an environmental assessment for the proposed determination of nonregulated status.

We are advising the public that the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service's Animal Care program will host a meeting to present current information on the enforcement of the Horse Protection Act and provide a forum for listening to concerns from horse industry members and other interested persons about the Horse Protection Program. This notice provides the meeting's agenda, location, and date.

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, this notice announces the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service's intention to request an extension of approval of an information collection associated with the Application for Inspection and Certification of Animal Byproducts.

We are reopening the comment period for our notice announcing the receipt of two petitions requesting that additional aquatic plants of the genus Caulerpa be added to the list of noxious weeds. This action will allow interested persons additional time to prepare and submit comments.

We are advising the public that the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service has prepared an environmental assessment relative to a final rule published in today's issue of the Federal Register to amend the regulations regarding the importation of animals and animal products to recognize, and add Canada to, a category of regions that present a minimal risk of introducing bovine spongiform encephalopathy into the United States via live ruminants and ruminant products. The rule also sets out conditions under which certain live ruminants and ruminant products and byproducts may be imported from such regions. We are making the environmental assessment available to the public for review and comment.

We are advising the public of our determination that the Monsanto Company cotton designated as MON 88913, which has been genetically engineered for tolerance to the herbicide glyphosate, is no longer considered a regulated article under our regulations governing the introduction of certain genetically engineered organisms. Our determination is based on our evaluation of data submitted by Monsanto Company in its petition for a determination of non-regulated status, our analysis of other scientific data, and comments received from the public in response to a previous notice. This notice also announces the availability of our written determination and our finding of no significant impact.