G/SPS/N/USA/2537  
 
1 May 2013  
(13-2317)  Page: 1/2  
Committee on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures  Original: English  
 
NOTIFICATION 
1. Notifying Member:  UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 
If applicable, name of local government involved:    
2. Agency responsible:  The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) 
3. Products covered (provide tariff item  number(s) as specified in national 
schedules deposited with the WTO;  ICS numbers should be provided in 
addition, where applicable):  Plants for planting 
4. Regions or countries likely to be affected , to the extent relevant or practicable: 
[X] All trading partners   
[ ] Specific regions or countries:    
5. Title of the notified document:  Proposed Rule: Importation of Plants for Planting 
(Docket No. APHIS-2008-0011)  Language(s):  English  Number of pages:  3 
http://www.regulations.gov/#!docu mentDetail;D=APH IS-2008-0011-0001  
6. Description of content:  The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service is proposing 
to restructure our regulations governing the importation of plants for planting. In the proposed structure, restrictions on the importat ion of specific types of plants for planting 
would no longer be found in the regulations, but instead would be found in the Plants for 
Planting Manual. We would change those restrictions after taking public comment through notices published in the Federal Register. As part of this restructuring, we would 
group together restrictions in the plants for planting regulations that apply to the 
importation of most or all plants for planting, and we would add general requirements for the development of integrated pest risk management measures that we would use to 
mitigate the risk associated with the importation of a specific type of plants for planting. 
We would also amend our foreign quarantine regulations to remove various provisions regarding the importation of specific types of plants for planting that are not currently subject to the general plants for planting regulations; these provisions would also be 
found in the Plants for Planting Manual. This action would not make any major changes 
to the restrictions that currently apply to the importation of plants for planting. These changes would make restrictions on the importation of specific types of plants for 
planting easier for reader s to find and less cumbersome for us to change. 
Federal Register, Vol. 78, No. 80, Thursday, 25 April 2013, Pages 24634-24663. 
7. Objective and rationale:  [ ] food safety, [ ] animal health, [X] plant protection, 
[ ] protect humans from animal/plant pest or disease, [ ] protect territory from 
other damage from pests.    G/SPS/N/USA/2537 
 
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  8. Is there a relevant international st andard?  If so, identify the standard:  
[ ] Codex Alimentarius Commission (e.g.  title or seri al number of Codex 
standard or related text)   
[ ] World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) (e.g. Terrestrial or Aquatic 
Animal Health Code, chapter number)    
[X] International Plant Protection Convention (e.g. ISPM number)    
[ ] None 
Does this proposed regulation conform to the relevant international standard?   
 [X] Yes   [ ] No 
 If no, describe, whenever possible,  how and why it deviates from the 
international standard:    
9. Other relevant documents and language (s) in which these are available:      
10. Proposed date of adoption (dd/mm/yy) :  Not applicable 
Proposed date of publication (dd/mm/yy) :  Not applicable 
11. Proposed date of entry into force:  [ ] Six months from date of publication , 
and/or  (dd/mm/yy) :  Not applicable 
[X] Trade facilitating measure   
12. Final date for comments:  [ ] Sixty days  from the date of circulation of the 
notification and/or (dd/mm/yy) :  24 June 2013 
Agency or authority designated to handle  comments:  [ ] National Notification 
Authority, [ ] National Enquiry Point.  Address, fax number and e-mail address 
(if available) of other body:   
You may submit comments by either of the following methods: 
Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to  
http://www.regulations.gov/#!docu mentDetail;D=APH IS-2008-0011-0001 . 
Postal Mail/Commercial Delivery: Send your comment to Docket No. APHIS-2008-0011, 
Regulatory Analysis and Development, PPD, APHIS, Station 3A-03.8, 4700 River Road Unit 118, Riverdale, MD 20737-1238. 
Supporting documents and any comments we receive on this docket may be viewed at 
http://www.regulations.gov/#!docketDetail;D=APHIS-2008-0011 . 
Ms Heather Coady, Regulatory Policy Specialist , Plants for Planting Policy, PPQ, APHIS, 
4700 River Road Unit 133, Riverdale, MD 20737; +(1 301) 851 2076. 
13. Texts available from:  [X] National Notifi cation Authority, [ ] National Enquiry 
Point.  Address, fax number and e-mail address (if available) of other body:    
United States SPS National Notification Auth ority, USDA Foreign Agricultural Service, 
International Regulations and Standards Division (IRSD), Stop 1014, Washington D.C. 20250; Tel: +(1 202) 720 1301; Fax: +(1 202) 720 0433; E-mail: 
us.spsenquirypoint@fas.usda.gov