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

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 associated with the National Animal Health Laboratory Network laboratories annual inventory verification for U.S. Department of Agriculture-owned equipment.

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 concerning the National Veterinary Services Laboratories request forms.

We are advising the public that we have determined that it is necessary to add a treatment schedule for Asian longhorned beetle in the Plant Protection and Quarantine Treatment Manual. Thus, we have prepared a treatment evaluation document that discusses the existing treatment schedule and explains why this change is necessary. We are making this treatment evaluation document available to the public for review and comment.

We are reopening the comment period for a petition requesting that we amend the Animal Welfare Act regulations to add specific standards for the humane handling, care, treatment, and transportation of all species of bears held in captivity except polar bears, for which there are already standards. This action will allow interested persons additional time to prepare and submit comments.

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 the 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 advising the public that we have determined that it is necessary to immediately add to the Plant Protection and Quarantine Treatment Manual a treatment schedule for methyl bromide fumigation of kumquats to control certain fruit flies. We have prepared a treatment evaluation document that describes the new treatment schedule and explains why we have determined that it is effective at neutralizing fruit flies. We are making this treatment evaluation document available to the public for review and comment.

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 environmental monitoring.

We are proposing to amend the regulations concerning the importation of fruits and vegetables to allow the importation of fresh bananas from the Philippines into Guam, Hawaii, and the Northern Mariana Islands. As a condition of entry, the bananas would have to be produced in accordance with a systems approach that would include requirements for importation of commercial consignments, monitoring of fruit flies to establish low-prevalence places of production, harvesting only of hard green bananas, and inspection for quarantine pests by the national plant protection organization of the Philippines. The bananas would also have to be accompanied by a phytosanitary certificate with an additional declaration stating that they were grown, packed, inspected, and found to be free of quarantine pests in accordance with the proposed requirements. This action would allow the importation of bananas from the Philippines while continuing to protect against the introduction of plant pests into Guam, Hawaii, and the Northern Mariana Islands.

We are withdrawing a proposed rule that would have added that portion of the Patagonia region of Argentina located south of latitude 42[deg] south (Patagonia South) to the list of regions considered free of rinderpest and foot-and-mouth disease (FMD). The proposed rule would also have added that region to the list of regions that are subject to certain import restrictions on meat and meat products because of their proximity to or trading relationships with rinderpest- or FMD-affected regions. We are taking this action because we have prepared an updated risk analysis relative to Argentina that is being made available in accordance with a newer process for recognizing the animal health status of regions.

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 export of animals and animal products from the United States.

We are proposing to amend the regulations governing the importation of certain animals, meat, and other animal products by allowing, under certain conditions, the importation of fresh (chilled or frozen) beef from a region in Brazil (the States of Bahia, Distrito Federal, Espirito Santo, Goias, Mato Grosso, Mato Grosso do Sul, Minas Gerais, Parana, Rio Grande do Sul, Rio de Janeiro, Rondonia, Sao Paulo, Sergipe, and Tocantins). Based on the evidence in a recent risk assessment, we have determined that fresh (chilled or frozen) beef can be safely imported from those Brazilian States provided certain conditions are met. This action would provide for the importation of beef from the designated region in Brazil into the United States while continuing to protect the United States against the introduction of foot-and-mouth disease.

We are amending the regulations that govern the importation of animals and animal products to revise the conditions for the importation of live bovines and products derived from bovines with regard to bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE). We are basing importation conditions on the inherent risk of BSE infectivity in specified commodities, as well as on the BSE risk status of the region in which the commodities originate. We are establishing a system for classifying regions as to BSE risk that is consistent with the system employed by the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE), the international standard-setting organization for guidelines related to animal health. The conditions we are adopting for the importation of specified commodities are based on internationally accepted scientific literature, and are, in general, consistent with guidelines set out in the OIE's Terrestrial Animal Health Code. We are also classifying certain specified countries as to BSE risk and are removing BSE restrictions on the importation of cervids and camelids and products derived from such animals. We are making these amendments after conducting a thorough review of relevant scientific literature and a comprehensive evaluation of the issues and concluding that the changes to the regulations will continue to guard against the introduction of BSE into the United States, while allowing the importation of additional animals and animal products into this country.

We are notifying the public that the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service has received a petition requesting that we amend the Animal Welfare Act regulations to add specific standards for the humane handling, care, treatment, and transportation of all species of bears held in captivity except polar bears, for which there are already standards. We are making this petition available to the public and soliciting comments regarding the petition and any issues raised by the petition that we should take into account as we consider this petition.

