Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 184 / Tuesday, September 23, 1997 / Rules and Regulations 49593

Done in Washington, DC, this 17th day of

September 1997.

Craig A. Reed,

Acting Administrator, Animal and Plant

Health Inspection Service.

[FR Doc. 97–25214 Filed 9–22–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3410–34–P

FARM CREDIT SYSTEM INSURANCE

CORPORATION

12 CFR Part 1402

RIN 3055–AA06

Releasing Information

AGENCY: Farm Credit System Insurance

Corporation.

ACTION: Final rule.

SUMMARY: The Farm Credit System

Insurance Corporation (Corporation),

through the Corporation Board (Board),

issues a final rule amending its

regulations governing the release of

information. The objective of this action

is to conform applicable Corporation

regulations to the requirements of the

Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), 5

U.S.C. 552, as amended by the

Electronic Freedom of Information Act

Amendments of 1996 (1996

Amendments), Pub. L. 104–231, and to

clarify the address of the official who

receives FOIA requests for records.

EFFECTIVE DATE: October 2, 1997.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Dorothy L. Nichols, General Counsel,

Farm Credit System Insurance

Corporation, McLean, VA 22102, (703)

883–4211, TDD (703) 883–4444.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Through

the Electronic Freedom of Information

Act Amendments of 1996, Congress

amended the FOIA to address, among

other things, the timing of agency

responses to FOIA requests. The FOIA

was amended to increase the time limit

for agency responses from 10 to 20

working days. Another time-related

amendment requires agencies to

promulgate regulations under which

requests for expedited processing will

be considered and to grant such requests

upon a showing of a compelling need.

These amendments are effective October

2, 1997.

In response to the amendment of the

FOIA, the Corporation is amending its

regulations at part 1402, subpart B, as a

final rule. The amendments to part

1402, subpart B, reflect the requirements

of the FOIA, as amended, and are not

interpretative. The 1996 Amendments

provide Federal agencies with no

discretion and require the time-related

amendments to be effective on October

2, 1997. Moreover, the regulations that

the Corporation adopts to implement

the 1996 Amendments and to clarify the

address of the Freedom of Information

Officer are ministerial, minor, technical,

and noncontroversial. For these reasons,

the Corporation finds good cause to

determine that public notice and

comment for this regulation are

unnecessary, impractical, and contrary

to the public interest, pursuant to the

Administrative Procedure Act, 5 U.S.C.

553(a)(3)(B).

Sections 1402.13 and 1402.14 (a) and

(d) are amended to reflect that, effective

October 2, 1997, the Corporation will

have 20 days within which to respond

to FOIA requests for records.

Section 1402.13 is also amended to

provide that FOIA requests for records

should be addressed to the Freedom of

Information Officer, Farm Credit System

Insurance Corporation, 1501 Farm

Credit Drive, McLean, VA 22102.

Finally, the Corporation has added

new § 1402.14(e) to address the new

requirement that the Corporation

promulgate regulations concerning the

granting of a request for expedited

processing of a FOIA request upon a

requester’s showing of a compelling

need for the information. The new

regulation requires the Freedom of

Information Officer to notify a requester

within 10 calendar days after receipt of

such a request whether the Corporation

granted expedited processing and, if so,

to process the request as soon as

practicable. The regulation defines

‘‘compelling need’’ to mean that a

failure to obtain the requested records

on an expedited basis could reasonably

be expected to pose an imminent threat

to the life or physical safety of an

individual, or, with respect to a request

made by a person primarily engaged in

disseminating information, that there is

an urgency to inform the public

concerning actual or alleged Federal

Government activity. The regulation

further provides that a requester

demonstrate a compelling need by a

statement certified by the requester to be

true and correct to the best of such

person’s knowledge and belief. The

procedures for expedited processing

apply to both requests for information

and to administrative appeals.

The remaining provisions of the 1996

Amendments to the FOIA do not require

amendment of the Corporation’s

regulations governing the release of

information at part 1402.

List of Subjects in 12 CFR Part 1402

Courts, Freedom of information,

Government employees.

