. /.  WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  G/SPS/N/USA/1078 
25 May 2005 
 (05-2124) 
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:   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):  Flag Smut 
4. Regions or countries likely to be affected , to the extent relevant or practicable:  
Importation of wheat and related products fro m 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, L ithuania, Moldova, Morocco, Nepal, North 
Korea, Oman, Pakistan, Portugal, Romania, Ru ssia, Spain, Tajikistan, Tanzania, Tunisia, 
Turkey, Turkmenistan, South Africa, South Ko rea, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, and Venezuela.  
5. Title, language and number of pages of the notified document:   Flag Smut:  Importation 
of Wheat and Related Products;  Federal Register:  20 May 2005 (Vol. 70, No. 97) Pages 
29212-29214. 
6. Description of content:  Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service is proposing to amend 
the regulations regarding the importation of  wheat and related articles by removing the 
prohibitions related to flag smut.  Based  on a number of considerations, APHIS has 
concluded that U.S. wheat would not be at risk  if those prohibitions were removed.  APHIS 
would, however, continue to prohibit the im portation of wheat and related articles from 
flag smut-affected countries until a risk evalua tion can be completed to ensure that those 
articles do not introduce other plant pests.  This action would rem ove flag smut-related 
prohibitions that no longer appear to be n ecessary while continuing to provide protection 
against other potential pests or diseases of wheat. 
7. Objective and rationale:  [   ] food safety, [   ] animal health, [ X ] plant protection, 
[   ] protect humans from animal/plant pest or  disease,  [ X ]  pr otect territory from 
other damage from pests 
8. International standard, guideline or recommendation:  
[   ] Codex Alimentarius Commission, [   ] World Organization for Animal Health 
(OIE), [   ] International Plant Protection Convention, [ X ] None  
If an international standard, guideline or recommendation exists, give the appropriate 
reference and briefly identify deviations:    
9. Relevant documents and language(s ) in which these are available:  English G/SPS/N/USA/1078 
Page 2  
 
 10. Proposed date of adoption:   Undetermined 
11. Proposed date of entry into force:   Undetermined 
12. Final date for comments:  19 July 2005 
Agency or authority designated to handle comments:  [ X ] National notification 
authority, [   ] National enquiry point, or address, fax number and E-mail address (if available) of other body:    
Addresses:  You may submit comments by any of the following methods: 
 
EDOCKET:  Go to http://www.epa.gov/feddocket
 to submit or view public comments, 
access the index listing of the contents of th e official public docket, and to access those 
documents in the public docket that are av ailable electronically. Once you have entered  
EDOCKET, click on the "View Open APHIS Dockets'' link to locate this document. 
 
Postal Mail/Commercial Delivery: Please send f our copies of your comment (an original 
and three copies) to Docket No. 02-058-2, 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. 02-058-2.  Federal eRulemaking Portal:  Go to http://www.regulations.gov
 and follow the instructions for locating this docket and 
submitting comments. 
 
Other Information:  You may view APHIS doc uments published in the Federal Register 
and related information on the Internet at  http://www.aphis.usda.gov/ppd/rad/webrepor.html
 
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:   
Ms. Julie Morin, Acting U.S. SPS Enquiry Point Officer, USDA Foreign Agricultural 
Service, Food Safety & Technical Services Di vision, Stop 1027, W ashington, DC 20250.  
Tel:  (202) 720-4051, Fax:   (202) 690-0677, E-mail:  fstsd@usda.gov