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###### Department of Agriculture

###### Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service

          - [Docket No. APHIS-2024-0001]

# AGENCY:

Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, USDA.

# ACTION:

Notice.

# SUMMARY:

                        We are proposing to authorize the importation of                         *Phalaenopsis*                         spp. orchid plants from Germany and the Netherlands in approved growing media into the United States. As a condition of entry,                         *Phalaenopsis*                         spp. orchid plants in approved growing media from Germany and the Netherlands would have to meet all relevant requirements included in the U.S. Department of Agriculture Plants for Planting Manual and detailed in a bilateral workplan. This proposed action would allow for the importation of                         *Phalaenopsis*                         spp. orchid plants for planting from Germany and the Netherlands in approved growing media while providing protection against the introduction of plant pests.                    

# DATES:

We will consider all comments that we receive on or before January 6, 2025.

# ADDRESSES:

You may submit comments by either of the following methods:
      -  Federal eRulemaking Portal:                          Go to                          www.regulations.gov.                          Enter APHIS-2024-0001 in the Search field. Select the Documents tab, then select the Comment button in the list of documents.                    
      -  Postal Mail/Commercial Delivery:                          Send your comment to Docket No. APHIS-2024-0001, Regulatory Analysis and Development, PPD, APHIS, Station 2C-10.16, 4700 River Road, Unit 25, Riverdale, MD 20737-1238.                    

                        Supporting documents and any comments we receive on this docket may be viewed at                         *http://www.regulations.gov*                         or in our reading room, which is located in room 1620 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) 799-7039 before coming.                    

# FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

                        Dr. Narasimha Chary Samboju, Senior Regulatory Policy Specialist, PPQ, APHIS, 4700 River Road, Unit 133, Riverdale, MD 20737-1236; (301) 851-2038;                         *Narasimha.C.Samboju@aphis.usda.gov.*

# SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

## Background

Under the regulations in “Subpart H-Plants for Planting” (7 CFR 319.37-1 through 319.37-23, referred to below as the regulations), the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) prohibits or restricts the importation of plants for planting (including living plants, plant parts, seeds, and plant cuttings) to prevent the introduction of quarantine pests into the United States.

Section 319.37-10 restricts the importation of plants for planting in approved growing media, with exceptions. Paragraph (d) of § 319.37-10 states that certain types of plants for planting, as listed in the USDA Plants for Planting Manual, may be imported when they are established in a growing medium approved by the Administrator and produced in accordance with additional requirements specified in the manual.

                    Section 319.37-20 contains provisions for making changes to the list of plants for planting that may be imported in approved growing media, as well as restrictions for the importation of those types of plants for planting beyond the general restrictions in §§ 319.37-5 through 319.37-11. To initiate a change to the list, APHIS will publish in the                     **Federal Register**                     a notice for public comment announcing our proposal to add, change, or remove restrictions on the importation of a specific type of plants for planting. After close of the comment period, we will review comments and issue a second notice announcing the specific restrictions, if any, that APHIS has determined to be necessary to mitigate pest risk. Any changes to the list of types of plants for planting whose importation is subject to additional restrictions, and the specific restrictions applicable to them, will be made to the USDA Plants for Planting Manual and the Agricultural Commodity Import Requirements database (ACIR).[1] 

                    Currently, the entry of                     *Phalaenopsis*                     spp. orchid plants in approved growing media from Germany and the Netherlands into the United States is not authorized. Germany and the Netherlands have requested that importation into the United States of                     *Phalaenopsis*                     spp. orchid plants in approved growing media be allowed pursuant to § 319.37-10(d).                

                    To be eligible for importation, plants for planting in approved growing media must be of approved plant taxa and come from a facility that is part of an approved growing media program approved by APHIS. Basic requirements [2]                                          applicable to all plant taxa in approved growing media are listed in chapter 7 of the USDA Plants for Planting Manual and ACIR. Among these basic requirements, taxa imported in approved growing media from approved facilities must:                
    - Be accompanied by a phytosanitary certificate issued by the national plant protection organization (NPPO) of the country in which the plants were grown;
    - Be only in approved growing media;
    - Be grown in compliance with a written agreement (bilateral work plan);
    - Be developed from mother stock that was inspected and found free from evidence of quarantine pests;
    - Be grown solely in a greenhouse in which sanitary procedures adequate to exclude quarantine pests are always employed;
    - Be rooted and grown in an active state of foliar growth for at least 4 consecutive months immediately prior to importation into the United States;       ( print page 88000)      
    - Be grown from seeds germinated in the greenhouse unit; or descended from a mother plant that was grown for at least 9 months in the exporting country prior to importation into the United States of the descendant plants;
    - Be watered only with rainwater that has been boiled or pasteurized, with clean well water, or with potable water;
    - Be rooted and grown in approved growing media;
    - Be stored and packaged only in areas free of sand, soil, earth, and quarantine pests; and
    - Be inspected in the greenhouse and found free from evidence of quarantine pests by an APHIS inspector or an inspector of the NPPO of the exporting country.