We are amending the fruits and vegetables regulations to allow the importation of commercial shipments of fresh beans, shelled or in pods (French, green, snap, and string), from Jordan into the continental United States. As a condition of entry, the beans must be produced in accordance with a systems approach that includes requirements for packing, washing, and processing. The beans must also be accompanied by a phytosanitary certificate attesting that all phytosanitary requirements have been met and that the consignment was inspected and found free of quarantine pests. This action allows for the importation of fresh beans, shelled or in pods, from Jordan into the continental United States while continuing to provide protection against the introduction of plant pests.

We are affirming our earlier determination that it was necessary to immediately add to the Plant Protection and Quarantine Treatment Manual a treatment schedule for methyl bromide fumigation of blueberries for Mediterranean fruit fly and South American fruit fly. In a previous notice, we made available to the public for review and comment a treatment evaluation document that described the new treatment schedule and explained why we have determined that it is effective at neutralizing these fruit flies.

We are advising the public that the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service is making available for public comment our plant pest risk assessment and our draft environmental assessment regarding a request from Okanagan Specialty Fruits, Inc., seeking a determination of nonregulated status of apple events designated as events GD743 and GS784, which have been genetically engineered to resist browning. We are soliciting comments on whether these genetically engineered apples are likely to pose a plant pest risk.

We are advising the public that the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service is making available for public comment our plant pest risk assessment and our draft environmental assessment regarding a request from BASF Plant Science LP seeking a determination of nonregulated status of soybean designated as event BPS-CV127-9, which has been genetically engineered for resistance to herbicides in the imidazolinone family. We are soliciting comments on whether this genetically engineered soybean is likely to pose a plant pest risk.

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 French beans and runner beans from Kenya into the United States.

We are adopting as a final rule, with nonsubstantive changes, an interim rule that amended the regulations governing the interstate movement of regulated articles from areas quarantined for citrus canker, citrus greening, and/or Asian citrus psyllid (ACP) to allow the movement of regulated nursery stock under a certificate to any area within the United States. In order to be eligible to move regulated nursery stock, a nursery had to enter into a compliance agreement with the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service that specified the conditions under which the nursery stock must be grown, maintained, and shipped. The interim rule also amended the regulations that allow the movement of regulated nursery stock from an area quarantined for ACP, but not for citrus greening, to amend the existing regulatory requirements for the issuance of limited permits for the interstate movement of the nursery stock. The interim rule was necessary on an immediate basis in order to provide nursery stock producers in areas quarantined for citrus canker, citrus greening, and/or ACP with the ability to ship regulated nursery stock to markets within the United States that would otherwise be unavailable to them due to the prohibitions and restrictions contained in the regulations while continuing to provide adequate safeguards to prevent the spread of the three pests into currently unaffected areas of the United States.

We are amending the regulations to allow, under certain conditions, the cold treatment of imported fruits and vegetables upon arrival at the MidAmerica St. Louis Airport, Mascoutah, IL. We have determined that there are biological barriers at this port that, along with certain safeguards, would prevent the introduction of fruit flies and other insect pests into the United States in the unlikely event that they escape from shipments of fruits or vegetables before the fruits or vegetables undergo cold treatment. This action will facilitate the importation of fruit requiring cold treatment while continuing to provide protection against the introduction of fruit flies and other insect pests into the United States.

We are advising the public of our decision to begin allowing the interstate movement into the continental United States of fresh sapote fruit from Puerto Rico. 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 interstate movement of sapote fruit from Puerto Rico.

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 fresh baby kiwi from Chile into the continental United States.

We are proposing to amend the regulations concerning the importation of fruits and vegetables to allow the importation of fresh potatoes (Solanum tuberosum L.) from Mexico into the United States. As a condition of entry, the potatoes would have to be produced in accordance with a systems approach employing a combination of mitigation measures to prevent the introduction and dissemination of plant pests into the United States. The potatoes would have to be imported in commercial consignments, would have to be produced by a grower who is registered in a certification program, would have to be packed in registered packinghouses, would have to be washed, cleaned, and treated with a sprout inhibitor, and would have to be inspected after packing for quarantine pests. The potatoes would also have to be accompanied by a phytosanitary certificate that declares that the conditions for importation have been met. Finally, the national plant protection organization (NPPO) of Mexico would have to provide a bilateral workplan to the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) that details the activities that the NPPO of Mexico will carry out to meet these requirements, subject to APHIS' approval. This action would allow the importation of potatoes from Mexico while continuing to protect against the introduction of plant pests 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 fresh pomegranates from Chile into the continental United States.