[Federal Register: February 7, 2003 (Volume 68, Number 26)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Page 6362-6363]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr07fe03-15]
========================================================================
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.
========================================================================
[[Page 6362]]
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service
7 CFR Part 319
[Docket No. 02-058-1]
RIN 0579-AB49
Flag Smut Import Prohibitions on Wheat and Related Products
AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, USDA.
ACTION: Advance notice of proposed rulemaking and request for comments.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: We are soliciting public comment on whether and how we should
amend the regulations regarding the importation of wheat and related
items. Under these regulations, importation of wheat and related items
from a number of countries and localities is currently prohibited to
prevent the introduction of foreign strains of flag smut into the
United States. We are considering easing restrictions on the
importation of wheat and related articles from these countries and
localities based on a recent risk assessment. After evaluating public
comment on the issues presented in this document, we will determine
whether to propose changes to our regulations.
DATES: We will consider all comments that we receive on or before April
8, 2003.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by postal mail/commercial delivery
or by e-mail. If you use postal mail/commercial delivery, please send
four copies of your comment (an original and three copies) to: Docket
No. 02-058-1, Regulatory Analysis and Development, PPD, APHIS, Station
3C71, 4700 River Road Unit 118, Riverdale, MD 20737-1238. Please state
that your comment refers to Docket No. 02-058-1. If you use e-mail,
address your comment to regulations@aphis.usda.gov. Your comment must
be contained in the body of your message; do not send attached files.
Please include your name and address in your message and ``Docket No.
02-058-1'' on the subject line.
You may read any comments that we receive on this docket in our
reading room. The reading room is located in room 1141 of the USDA
South Building, 14th Street and Independence Avenue SW., Washington,
DC. Normal reading room hours are 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through
Friday, except holidays. To be sure someone is there to help you,
please call (202) 690-2817 before coming.
APHIS documents published in the Federal Register, and related
information, including the names of organizations and individuals who
have commented on APHIS dockets, are available on the Internet at
http://www.aphis.usda.gov/ppd/rad/webrepor.html.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Wayne Burnett, Senior Import
Specialist, PPQ, APHIS, 4700 River Road Unit 140, Riverdale, MD 20737-
1236; (301) 734-6799.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
The regulations in ``Subpart--Wheat Diseases'' (7 CFR 319.59
through 319.59-2, referred to below as the regulations) prohibit the
importation of wheat and related items into the United States from
certain parts of the world to prevent the introduction of foreign
strains of flag smut and Karnal bunt. This advance notice of proposed
rulemaking concerns only the prohibitions on flag smut. Flag smut is a
plant disease caused by a highly infective fungus, Urocystis agropyri,
which attacks wheat and substantially reduces its yield.
Flag smut was first described in 1868 in Australian wheat fields.
Affected plants within the growing crop are often severely stunted and
produce excessive numbers of tillers. Unlike other bunts and smuts of
wheat, flag smut does not affect the quality of harvested grain for
feed or flour. Flag smut of wheat was first discovered in the United
States in 1919, and a quarantine on wheat from countries having flag
smut was put in effect. Until the 1930's, flag smut was a significant
disease of wheat in the United States, but has recently been found only
on wheat in the Pacific Northwest when seed is sown in late August and
early September at depths of more than 2 inches.
To address the risk presented by foreign strains of flag smut, the
regulations prohibit the importation, except by the United States
Department of Agriculture under a departmental permit, of certain
articles from specified countries and localities. Specifically, the
regulations prohibit the importation of the following articles of
Triticum spp. (wheat) or Aegilops spp. (barb goatgrass, goatgrass):
[sbull] Seeds;
[sbull] Plants;
[sbull] Straw (other than straw, with or without heads, that has
been processed or manufactured for use indoors, such as for decorative
purposes or for use as toys);
[sbull] Chaff; and
[sbull] Products of the milling process (i.e., bran, shorts,
thistle sharps, and pollards) other than flour.
The regulations also prohibit the importation of seeds of Melilotus
indica (annual yellow sweetclover) and seeds of any other field crops
that have been separated from wheat during the screening process.
The countries and localities from which the importation of those
articles is prohibited are listed in Sec. 319.59-2(a)(2) of the
regulations. The listed countries and localities are: Afghanistan,
Algeria, Armenia, Australia, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Belarus, Bulgaria,
Chile, China, Cyprus, Egypt, Estonia, Falkland Islands, Georgia,
Greece, Guatemala, Hungary, India, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Italy, Japan,
Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Libya, Lithuania, Moldova, Morocco,
Nepal, North Korea, Oman, Pakistan, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Spain,
Tajikistan, Tanzania, Tunisia, Turkey, Turkmenistan, South Africa,
South Korea, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, and Venezuela.