For the reasons stated in the

preamble, part 1402 of chapter XIV, title

12 of the Code of Federal Regulations is

amended to read as follows:

PART 1402—RELEASING

INFORMATION

1. The authority citation for part 1402

is revised to read as follows:

Authority: Secs. 5.58, 5.59 of the Farm

Credit Act (12 U.S.C. 2277a–7, 2277a–8); 5

U.S.C. 552; 52 FR 10012; E.O. 12600, 52 FR

23781, 3 CFR, 1987 Comp., p. 235.

Subpart B—Availability of Records of

the Farm Credit System Insurance

Corporation

2. Section 1402.13 is revised to read

as follows:

§ 1402.13 Request for records.

Requests for records shall be in

writing and addressed to the attention of

the Freedom of Information Officer,

Farm Credit System Insurance

Corporation, McLean, Virginia 22102. A

request improperly addressed will be

deemed not to have been received for

purposes of the 20-day time period set

forth in § 1402.14(a) of this part until it

is received, or would have been

received, by the Freedom of Information

Officer with the exercise of due

diligence by Corporation personnel.

Records requested in conformance with

this subpart and which are not exempt

records may be received in person or by

mail as specified in the request. Records

to be received in person will be

available for inspection or copying

during business hours on a regular

business day in the offices of the Farm

Credit System Insurance Corporation,

1501 Farm Credit Drive, McLean,

Virginia 22102.

3. Section 1402.14 is amended by

revising paragraphs (a) and (d) and

adding paragraph (e) to read as follows:

§ 1402.14 Response to requests for

records.

(a) Within 20 days (excluding

Saturdays, Sundays, and legal public

holidays), or any extensions thereof as

provided in paragraph (d) of this

section, of the receipt of a request by the

Freedom of Information Officer, the

Freedom of Information Officer shall

determine whether to comply with or

deny such a request and transmit a

written notice thereof to the requester.

* * * * *

(d) In ‘‘unusual circumstances,’’ the

20-day time limit prescribed in

paragraphs (a) and (c) of this section, or

both, may be extended by the Freedom

of Information Officer or, in the case of

an appeal, by the General Counsel,

provided that the total of all extensions

does not exceed 10 days (excluding
49594 Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 184 / Tuesday, September 23, 1997 / Rules and Regulations

Saturdays, Sundays, and legal public

holidays). Extensions shall be made by

written notice to the requester setting

forth the reasons for the extension and

the date on which a determination is

expected to be dispatched. As used in

this paragraph, ‘‘unusual

circumstances’’ means, but only to the

extent reasonably necessary to the

proper processing of the request:

(1) The need to search for and collect

the requested records from facilities or

other establishments that are separate

from the office processing the request;

(2) The need to search for, collect, and

appropriately examine a voluminous

amount of separate and distinct records

which are demanded in a single request;

or

(3) The need for consultation, which

shall be conducted with all practicable

speed, with another agency having a

substantial interest in the determination

of the request or among two or more

components of the agency having a

substantial subject matter interest

therein.

(e) A requester may obtain, upon

request, expedited processing of a

request for records when the requester

demonstrates a ‘‘compelling need’’ for

the information. The Freedom of

Information Officer will notify the

requester within 10 calendar days after

receipt of such a request whether the

Corporation granted expedited

processing. If expedited processing was

granted, the request will be processed as

soon as practicable.

(1) For the purposes of this paragraph,

‘‘compelling need’’ means:

(i) That a failure to obtain requested

records on an expedited basis could

reasonably be expected to pose an

imminent threat to the life or physical

safety of an individual; or

(ii) With respect to a request made by

a person primarily engaged in

disseminating information, urgency to

inform the public concerning actual or

alleged Federal Government activity.

(2) A requester shall demonstrate a

compelling need by a statement certified

by the requester to be true and correct

to the best of such person’s knowledge

and belief.

(3) The procedures of this paragraph

(e) for expedited processing apply to

both requests for information and to

administrative appeals.

Dated: September 17, 1997.

