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

8210

Vol. 62, No. 36

Monday, February 24, 1997

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Special Provisions for Canadian Fresh

Fruit and Vegetable Imports Under the

North American Free Trade Agreement

AGENCY: Office of the Secretary, USDA.

ACTION: Notice of Determination of

Existence of Conditions Necessary for

Imposition of Temporary Duty on

Cabbage From Canada.

SUMMARY: As required by section 301(a)

of the United States-Canada Free-Trade

Agreement Implementation Act of 1988,

as amended by the North American Free

Trade Agreement Implementation Act

(‘‘FTA Implementation Act’’), this is a

notification that the Secretary of

Agriculture has determined that the

necessary conditions exist with respect

to United States acreage and import

price criteria for cabbage classifiable to

subheadings 0704902000 of the

Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the

United States (HTS) imported from

Canada to permit the Secretary to

consider recommending to the President

that imposition of a temporary duty

(‘‘snapback duty’’) by the United States

pursuant to section 301(a) of the FTA

Implementation Act, implementing

Article 702 of the United States-Canada

Free-Trade Agreement, Special

Provisions for Fresh Fruits and

Vegetables, as incorporated by reference

and made a part of the North American

Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA)

pursuant to Annex 702.1, paragraph 1 of

NAFTA.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Howard Wetzel, Horticultural &

Tropical Products Division, Foreign

Agricultural Service, U.S. Department of

Agriculture, Washington, DC 20250–

1000 or telephone at (202) 720–3423.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The FTA

Implementation Act, in accordance with

the NAFTA, authorizes the imposition

of a temporary duty (snapback) for a

limited group of fresh fruits and

vegetables from Canada when certain

conditions exist. Cabbage, classified

under subheadings 0704902000 of the

HTS is a good subject to the snapback

duty provision.

Under section 301(a) of the FTA

Implementation Act, two conditions

must exist before imposition by the

United States of a snapback duty can be

considered. First, the import price of a

covered Canadian fruit or vegetable, for

each of five consecutive working days,

must be less than ninety percent of the

corresponding five-year average

monthly import price. This price for a

particular day is the average import

price of a Canadian fresh fruit or

vegetable imported into the United

States from Canada, for the calendar

month in which that day occurs, in each

of the five preceding years, excluding

the years with the highest and lowest

monthly averages.

Second, the planted acreage in the

United States for the like fruit or

vegetable must be no higher than the

average planted acreage over the

preceding five years, excluding the

years with the highest and lowest

acreage.

From November 18 to November 22,

1996, the price conditions with respect

to cabbage were met.

The most recent revision of planted

acreage for cabbage shows that this

year’s planted acreage is below the

planted acreage over the preceding five

years, excluding the years with the

highest and lowest planted acreages.

Issued at Washington, D.C. the 12th day of

February 1997.

Dan Glickman,

Secretary of Agriculture.

[FR Doc. 97–4413 Filed 2–21–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3410–10–M

Animal and Plant Health Inspection

Service

[Docket No. 96–101–1]

Revision of the International Plant

Protection Convention

AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health

Inspection Service, USDA.

ACTION: Notice and solicitation of

comments.

SUMMARY: We are giving notice that the

International Plant Protection

Convention (IPPC), an international

treaty developed to control the global

spread of plant pests, is currently being

revised to meet the changing needs of

plant protection and international trade.

The United States is a signatory to the

IPPC, and the United States Department

of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant

Health Inspection Service is the lead

U.S. agency participating in the

technical discussions with other

member countries and the Food and

Agriculture Organization of the United

Nations to revise the IPPC. This notice

contains the entire text of the current

IPPC with guidance on which areas are

being considered for updates or

revisions. We are soliciting public

comment on any aspect of the scope,

coverage, or institutions of the current

IPPC.

DATES: Consideration will be given only

to comments received on or before April

10, 1997.

ADDRESSES: Please send an original and

three copies of your comments to

Docket No. 96–101–1, Regulatory

Analysis and Development, PPD,

APHIS, suite 3C03, 4700 River Road

Unit 118, Riverdale, MD 20737–1238.

Please state that your comments refer to

Docket No. 96–101–1. Comments

received may be inspected at USDA,

room 1141, South Building, 14th Street

and Independence Avenue SW.,

Washington, DC, between 8 a.m. and

4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday,

except holidays. Persons wishing to

inspect comments are requested to call

ahead on (202) 690–2817 to facilitate

entry into the comment reading room.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr.

Robert Griffin, Senior Plant Pathologist,

Risk Analysis Systems, PPD, APHIS,

4700 River Road Unit 117, Riverdale,

MD 20737–1228, (301) 734–3576,

rgriffin@aphis.usda.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

As the result of the World Trade

Organization (WTO) Agreement on

Sanitary and Phytosanitary measures

(commonly referred to as the ‘‘SPS

Agreement’’), contracting parties,

including the United States, are

committed to harmonizing their human,

animal, and plant health import

requirements by basing their sanitary

and phytosanitary (SPS) import

measures on international standards

(SPS Agreement Article 3.1). The SPS

Agreement recognizes three

international standard-setting bodies as