We recently evaluated the need for continuing the prohibitions to
protect against foreign strains of flag smut. We are considering
removing these prohibitions because a risk assessment we have prepared
regarding flag smut indicates: (1) Flag smut exists in the United
States in only two counties in the Pacific Northwest; (2) there is no
evidence that foreign strains of flag smut differ genetically from
strains present in the United States or that they pose more risk than
domestic strains to wheat production in the United States; (3) we do
not currently regulate the interstate
[[Page 6363]]
movement of domestic commodities from areas in the United States where
flag smut exists; (4) because of temperature and moisture needs of the
pathogen, flag smut occurs in the United States only in the Pacific
Northwest and only when seed is sown under certain conditions; and (5)
effective production strategies exist that minimize the effects of this
disease on wheat. The pest risk assessment is available on the Internet
at http://www.aphis.usda.gov/ppq/pra, or a copy may be requested by
contacting the person listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT.
Under these circumstances, it does not appear that U.S. wheat would
be at risk from foreign strains of flag smut if we remove the current
prohibitions. Also, we believe that we are obligated to remove the
prohibitions under the World Trade Organization Agreement on Sanitary
and Phytosanitary Measures and the International Plant Protection
Convention. These agreements require our import regulations concerning
a specified plant or plant pest to be no more stringent than our
domestic regulations concerning the same plant or plant pest. These
agreements also require us to impose the least restrictive requirements
consistent with our appropriate level of protection.
However, simply removing the prohibitions related to flag smut
could present a plant pest risk. The flag smut regulations have for
many years prohibited the importation of wheat and related products
from the countries and localities listed in Sec. 319.59-2(a)(2). As
the prohibitions were put into place prior to our adoption of the pest
risk analysis process, no risk assessment has been prepared to
determine whether other plant pests associated with wheat and other
products covered by the flag smut regulations are present in those
countries and localities.
We are weighing whether to continue prohibitions on wheat and
related products from these countries, even if we remove the
prohibitions related to flag smut, until a risk assessment can be
completed that would evaluate the risk of those products introducing
other plant pests. Also, we are weighing whether a similar risk
assessment should be done relative to imports of wheat and related
products from countries that are not currently covered by the flag smut
regulations and that already ship wheat and related products to the
United States. Although pest interception data has not indicated a
problem with those imports, no risk assessment has been done to
evaluate the risk of those products introducing other plant pests.
Major exporters of wheat to the United States include Canada and
Mexico.
We invite comments on these issues. In particular, we are
soliciting comments that address the following questions:
1. Should we remove the current prohibitions related to foreign
strains of flag smut?
2. If we remove the prohibitions related to flag smut, are any
lesser restrictions or safeguards necessary? If so, why, and what
restrictions or safeguards would be appropriate?
3. If we remove the prohibitions related to flag smut, should we
continue to prohibit the importation of wheat and related products from
countries and localities currently covered by the flag smut regulations
until a risk assessment can be completed that would evaluate the risk
of those products introducing other plant pests?
4. If we require a risk assessment before allowing wheat and
related products to be imported from countries now covered by the flag
smut regulations, should we also require a risk assessment for wheat
and related products from countries that are not currently covered by
the flag smut regulations and that already ship wheat and related
products to the United States?
5. What would be the effects of any of these options on:
a. U.S. wheat producers;
b. U.S. consumers of wheat products; and
c. Other interested parties in the United States, such as grain
storage facilities, grain haulers, feed and flour millers, and seed
companies?
We welcome comments on these questions and encourage the submission
of new options or suggestions.
This action has been determined to be significant for the purposes
of Executive Order 12866 and, therefore, has been reviewed by the
Office of Management and Budget.
Authority: 7 U.S.C. 166, 450, 7711-7714, 7718, 7731, 7732, and
7751-7754; 21 U.S.C. 136 and 136a; 7 CFR 2.22, 2.80, and 371.3.
Done in Washington, DC, this 3rd day of February 2003.
Bill Hawks,
Under Secretary for Marketing and Regulatory Programs.
[FR Doc. 03-3057 Filed 2-6-03; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-34-P