Floyd Fithian,

Secretary, Farm Credit System Insurance

Corporation Board.

[FR Doc. 97–25237 Filed 9–22–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6710–01–P

DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY

Customs Service

19 CFR Part 12

[T.D. 97–80]

RIN 1515–AC22

Import Restrictions Imposed on

Archaeological Artifacts From Mali

AGENCY: U.S. Customs Service,

Department of the Treasury.

ACTION: Final rule.

SUMMARY: This document amends the

Customs Regulations to reflect the

imposition of import restrictions on

culturally significant archaeological

artifacts from the region of the Niger

River Valley of Mali and the Bandiagara

Escarpment (Cliff), Mali. These

restrictions are being imposed pursuant

to an agreement between the United

States and Mali that has been entered

into under the authority of the

Convention on Cultural Property

Implementation Act in accordance with

the United Nations Educational,

Scientific and Cultural Organization

(UNESCO) Convention on the Means of

Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit

Import, Export and Transfer of

Ownership of Cultural Property. The

document also contains the Designated

List of Archaeological Material that

describes the articles to which the

restrictions apply. These import

restrictions imposed pursuant to the

bilateral agreement between the United

States and Mali continue the import

restrictions that were imposed on an

emergency basis in 1993. Accordingly,

this document amends the Customs

Regulations by removing Mali from the

listing of countries for which emergency

actions imposed the import restrictions

and adding Mali to the list of countries

for which an agreement has been

entered into for imposing import

restrictions.

EFFECTIVE DATE: September 23, 1997.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

(Legal Aspects) Donnette Rimmer,

Intellectual Property Rights Branch

(202) 482–6960; (Operational Aspects)

Joan E. Sebanaler, Trade Operations

(202) 927–0402.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

The value of cultural property,

whether archaeological or ethnological

in nature, is immeasurable. Such items

often constitute the very essence of a

society and convey important

information concerning a people’s

origin, history, and traditional setting.

The importance and popularity of such

items regrettably makes them targets of

theft, encourages clandestine looting of

archaeological sites, and results in their

illegal export and import.

The U.S. shares in the international

concern for the need to protect

endangered cultural property. The

appearance in the U.S. of stolen or

illegally exported artifacts from other

countries where there has been pillage

has, on occasion, strained our foreign

and cultural relations. This situation,

combined with the concerns of

museum, archaeological, and scholarly

communities, was recognized by the

President and Congress. It became

apparent that it was in the national

interest for the U.S. to join with other

countries to control illegal trafficking of

such articles in international commerce.

The U.S. joined international efforts

and actively participated in

deliberations resulting in the 1970

UNESCO Convention on the Means of

Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit

Import, Export and Transfer of

Ownership of Cultural Property (823

U.N.T.S. 231 (1972)). U.S. acceptance of

the 1970 UNESCO Convention was

codified into U.S. law as the

‘‘Convention on Cultural Property

Implementation Act’’ (Pub.L. 97–446, 19

U.S.C. 2601 et seq.) (‘‘the Act’’). This

was done to promote U.S. leadership in

achieving greater international

cooperation towards preserving cultural

treasures that are of importance not only

to the nations whence they originate,

but also to greater international

understanding of mankind’s common

heritage. The U.S. is, to date, the only

major art importing country to

implement the 1970 Convention.

During the past several years, import

restrictions have been imposed on an

emergency basis on archaeological and

ethnological artifacts of a number of

signatory nations as a result of requests

for protection received from those

nations as well as pursuant to bilateral

agreements between the United States

and other countries.

Mali has been one of the countries

whose archaeological material has been

afforded emergency protection. In T.D.

93–74, § 12.104g(b), Customs

Regulations, (19 CFR § 12.104g(b)) was

amended to reflect that archaeological

material from the region of the Niger

River Valley in Mali and the Bandiagara

Escarpment (Cliff) in Mali forming part

of the remains of the ancient sub-Sahara

culture received import protection

under the emergency protection

provisions of the Act.

Import restrictions are now being

imposed on these same archaeological

artifacts from Mali as the result of a