Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service February 2013 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

We are advising the public that the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) has received a petition from Dow AgroSciences LLC (DAS) seeking a determination of nonregulated status of soybean designated as DAS-81419-2, which has been genetically engineered for resistance to certain lepidopteran pests. The petition has been submitted in accordance with our regulations concerning the introduction of certain genetically engineered organisms and products. We are making the DAS petition available for review and comment to help us identify potential environmental and interrelated economic issues and impacts that APHIS may determine should be considered in our evaluation of the petition.

We are advising the public that the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) has received a petition from Syngenta Seeds, Inc., and Bayer CropScience AG seeking a determination of nonregulated status of soybean designated as event SYHTOH2, which has been genetically engineered for tolerance to the herbicides glufosinate and mesotrione. The petition has been submitted in accordance with our regulations concerning the introduction of certain genetically engineered organisms and products. We are making the Syngenta Seeds, Inc., and Bayer CropScience AG petition available for review and comment to help us identify potential environmental and interrelated economic issues and impacts that APHIS may determine should be considered in our evaluation of the petition.

We are advising the public that the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service has received a petition from ArborGen Inc. seeking a determination of nonregulated status of Freeze Tolerant Eucalyptus lines designated 427 and 435, which have been genetically engineered (GE) to be more tolerant of cold conditions. The incorporation of the GE trait allows these eucalyptus hybrid trees to be grown in a broader geographic area than non-GE eucalyptus hybrid trees. The petition has been submitted in accordance with our regulations concerning the introduction of certain GE organisms and products. We are making available for public comment the ArborGen Inc. petition and are soliciting comments on whether these GE eucalyptus lines are likely to pose a plant pest risk. We are also announcing to the public our intent to prepare an environmental impact statement (EIS) on the action with regard to the petition for nonregulated status, identifying potential issues and alternatives that may be studied in the EIS, and requesting public comments to further delineate the scope of the alternatives and environmental impacts and issues. We are also announcing that APHIS will be hosting two virtual meetings during the comment period. The purpose of the meetings will be to further delineate the scope of alternatives and environmental impacts and issues discussed in the EIS.

We are advising the public of our determination that a corn line developed by the Syngenta Biotechnology, Inc., designated as event SYN-05307-1, which has been genetically engineered for resistance to corn rootworm, an insect pest of corn, 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 Syngenta Biotechnology, Inc., in its petition for a determination of nonregulated status, our analysis of available scientific data, and comments received from the public in response to our previous notice announcing the availability of the petition for nonregulated status and its associated environmental assessment and plant pest risk assessment. This notice also announces the availability of our written determination and finding of no significant impact.

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 regulations for the importation of certain fruits and vegetables into the United States.

We are advising the public of our decision to begin issuing permits for the importation into the continental United States of fresh strawberry fruit from Egypt. Based on the findings of a pest risk analysis, which we made available to the public for review and comment through a previous notice, we believe 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 fresh strawberry fruit from Egypt.

We are proposing to amend the regulations on importing plants for planting to add Turkey to the list of countries from which the importation of restricted articles of Chrysanthemum spp., Leucanthemella serotina, and Nipponanthemum nipponicum into the United States is prohibited due to the presence of white rust of Chrysanthemum; to require permits for the importation of any seed that is coated, pelleted, or embedded in a substrate that obscures visibility; to provide for an alternate additional declaration on phytosanitary certificates that accompany articles imported from a country in which potato cyst nematodes are known to occur; to provide conditions for the importation of Prunus spp. articles from Canada that address the presence of plum pox potyvirus in that country; and to provide for the importation of Dianthus spp. (carnations) from the Netherlands. We are also proposing other changes to update and clarify the regulations and to improve their effectiveness. These changes are necessary to relieve restrictions that appear unnecessary, to update existing provisions, and to make the regulations easier to understand and implement.

We are amending the Texas (Splenetic) Fever regulations by updating the scientific names for the ticks that transmit the disease, listing additional names for the disease, and removing all products except coumaphos from the list of dips permitted for use on cattle in interstate movement. These actions are necessary to update and clarify the regulations.

We are advising the public of our decision to authorize the importation into the continental United States of fresh litchi, longan, and rambutan fruit from the Philippines. Based on the findings of a pest risk analysis, which we made available to the public for review and comment through a previous notice, we believe 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 fresh fruit of litchi, longan, and rambutan from the Philippines.

We are making a proposed action plan describing a potential new approach to managing swine brucellosis and pseudorabies available for public review and comment. Swine brucellosis and pseudorabies have been eliminated from commercial swine herds within the United States, but potential sources of introduction of these diseases exist and we believe program modifications are necessary to address these risks. The proposed action plan presents our current thinking about the program modifications that we are considering.