This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER

contains documents other than rules or

proposed rules that are applicable to the

public. Notices of hearings and investigations,

committee meetings, agency decisions and

rulings, delegations of authority, filing of

petitions and applications and agency

statements of organization and functions are

examples of documents appearing in this

section.

Notices Federal Register

38033 

Vol. 77, No. 123 

Tuesday, June 26, 2012 

1http://www.aphis.usda.gov/import_export/ 

plants/plant_imports/process/. 

2https://public.govdelivery.com/accounts/ 

USDAAPHIS/subscriber/new. 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Animal and Plant Health Inspection 

Service 

[Docket No. APHIS–2012–0006] 

Notice of Establishment of a 

Commodity Import Approval Process 

Web Site 

AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health 

Inspection Service, USDA. 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: We are announcing the 

creation of a new Plant Protection and 

Quarantine Web site that will provide 

stakeholders with information about the 

commodity import approval process for 

plants and plant products and give them 

the opportunity to consult with us on 

risk assessments as they are being 

drafted. We are doing this in response 

to stakeholder requests for more 

information about the commodity 

import approval process and the 

opportunity to comment on draft risk 

assessments. This Web site will make 

the commodity import approval process 

more visible to stakeholders and allow 

them to comment on draft risk 

assessments. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. 

Charisse Cleare, Project Coordinator, 

Regulations, Permits, and Manuals, 

PPQ, APHIS, 4700 River Road Unit 156, 

Riverdale, MD 20737–1231; (301) 851– 

2037. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 

regulations contained in 7 CFR part 319 

(referred to below as the regulations) 

prohibit or restrict the importation of 

plants, plant parts, and plant products 

into the United States in accordance 

with the authority conferred on the 

Secretary of Agriculture by the Plant 

Protection Act (PPA, 7 U.S.C. 7701 et 

seq.). The Animal and Plant Health 

Inspection Service (APHIS) is the U.S. 

Department of Agriculture agency 

responsible for enforcing the regulations 

and considering requests to amend the 

regulations to allow the importation of 

plants, plant parts, or plant products 

that are not currently allowed 

importation under the regulations. 

Persons who request changes to the 

import regulations and who wish to 

import plants, plant parts, or plant 

products that are not allowed 

importation into the United States, must 

file a request with APHIS for 

consideration to determine whether the 

new commodity may be safely 

imported. The regulations in § 319.5 set 

forth the procedures for submitting 

requests and supporting information, 

which includes information about the 

requestor, information about the 

commodity to be imported, shipping 

information, a description of pests and 

diseases associated with the commodity, 

risk mitigation or management 

strategies, and additional information as 

determined by APHIS to complete a pest 

risk analysis in accordance with 

international standards. Once the risk 

analysis has been completed and APHIS 

makes the determination that the risks 

associated with the commodity in 

question can be adequately mitigated, 

the risk analysis is made available for 

public comment either through a notice 

published in the Federal Register or as 

a supporting document with a proposed 

rule published in the Federal Register. 

Our stakeholders have expressed an 

interest in knowing more about the 

commodity import approval process and 

participating at an earlier stage in the 

development of risk assessments as they 

are being drafted. To this end, APHIS’ 

Plant Protection and Quarantine (PPQ) 

program has created a Web site 1 that 

will provide stakeholders with 

information about the commodity 

import approval process for plants and 

plant products, including fruits, 

vegetables, plants for planting, cut 

flowers, wood, and wood products. The 

Web site will describe each major step 

in the commodity import approval 

process, including a general description 

of the following: Determination of the 

import status of a commodity, 

submission of a request by a national 

plant protection organization, initiation 

and drafting of risk assessment and risk 

management documents, completion of 

an environmental review, and 

publication and implementation of new 

requirements, as applicable. 

The Web site will also provide a 

means for stakeholders to consult with 

PPQ on drafts of risk assessments. To do 

this, stakeholders will first need to 

subscribe to the APHIS stakeholder 

registry 2 and submit an email address, 

which will be used to send an alert 

whenever a draft risk assessment 

becomes available for comment. We will 

post the draft risk assessment on the 

Web site for 30 days to give stakeholders 

an opportunity to review the draft and 

provide comments via email. We will 

consider the comments and make 

changes if warranted. While we will not 

provide individual responses to 

stakeholders who have submitted 

comments on the draft risk assessment, 

we will continue to respond to 

comments submitted after availability of 

the completed risk assessment is 

announced in the Federal Register. 

Questions concerning PPQ’s Web site 

for the commodity import approval 

process for plants and plant products 

may be directed to the person listed 

under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION

CONTACT. 

Done in Washington, DC, this 20th day of 

June 2012. 

Kevin Shea, 

Acting Administrator, Animal and Plant 

Health Inspection Service. 

[FR Doc. 2012–15562 Filed 6–25–12; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–34–P 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Foreign Agricultural Service 

WTO Agricultural Safeguard Trigger 

Levels 

AGENCY: Foreign Agricultural Service, 

U.S. Department of Agriculture 

ACTION: Notice of product coverage and 

trigger levels for safeguard measures 

provided for in the World Trade 

Organization (WTO) Agreement on 

Agriculture; Correction 

SUMMARY: The Foreign Agricultural 

Service published a document in the 

Federal Register of May 25, 2012, 

updating the trigger levels for products 

which may be subject to measures under 

the safeguard provisions of the WTO 


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