Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service September 2022 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

We are notifying the public of our decision to revise requirements for the importation into the United States of sand pear (Pyrus pyrifolia var. culta) fruit from the Republic of Korea. 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 have determined 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, non-precleared sand pear fruit from the Republic of Korea into all ports of the United States as an alternative to the preclearance program. All non-precleared sand pear fruit intended for importation into the United States from the Republic of Korea will be subject to the systems approach required for precleared fruit.

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, this notice announces the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service's intention to request a revision to and extension of approval of an information collection associated with regulations for the use of irradiation as a phytosanitary treatment of imported fruits and vegetables.

We are soliciting public comment on a new approach to indemnity value determination and a new framework for the indemnity regulations. These parts address payment of indemnity for the destruction and disposition of animals the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) classifies as infected with, suspect of, or exposed to diseases of concern, to eradicate and control foreign animal diseases, emerging diseases, and program diseases. The current regulations for valuing animals for the purpose of indemnification vary from species to species and, in some cases, disease to disease within a species. The new approach would harmonize how APHIS determines animal values and deals with costs associated with transportation, cleaning, disposal, and other points at which variations occur in how APHIS manages indemnity and compensation.

We are notifying the public that the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) has determined that the modified Venezuelan equine encephalitis virus (VEEV) strain TC-83(A3G), which is a modification to the attenuated strain VEEV TC-83, has demonstrated increased pathogenicity and lethality and that the strain has the potential to pose a severe threat to animal health or animal products. We are advising the public that VEEV strain TC-83(A3G) is therefore a select agent and subject to APHIS' select agent and toxin regulations.