In addition, the grower is required to comply with the provisions of the program and to allow inspectors, and representatives of the NPPO of the exporting country, access to where the plants are grown. These requirements have been used successfully to mitigate the risk of pest introduction associated with the importation into the United States of approved plants established in approved growing media.

                    Beyond the basic requirements for import eligibility applicable to all taxa in approved growing media, the Plants for Planting Manual and ACIR contain approved growing media program requirements specific to plant taxa and the country in which they are grown. Programs for importation of                     *Phalaenopsis*                     spp. orchid plants in approved growing media from approved facilities have been established for four countries: China, Costa Rica, South Korea, and Taiwan.                

                    In response to the request by Germany and the Netherlands, we conducted pest risk assessments to evaluate the risk to the United States, including territories, of importation of                     *Phalaenopsis*                     spp. orchid plants in approved growing media from Germany and the Netherlands. After a review of the scientific literature, port-of-entry pest interception data, and information from the NPPO of Germany and the Netherlands, we conducted pest risk assessments listing all potential pests with actionable regulatory status for the United States and its territories that occur in Germany and the Netherlands and are associated with                     *Phalaenopsis*                     spp. orchid plants anywhere in the world. We analyzed the pest risk potential of these organisms and determined that no organism in Germany of quarantine concern had a reasonable likelihood of following the pathway of                     *Phalaenopsis*                     spp. plants in growing media from Germany into the United States. Nonetheless, the general plants in growing media regulations outlined in the Plants for Planting Manual and ACIR will still apply for this pathway. This will ensure that                     *Phalaenopsis*                     spp. imported into the United States from Germany have been produced under the conditions evaluated by the pest risk assessment. For the pest risk assessment of the Netherlands, we found three pests, the arthropods                     *Lyprauta cambria*                     and                     *L. chacoensis,*                     and the fungus                    *Colletotrichum orchidearum,*                     are candidates for risk management measures because they meet the threshold to likely cause unacceptable consequences if introduced into the United States.                

                    Based on the findings in the pest risk assessments, we prepared risk management documents (RMDs) [3]                                          to determine mitigations that will be required of Germany, and that will adequately prevent the introduction of                     *Lyprauta cambria, L.**chacoensis,*                     and                     *Colletotrichum orchidearum*                     from the Netherlands into the United States, for                     *Phalaenopsis*                     spp. orchid plants in approved growing media. In order for                     *Phalaenopsis*                     spp. orchid plants to be safely imported into the United States from Germany and the Netherlands, the RMDs specify that the plants must be grown in approved growing media and meet the requirements outlined in the USDA Plants for Planting Manual. The RMD for the Netherlands additionally provides mitigations required to prevent the introduction of                     *Lyprauta cambria, L.**chacoensis,*                     and                     *Colletotrichum orchidearum,*                     into the United States via                     *Phalaenopsis*                     spp. orchid plants in approved growing media from the Netherlands. These requirements for each country are detailed in written agreements between APHIS and Germany and the Netherlands regarding risk management measures to prevent the entry of quarantine plant pests.                

                    Therefore, in accordance with §  319.37-20(c), we are announcing the availability of our pest risk assessments and RMDs for public review and comment. These documents may be viewed on the                     *Regulations.gov*                     website or in our reading room (see                     **ADDRESSES**                     above for a link to                     *Regulations.gov*                     and information on the location and hours of the reading room). You may request paper copies of these documents by calling or writing to the person listed under                     **FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT**                    . Please refer to the subject of the analyses you wish to review when requesting copies.                

                    After we review any comments that we receive on our proposed changes to the USDA Plants for Planting Manual and ACIR, we will publish a second notice. The second notice will inform the public of any changes to the list of countries approved for the importation into the United States of                     *Phalaenopsis*                     spp. orchid plants in approved growing media.                

*Authority:*7 U.S.C. 1633, 7701-7772, and 7781-7786; 21 U.S.C. 136 and 136a; 7 CFR 2.22, 2.80, and 371.3.                

Done in Washington, DC, this 22nd day of October 2024.

Michael Watson,

Administrator, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.

# Footnotes

1.                                                     *https://acir.aphis.usda.gov/​s/​acir-global-search?​category=​Plants-for-Planting-and-Propagation.*
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2.                             The basic requirements are listed in full under “Plants in Growing Media Program” in  chapter 7 of the Plants for Planting Manual:                         *https://acir.aphis.usda.gov/​s/​plants-for-planting-hub.*
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3.                             The RMDs can be viewed on the                         *Regulations.gov*                         website (see the link under                         **ADDRESSES**                        ) or by contacting the person listed under                         **FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT**                        .                    
        Back to Citation      

[FR Doc. 2024-25740 Filed 11-5-24; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3410-34-P