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

We are advising the public of our determination that apple events developed by Okanagan Specialty Fruits, Inc., designated as events GD743 and GS784, which have been genetically engineered to resist browning, are 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 Okanagan Specialty Fruits, 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 notices 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 peppers from the Republic of Korea.

We are advising the public that proposed changes to the National Poultry Improvement Plan Program Standards are available for review and comment.

The Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 amended the Lacey Act to provide, among other things, that importers submit a declaration at the time of importation for certain plants and plant products. Enforcement of the declaration requirement began on April 1, 2009, and products requiring a declaration are being phased-in. The purpose of this notice is to inform the public of another phase of the Federal Government's enforcement schedule.

In a final rule published in the Federal Register on April 1, 2005, and effective on April 1, 2005, we amended the regulations concerning overtime services provided by employees of the Agency's Plant Protection and Quarantine and Veterinary Services programs by adding or amending commuted traveltime allowances for travel between certain locations in Texas, New Mexico, and Mexico. In the final rule, two commuted traveltime allowances that should have appeared in the ``within the metropolitan area'' column were erroneously printed in the ``outside the metropolitan area'' column. This document corrects those errors.

We are advising the public that we determined that the Republic of Croatia is free of foot-and-mouth disease, swine vesicular disease, and rinderpest and is low risk for classical swine fever. We are making our determinations, as well as an evaluation we have prepared in connection with this action, available for review and comment.

In a final rule published in the Federal Register on September 18, 2013, and effective on November 18, 2013, we amended the regulations concerning the definition of retail pet store and related regulations in order to ensure that the definition in the regulations is consistent with the Animal Welfare Act (AWA), thereby bringing more pet animals sold at retail under the protection of the AWA. As part of that action, we raised from three to four the maximum number of female breeding dogs, cats, or certain other animals that a person can maintain and be exempted from licensing, as long as they sell only the offspring of those animals born and raised on their premises for pets or exhibition and are not otherwise required to obtain a license. In the final rule, we overlooked raising the number of breeding females in one provision in the regulations concerning animal purchases by dealers and exhibitors. This document corrects the oversight.

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 interstate movement of sheep and goats and recordkeeping for approved livestock facilities and slaughtering and rendering establishments.

We are advising the public that the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) has received a petition from the Monsanto Company (Monsanto) seeking a determination of nonregulated status of maize designated as event MON 87403, which has been genetically engineered for increased ear biomass. The petition has been submitted in accordance with our regulations concerning the introduction of certain genetically engineered organisms and products. We are making the Monsanto 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.

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 training related to animal diseases.

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 the regulations for the interstate movement of regulated articles to prevent the spread of the pale cyst nematode to noninfested areas of the United States.

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 Emergency Management Response System.

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 tomatoes from the Souss-Massa-Draa region of Morocco.

We are amending 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 making 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 reopening the comment period for our proposed rule that would amend our regulations governing the importation and interstate movement of fruits and vegetables by broadening our existing performance standard to provide for approval of all new fruits and vegetables for importation or interstate movement into or within the United States using a notice-based process. This action will allow interested persons additional time to prepare and submit comments.

We are giving notice that the Secretary is soliciting nominations for membership for this Committee to serve for 2 year terms.

We are adopting as a final rule, with changes, an interim rule that amended the regulations concerning the importation of animals and animal products to prohibit or restrict the importation of live birds and poultry (including hatching eggs) and bird and poultry products from regions where any subtype of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) is considered to exist. The interim rule also added restrictions concerning importation of live birds and poultry that have been moved through regions where HPAI is considered to exist, or that have been vaccinated for certain types of avian influenza. This final rule amends the interim rule to allow the importation of live zoological birds and poultry that have been vaccinated for avian influenza as part of an official program and under specific conditions as determined by the Administrator and to allow the importation of HPAI-resistant pigeons, doves, and other Columbiform species under certain conditions from regions where HPAI is considered to exist. This action will provide for the importation of certain zoological birds and poultry under specified conditions designed to minimize the risk of introducing HPAI into the United States.

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 mangoes from Australia.

We are advising the public of our determination that an alfalfa event developed by the Monsanto Company and Forage Genetics International, designated as event KK179, which has been genetically engineered to express reduced levels of guaiacyl lignin, 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 the Monsanto Company and Forage Genetics International in its petition for a determination of nonregulatory status, our analysis of available scientific data, and comments received from the public in response to our previous notices 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.

We are adopting as a final rule, with changes, an interim rule that amended the brucellosis regulations to, among other things, reduce the amount of testing required to maintain Class Free status for States that have been Class Free for 5 or more years and have no Brucella abortus in wildlife. This document amends the interim rule to change the age at which cattle and domestic bison are included in herd blood tests from 6 months to 18 months of age for all sexually intact cattle and domestic bison, except when conducting herd blood tests as part of affected herd investigations or other epidemiological investigations. In addition, the rule allows certain States the option of either conducting brucellosis ring tests and participating in the slaughter surveillance program or developing an alternative surveillance plan that would have to meet or exceed the level of disease detection provided by combined brucellosis ring testing and slaughter surveillance testing. The rule also makes several minor changes in order to clarify the regulations. These changes are necessary to create flexibility in the brucellosis program, to refocus resources to control and prevent the spread of brucellosis, and to protect and maintain the economic viability of the domestic livestock industry.

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 longan from Taiwan.

We are proposing to amend the fruits and vegetables regulations to list kiwi (Actinidia deliciosa and Actinidia chinensis) from Chile as eligible for importation into the United States subject to a systems approach. Under this systems approach, the fruit would have to be grown in a place of production that is registered with the Government of Chile and certified as having a low prevalence of Brevipalpus chilensis. The fruit would have to undergo pre-harvest sampling at the registered production site. Following post-harvest processing, the fruit would have to be inspected in Chile at an approved inspection site. Each consignment of fruit would have to be accompanied by a phytosanitary certificate with an additional declaration stating that the fruit had been found free of Brevipalpus chilensis based on field and packinghouse inspections. This proposed rule would allow for the safe importation of kiwi from Chile using mitigation measures other than fumigation with methyl bromide.

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, this notice announces the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service's intention to request approval of a new information collection required by the Lacey Act concerning definitions for exempt and regulated articles.

We are adopting as a final rule, without change, an interim rule that amended the pine shoot beetle regulations by adding areas in the States of Illinois, Maryland, Missouri, New York, and Virginia and the States of Indiana and New Jersey in their entirety to the list of quarantined areas. The interim rule also updated the list of regulated articles. The interim rule was necessary to prevent the spread of pine shoot beetle, a pest of pine trees, into noninfested areas of the United States.

We are giving notice that the Secretary of Agriculture has renewed the charter of the General Conference Committee of the National Poultry Improvement Plan (Committee) for a 2-year period. The Secretary of Agriculture has determined that the Committee is necessary and in the public interest.