. /.  WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  G/SPS/N/USA/1039 
28 February 2005 
 (05-0833) 
Committee on Sanitary a nd Phytosanitary Measures Original:   English 
  
 
NOTIFICATION  
 
1. Member to Agreement notifying:   UNITED STATES
 
If applicable, name of local government involved: 
2. Agency responsible:   U.S. Department of Agriculture-Animal and Plant Health Inspection 
Service-(APHIS) 
3. Products covered (provide tariff item numbe r(s) as specified in national schedules 
deposited with the WTO; ICS numbers should be provided in addition, where 
applicable):  Wheat 
4. Regions or countries likely to be affected , to the extent relevant or practicable:  
Trading Partners  
5. Title, language and number of pages of the notified document:   Karnal Bunt, Revision of 
Regulations for importing Wheat  Federal Register:  18 February 2005 (Volume 70, 
Number 33) Pages 8229-8233. http://frwebgate3.access.gpo.gov/cgi-
bin/waisgate.cgi?WAISdocID= 17854929887+0+0+0&WAIS action=retrieve  
or www.aphis.usda/ppd/ rad/webrepor.html   
Available in English. 5 pages. 
6. Description of content:   
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Se rvice (APHIS) is amending its regulations 
regarding the importation of wheat from regi ons affected with Karnal bunt (KB). The 
amendments, among other things, list such re gions, as well as articles regulated for KB; 
increase the flexibility of the regulations so  that they provide more readily for the 
recognition of areas where KB is not known to occur within regions where KB is known to 
be present; describe conditions, including requi rements for phytosanitary certificates, under 
which wheat and related articles from regions affected with KB are imported into the 
United States; and specify cleaning and/or disinfection requirements for imported farm 
machinery and other equipment used to handl e or store KB-positive seed or host crops. The 
changes make our regulations regarding the im portation of wheat and related articles from 
regions affected with Karnal bunt substantiv ely equivalent to our domestic Karnal bunt 
regulations and make the fo rmer consistent with inte rnational agreements.   
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/1039 
Page 2  
 
 8. International standard, guideline or recommendation:  
[   ] Codex Alimentarius Commission, [   ] World Organization for Animal Health 
(OIE), [ X ] International Plant Protection Convention, [   ] None  
If an international standard, guideline or recommendation exists, give the appropriate 
reference and briefly identify deviations:   International Standard for Phytosanitary 
Measures (ISPM) No. 4, "Requirements for the establishment of pest free areas.'" 
9. Relevant documents and language(s) in which these are available:  On 3 March 2004, 
APHIS published in the Federal Register  (69 FR 9976-9982) a proposal to amend the 
regulations regarding karnal bunt.  
On 18 February 2005, APHIS published in the Federal Register  (70 CFR 8229-8233) the 
final rule. 
10. Proposed date of adoption:   21 March 2005 
11. Proposed date of entry into force:   21 March 2005 
12. Final date for comments:   
Agency or authority designated to handle comments:  [   ] National notification 
authority, [ X ] National enquiry point, or  address, fax number and E-mail address (if 
available) of other body:    
Julie Morin 
United States SPS Enquiry Point Officer Food Safety & Technical Services Division USDA Foreign Agricultural Service 
Telephone:  202 720 4051 
Fax:  202 690 0677 Email:  fstsd@fas.usda.gov 
13. Texts available from:  [   ] National notificati on authority, [ X ] National enquiry point, 
or address, fax number and E-mail address (if available) of other body: 
Julie Morin 
United States SPS Enquiry Point Officer 
Food Safety & Technical Services Division USDA Foreign Agricultural Service Telephone:  202 720 4051 Fax:  202 690 0677 
Email:  fstsd@fas.usda.gov