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

63448 

Vol. 78, No. 206 

Thursday, October 24, 2013 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Agricultural Marketing Service 

[Document No. AMS–ST–13–0059] 

Plant Variety Protection Board; Open 

Meeting 

AGENCY: Agricultural Marketing Service, 

USDA. 

ACTION: Notice of meeting. 

SUMMARY: This notice is intended to 

notify the public of their opportunity to 

attend an open meeting of the Plant 

Variety Protection Board. 

DATES: December 9, 2013, 1:00 p.m. to 

5:00 p.m. and December 10, 2013, 8:00 

a.m. to 5:00 p.m., open to the public. 

ADDRESSES: The meeting will be held at 

the Water Tower Room of the Hyatt 

Regency Chicago Hotel, 151 East Wacker 

Drive, Chicago, IL 60601. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. 

Maria Pratt, Plant Variety Protection 

Office, Science and Technology 

Programs, Agricultural Marketing 

Service, United States Department of 

Agriculture, 1400 Independence Avenue 

SW., Washington, DC 20250. Telephone 

number (202) 260–8983, fax (202) 260– 

8976, or email: maria.pratt@

ams.usda.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Pursuant 

to the provisions of section 10(a) of the 

Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 

U.S.C., Appendix 2), this notice is given 

regarding an upcoming Plant Variety 

Protection (PVP) Board meeting. The 

Plant Variety Protection Act (PVPA) 

(7 U.S.C. 2321 et seq.) provides legal 

protection in the form of intellectual 

property rights to developers of new 

varieties of plants, which are 

reproduced sexually by seed or are 

tuber-propagated. A Certificate of Plant 

Variety Protection is awarded to an 

owner of a crop variety after an 

examination shows that it is new, 

distinct from other varieties, genetically 

uniform and stable through successive 

generations. The term of protection is 20 

years for most crops and 25 years for 

trees, shrubs, and vines. The PVPA also 

provides for a statutory Board (7 U.S.C. 

2327). The duties of the Board are to: (1) 

Advise the Secretary concerning the 

adoption of rules and regulations to 

facilitate the proper administration of 

the Act; (2) provide advisory counsel to 

the Secretary on appeals concerning 

decisions on applications by the PVP 

Office and on requests for emergency 

public-interest compulsory licenses; and 

(3) advise the Secretary on any other 

matters under the Regulations and Rules 

of Practice and on all questions under 

Section 44 of the Act, ‘‘Public Interest 

in Wide Usage’’ (7 U.S.C. 2404). 

The purpose of the meeting will be to 

discuss the PVP Office’s 2013 

achievements, 2014 work plan and 

outreach plan, ongoing process 

improvements, updates on electronic 

applications/database conversion, plans 

for PVP recognition by other countries, 

the activity of the subcommittee to 

evaluate molecular techniques for PVP 

distinctness characterization and 

proposals for procedure changes. The 

proposed agenda for the PVP Board 

meeting will include a welcome by 

Department officials followed by a 

discussion focusing on program 

activities that encourage the 

development of new plant varieties and 

address appeals to the Secretary. The 

agenda will also include presentations 

on PVP plans for the future, electronic 

PVP application/computer database 

development, and the use of molecular 

markers for PVP applications. 

The meeting will be open to the 

public. Those wishing to attend or 

phone into the meeting are encouraged 

to pre-register by December 2, 2013 with 

the person listed under FOR FURTHER

INFORMATION CONTACT. Meeting 

Accommodations: The meeting hotel is 

ADA Compliant, and the USDA 

provides reasonable accommodation to 

individuals with disabilities where 

appropriate. If you require 

accommodations, such as sign language 

interpreter, please contact the person 

listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION

CONTACT. Determinations for reasonable 

accommodation will be made on a caseby-case basis. Minutes of the meeting 

will be available for public review 30 

days following the meeting at the 

Internet Web site http://

www.ams.usda.gov/PVPO. 

Dated: October 17, 2013. 

Rex A. Barnes, 

Associate Administrator, Agricultural 

Marketing Service. 

[FR Doc. 2013–24820 Filed 10–23–13; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE M 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Animal and Plant Health Inspection 

Service 

[Docket No. APHIS–2013–0017] 

Notice of Decision To Allow Interstate 

Movement of Sapote Fruit From Puerto 

Rico Into the Continental United States 

AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health 

Inspection Service, USDA. 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: We are advising the public of 

our decision to begin allowing the 

interstate movement into the 

continental United States of fresh sapote 

fruit from Puerto Rico. Based on the 

findings of a pest risk analysis, which 

we made available to the public for 

review and comment through a previous 

notice, we believe that the application 

of one or more designated phytosanitary 

measures will be sufficient to mitigate 

the risks of introducing or disseminating 

plant pests or noxious weeds via the 

interstate movement of sapote fruit from 

Puerto Rico. 

DATES: Effective Date: October 24, 2013. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. 

David Lamb, Regulatory Policy 

Specialist, PPQ, APHIS, 4700 River 

Road Unit 133, Riverdale, MD 20737– 

1231; (301) 851–2103. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background 

Under the regulations in ‘‘Subpart— 

Regulated Articles From Hawaii and the 

Territories’’ (7 CFR 318.13–1 through 

318.13–26, referred to below as the 

regulations), the Animal and Plant 

Health Inspection Service (APHIS) of 

the U.S. Department of Agriculture 

prohibits or restricts the interstate 

movement of fruits and vegetables into 

the continental United States from 

Hawaii, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin 

Islands, Guam, and the Commonwealth 

of the Northern Mariana Islands to 

prevent plant pests and noxious weeds 

from being introduced into and spread 

within the continental United States. 

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