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

We are proposing to amend the fruits and vegetables regulations to allow the importation into the continental United States of peppers from the Republic of Korea under certain conditions. As a condition of entry, the peppers would have to be grown in approved insect-proof, pest-free greenhouses and packed in pest-exclusionary packinghouses. In addition, the peppers would have to be safeguarded against pest infestation during their movement from the production site to the packinghouse and from the packinghouse to the continental United States. This action would allow for the importation of peppers from the Republic of Korea into the continental United States while continuing to provide protection against the introduction of quarantine pests.

We propose to amend the fruits and vegetables regulations to list a number of fruits and vegetables from certain parts of the world as eligible, under specified conditions, for importation into the United States. Some of the fruits and vegetables are already eligible for importation under permit, but are not specifically listed in the regulations. All of the fruits and vegetables, as a condition of entry, would be inspected and subject to treatment at the port of first arrival as may be required by an inspector. In addition, some of the fruits and vegetables would be required to meet other special conditions. In one case, we propose to add a systems approach that would provide an alternative to methyl bromide fumigation. These actions would provide the United States with additional types and sources of fruits and vegetables while continuing to protect against the introduction of quarantine pests through imported fruits and vegetables.

We are amending the regulations governing the importation of meat and other edible animal products by allowing, under certain conditions, the importation of whole cuts of boneless beef from Japan. We are taking this action in response to a request from the Government of Japan and after conducting a risk analysis and considering public comments. This action will allow the importation of beef from Japan while continuing to protect against the introduction of bovine spongiform encephalopathy into the United States.

We are advising the public that we have prepared a supplemental environmental assessment (EA) and proposed decision/ finding of no significant impact (FONSI) relative to oral rabies vaccination programs on National Forest System lands in several States. Since the publication of our original EA and decision/FONSI (2001), a subsequent supplemental decision/FONSI (2002), a supplemental EA and decision/FONSI (2003), and a second supplemental EA and decision/FONSI (2004), we determined the need to further expand the oral rabies vaccination program to include National Forest System lands, excluding Wilderness Areas, to effectively stop the westward and northward spread of the rabies virus across the United States and into Canada. Thus, an EA and decision/FONSI was prepared in 2004 to facilitate planning, interagency coordination, and program management and to provide the public with our analysis of potential individual and cumulative impacts of an expanded oral rabies vaccine program. The supplemental EA and proposed decision/FONSI (2005) made available by this notice serves to update program needs and evaluate current data.

We are correcting an error in the amendatory instructions in our final rule that amended the provisions of a certification program for articles of Pelargonium spp. and Solanum spp. imported from countries where the bacterium Ralstonia solanacearum race 3 biovar 2 is known to occur. The final rule was effective and published in the Federal Register on October 24, 2005 (70 FR 61351-61362, Docket No. 03- 019-3).