Melissa O’Dell (301) 734-5222
Jerry Redding (202) 720-4623
USDA INFORMS PUBLIC OF INTERNATIONAL SANITARY AND PHYTOSANITARY STANDARD-SETTING ACTIVITIES
WASHINGTON, Oct. 12, 2006--The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service today announced international standard-setting activities under consideration by the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE), the Secretariat of the International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC) and the North American Plant Protection Organization (NAPPO). These organizations are responsible for establishing science-based sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) standards that promote safe and balanced trade of agricultural products.
APHIS is also soliciting comments on the standards to be considered. This action is in accordance with legislation implementing the results of the Uruguay Round Agreements of negotiations under the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade.
The Secretary of Agriculture is the official responsible for informing the public of the sanitary and phytosanitary standards under consideration or planned for consideration by these international standard-setting organizations. A description is available for each SPS standard under consideration, along with a statement of whether the United States is participating or plans to participate in the consideration of that standard. The full text of each IPPC and NAPPO standard is available on the Internet at http://www.aphis.usda.gov/ppq/pim/standards. The full text of each OIE standard is available on the Internet at http://www.oie.int. In addition, the federal notice also identifies which U.S. agency is responsible for representing each standard.
This notice and request for comments is scheduled for publication in the Oct. 13 Federal Register.
Interested parties are invited to comment on this notice. Send an original and three copies of postal mail or commercial delivery comments to Docket No. APHIS-2006-0109, Regulatory Analysis and Development, PPD, APHIS, Station 3A-03.8, 4700 River Road, Unit 118, Riverdale, Md. 20737-1238. If you wish to submit a comment using the Internet, go to the Federal eRulemaking portal at http://www.regulations.gov, select "Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service" from the agency drop-down menu, then click on "Submit." In the Docket ID column, select APHIS-2006-0109 to submit or view public comments and to view supporting and related materials available electronically.
Comments are posted on the Regulations.gov Web site and may also be viewed at USDA, Room 1141, South Building, 14th St. and Independence Ave., S.W., Washington, D.C., between 8 a.m. and 4:40 p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding holidays. To facilitate entry into the comment reading room, please call (202) 690-2817.
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