Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service October 24, 2005 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

In accordance with legislation implementing the results of the Uruguay Round of negotiations under the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, we are informing the public of international standard- setting activities of the World Organization for Animal Health, the Secretariat of the International Plant Protection Convention, and the North American Plant Protection Organization, and we are soliciting public comment on the standards to be considered.

We are adopting as a final rule, with changes, an interim rule that amended the regulations by establishing a certification program for articles of Pelargonium spp. and Solanum spp. imported from countries where the bacterium Ralstonia solanacearum race 3 biovar 2 (R3B2) is known to occur. The interim rule prohibited the importation of articles of Pelargonium spp. and Solanum spp. from countries where R. solanacearum R3B2 is known to occur unless the articles are produced in accordance with the certification program. This final rule amends the regulations by modifying some of the requirements of the certification program to make them clearer and more flexible, by providing for the establishment of areas that are free of R. solanacearum R3B2 within countries where the bacterium is known to occur, and by exempting imported seeds of Pelargonium spp. and Solanum spp. from all requirements related to R. solanacearum R3B2. The requirements of the certification program are designed to ensure that R. solanacearum R3B2 will not be introduced into the United States through the importation of articles of Pelargonium spp. and Solanum spp. This certification program is necessary to prevent the introduction of this bacterial strain into the United States.