[Federal Register: May 6, 2008 (Volume 73, Number 88)]
[Proposed Rules]               
[Page 24886-24887]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr06my08-23]                         





Proposed Rules
                                                Federal Register
________________________________________________________________________

This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER contains notices to the public of 
the proposed issuance of rules and regulations. The purpose of these 
notices is to give interested persons an opportunity to participate in 
the rule making prior to the adoption of the final rules.

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[[Page 24886]]



DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service

7 CFR Part 319

[Docket No. 03-002-7]
RIN 0579-AC55

 
Importation of Nursery Stock; Postentry Quarantine Requirements 
for Potential Hosts of Chrysanthemum White Rust and Definition of From

AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, USDA.

ACTION: Proposed rule; withdrawal.

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SUMMARY: We are withdrawing a proposed rule that would have amended the 
nursery stock regulations to provide an option in which the postentry 
quarantine growing period for articles of Chrysanthemum spp., 
Leucanthemella serotina, and Nipponanthemum nipponicum that are 
imported from certain locations would have been reduced from 6 months 
to 2 months, provided that the grower of those plants implemented a 
systems approach to prevent the imported articles from being infected 
with chrysanthemum white rust. The proposed rule would also have 
amended the definition of from. We are taking this action after 
considering the comments we received following the publication of the 
proposed rule.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. Arnold T. Tschanz, Senior Import 
Specialist, Plants for Planting Import and Analysis, Commodity Import 
Analysis and Operations, PPQ, APHIS, 4700 River Road Unit 133, 
Riverdale, MD 20737-1236; (301) 734-5306.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    On August 8, 2007, we published in the Federal Register (72 FR 
44425-44433, Docket No. 03-002-4) a proposed rule \1\ that would have 
amended the nursery stock regulations in 7 CFR part 319 to provide an 
option in which the postentry quarantine growing period for articles of 
Chrysanthemum spp., Leucanthemella serotina, and Nipponanthemum 
nipponicum that are imported from certain locations would have been 
reduced from 6 months to 2 months, provided that the grower of those 
plants implemented a systems approach in the country of origin to 
prevent the imported articles from being infected with chrysanthemum 
white rust. The proposed rule would also have amended the definition of 
from in Sec.  319.37-1 to read: ``An article is considered to be `from' 
the country where it, or the plants from which the article was derived, 
was actively growing for at least 9 months immediately prior to 
export.''
    We solicited comments concerning our proposal for 60 days ending on 
October 9, 2007. We reopened and extended the deadline for comments 
until November 26, 2007, in a document published in the Federal 
Register on October 26, 2007 (Docket No. 03-002-5, 72 FR 60790). We 
received 13 comments by that date. They were from producers, exporters, 
researchers, and representatives of local, State, and foreign 
governments.
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    \1\ To view the proposed rule and the comments we received, go 
to http://www.regulations.gov/fdmspublic/component/
main?main=DocketDetail&d=APHIS-2005-0081.
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    While some commenters favored implementing the proposed option 
under which the postentry quarantine growing period for articles of 
Chrysanthemum spp., Leucanthemella serotina, and Nipponanthemum 
nipponicum that are imported from certain locations would have been 
reduced from 6 months to 2 months, others opposed it. Representatives 
of local and State governments stated that it would be difficult to 
conduct the required postentry quarantine inspection and produce the 
appropriate documentation within the 2-month timeframe. One commenter 
cited the difficulty of detecting the disease at low levels. One 
commenter stated that it would be difficult to keep shipments of 
cuttings of Chrysanthemum spp., Leucanthemella serotina, and 
Nipponanthemum nipponicum that arrive at different times segregated in 
a postentry quarantine facility. Two commenters stated that the 
proposed rule should apply only to the importation of breeder material, 
rather than production material. One commenter stated that it would be 
difficult to enforce the requirements of the proposed systems approach 
at foreign production facilities.
    Two commenters referred to a separate risk assessment being 
prepared by the Plant Protection and Quarantine program's Center for 
Plant Health Science and Technology on the subject of chrysanthemum 
white rust, and suggested that we wait to take further action pending 
the completion of that assessment.
    Four commenters on the proposed rule addressed the definition of 
from. All were opposed to the revised definition. Commenters raised 
issues regarding accounting for nursery stock production practices 
under which plants are shipped after growing periods of less than a 9-
month growing cycle and pointed out inconsistency between the 9-month 
growing period we proposed to require for an article to be considered 
``from'' a country and the typical 2-year postentry quarantine period 
required in Sec.  319.37-7. One commenter urged us to adopt an 
incremental approach to revising the definition, rather than 
implementing it all at once.
    After considering all the comments we received, we have concluded 
that it is necessary to reexamine the issues associated with the 
importation into the United States of articles of Chrysanthemum spp., 
Leucanthemella serotina, and Nipponanthemum nipponicum under the 2-
month postentry quarantine period and the issues associated with 
revising the definition of from. Therefore, we are withdrawing the 
August 8, 2007, proposed rule referenced above. The concerns and 
recommendations of all the commenters will be considered if any new 
proposed regulations regarding the importation of articles of 
Chrysanthemum spp., Leucanthemella serotina, and Nipponanthemum 
nipponicum or the definition of from are developed.

    Authority: 7 U.S.C. 450, 7701-7772, and 7781-7786; 21 U.S.C. 136 
and 136a; 7 CFR 2.22, 2.80, and 371.3.


[[Page 24887]]


    Done in Washington, DC, this 30th day of April 2008.
Kevin Shea,
Acting Administrator, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
[FR Doc. E8-9968 Filed 5-5-08; 8:45 am]

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