[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 86 (Wednesday, May 3, 2000)]
[Notices]
[Page 25701]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-11054]



[[Page 25701]]

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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service

[Docket No. 00-032-1]


Availability of Draft Pest Risk Assessment for the Importation of 
Honeybees and Honeybee Germ Plasm from Australia

AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, USDA.

ACTION: Notice and request for comments.

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SUMMARY: We are advising the public that a draft pest risk assessment 
has been prepared by the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service for 
the importation of honeybees and honeybee germ plasm from Australia. We 
are making this draft pest risk assessment available to the public for 
review and comment.

DATES: We invite you to comment on the draft pest risk assessment. We 
will consider all comments that we receive by July 3, 2000.

ADDRESSES: Please send your comment and three copies to: Docket No. 00-
032-1, Regulatory Analysis and Development, PPD, APHIS, Suite 3C03, 
4700 River Road, Unit 118, Riverdale, MD 20737-1238.
    Please state that your comment refers to Docket No. 00-032-1.
    A copy of the draft pest risk assessment, and any comments that we 
receive on it, may be reviewed 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.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. Wayne F. Wehling, Entomologist, 
Permits and Risk Assessments, PPQ, APHIS, 4700 River Road Unit 133, 
Riverdale, MD 20737-1236; (301) 734-8757.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Animal and Plant Health Inspection 
Service (APHIS) of the U.S. Department of Agriculture has received a 
request from the Government of Australia to allow the importation into 
the United States of adult honeybees (Apis mellifera) (specifically 
queens and package bees) and honeybee germ plasm from Australia. The 
request was made in accordance with the General Agreement on Tariffs 
and Trade.
    To determine whether the risk associated with such importation is 
low enough for us to initiate rulemaking to implement this change to 
our regulations, we have prepared a draft pest risk assessment, 
entitled ``Pest Risk Assessment: Importation of Adult Queens, Package 
Bees, and Germ Plasm of Honeybees (Apis mellifera L.) From Australia,'' 
in consultation with the Government of Australia. The draft pest risk 
assessment identifies quarantine pests associated with the importation 
of honeybees and honeybee germ plasm from Australia and qualitatively 
assesses the likelihood of the introduction of these quarantine pests 
into the United States, as well as the consequences of introduction.
    We are making this draft pest risk assessment available to the 
public for review and comment. In particular, we request feedback on 
the risk factors, methodology, and documentation used in the draft pest 
risk assessment. We will consider all comments that we receive by the 
date listed under the heading DATES at the beginning of this notice.
    The draft pest risk assessment is available in our reading room 
(information on the location and hours of the reading room is listed 
under the heading ADDRESSES at the beginning of this notice), on the 
Internet at http://www.aphis.usda.gov/ppq/pra/honeybees/, by calling 
the Plant Protection and Quarantine automated fax retrieval system at 
(301) 734-3560 and requesting document 0029, or by contacting the 
person listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT.

    Authority: 7 U.S.C. 281; 7 CFR 2.22, 2.80, and 371.2(c).

    Done in Washington, DC, this 28th day of April 2000.
Bobby R. Acord,
Acting Administrator, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
[FR Doc. 00-11054 Filed 5-2-00; 8:45 am]
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