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

We are advising the public that the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service has prepared an environmental assessment for a confined field planting of rice plants genetically engineered to express the protein lactoferrin. This environmental assessment is available for public review and comment.

We are amending our regulations regarding the importation of wheat from regions affected with Karnal bunt. Our amendments, among other things, list such regions, as well as articles regulated for Karnal bunt; increase the flexibility of the regulations so that they provide more readily for the recognition of areas where Karnal bunt is not known to occur within regions where Karnal bunt is known to be present; describe conditions, including requirements for phytosanitary certificates, under which wheat and related articles from regions affected with Karnal bunt are imported into the United States; and specify cleaning and/or disinfection requirements for imported farm machinery and other equipment used to handle or store Karnal bunt- positive seed or host crops. The changes make our regulations regarding the importation of wheat and related articles from regions affected with Karnal bunt substantively equivalent to our domestic Karnal bunt regulations and make the former consistent with international agreements to which the United States is a party.

We are adopting as a final rule, without change, an interim rule that amended the brucellosis regulations concerning the interstate movement of swine by adding Arkansas, Louisiana, and Michigan to the list of validated brucellosis-free States. That action was necessary to relieve certain restrictions on the interstate movement of breeding swine from Arkansas and Louisiana and to confirm Michigan's status as a validated brucellosis-free State.

We are correcting an error in the rule portion of our final rule amending the fruits and vegetables regulations to expand the number of States in which fresh Hass avocado fruit grown in approved orchards in approved municipalities in Michoacan, Mexico, may be distributed and to allow the distribution of the avocados during all months of the year. The final rule was published in the Federal Register on November 30, 2004 (69 FR 69747-69774, Docket No. 03-022-5), and became effective on January 31, 2005.

We are proposing to amend the Plant Protection and Quarantine Treatment Manual, which is incorporated by reference in the Code of Federal Regulations, to allow leaves of the California bay laurel (Umbellularia californica) to be treated with vacuum heat before being moved interstate from any area quarantined because of Phytophthora ramorum. This action would provide an alternative to the currently approved hot water dip used to treat greenery of host plants, specifically California bay laurel leaves, which ruins the suitability of the leaves for use as a dried spice.

This is the second notice to producers and users of veterinary biological products, and other interested individuals, that we will be holding our 13th public meeting to discuss regulatory and policy issues related to the manufacture, distribution, and use of veterinary biological products. This notice provides information on the agenda as well as the dates, times, and place of the meeting. It also indicates a contact person for obtaining registration forms, lodging information, and copies of the agenda.

We are amending the regulations concerning the importation of animals and animal products by adding Malaysia to the list of regions in which highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) subtype H5N1 is considered to exist. We are taking this action because there has been an outbreak of HPAI subtype H5N1 in Malaysia. This action is necessary to prevent the introduction of HPAI subtype H5N1 into the United States.

We are advising the public that the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service has received a petition from Syngenta Seeds, Inc., seeking a determination of nonregulated status for cotton designated as transformation Event COT102, which has been genetically engineered for insect resistance. The petition has been submitted in accordance with our regulations concerning the introduction of certain genetically engineered organisms and products. In accordance with those regulations, we are soliciting public comments on whether this cotton presents a plant pest risk. We are also making available for public comment an environmental assessment for the proposed determination of nonregulated status.

We are advising the public that the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service's Animal Care program will host a meeting to present current information on the enforcement of the Horse Protection Act and provide a forum for listening to concerns from horse industry members and other interested persons about the Horse Protection Program. This notice provides the meeting's agenda, location, and date.

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 Application for Inspection and Certification of Animal Byproducts.

We are reopening the comment period for our notice announcing the receipt of two petitions requesting that additional aquatic plants of the genus Caulerpa be added to the list of noxious weeds. This action will allow interested persons additional time to prepare and submit comments.

We are advising the public that the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service has prepared an environmental assessment relative to a final rule published in today's issue of the Federal Register to amend the regulations regarding the importation of animals and animal products to recognize, and add Canada to, a category of regions that present a minimal risk of introducing bovine spongiform encephalopathy into the United States via live ruminants and ruminant products. The rule also sets out conditions under which certain live ruminants and ruminant products and byproducts may be imported from such regions. We are making the environmental assessment available to the public for review and comment.

We are advising the public of our determination that the Monsanto Company cotton designated as MON 88913, which has been genetically engineered for tolerance to the herbicide glyphosate, 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 Monsanto Company in its petition for a determination of non-regulated status, our analysis of other scientific data, and comments received from the public in response to a previous notice. This notice also announces the availability of our written determination and our finding of no significant impact.