[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 236 (Thursday, December 9, 1999)]
[Notices]
[Page 68984]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-31955]
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Notices
Federal Register
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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
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Federal Register / Vol. 64, No. 236 / Thursday, December 9, 1999 /
Notices
[[Page 68984]]
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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service
[Docket No. 99-091-1]
Availability of Draft Pest Risk Assessment for the Importation of
Honeybees and Honeybee Germ Plasm from New Zealand
AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, USDA.
ACTION: Notice and request for comments.
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SUMMARY: We are advising the public that a draft pest risk assessment
has been prepared by the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service for
the importation of honeybees and honeybee germ plasm from New Zealand.
We are making this draft pest risk assessment available to the public
for review and comment.
DATES: We invite you to comment on the draft pest risk assessment. We
will consider all comments that we receive by February 7, 2000.
ADDRESSES: Please send your comment and three copies to: Docket No. 99-
091-1, Regulatory Analysis and Development, PPD, APHIS, Suite 3C03,
4700 River Road Unit 118, Riverdale, MD 20737-1238.
Please state that your comment refers to Docket No. 99-091-1.
A copy of the draft pest risk assessment, and any comments that we
receive on it, may be reviewed in our reading room. The reading room is
located in room 1141 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) 690-2817 before coming.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. Robert V. Flanders, Regulatory
Coordination, PPQ, APHIS, 4700 River Road Unit 141, Riverdale, MD
20737-1228; (301) 734-5930.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Animal and Plant Health Inspection
Service (APHIS) of the U.S. Department of Agriculture has received a
request from the Government of New Zealand to allow the importation
into the United States of adult honeybees (Apis mellifera)
(specifically queens and package bees) and honeybee germ plasm from New
Zealand. The request was made in accordance with the General Agreement
on Tariffs and Trade.
To determine whether the risk associated with such importation is
low enough for us to initiate rulemaking to implement this change to
our regulations, we have prepared a draft pest risk assessment,
entitled ``Risk Assessment: Importation of Adult Queens, Package Bees,
and Germ Plasm of Honeybees (Apis mellifera L.) From New Zealand,'' in
consultation with the Government of New Zealand. The draft pest risk
assessment identifies quarantine pests associated with the importation
of honeybees and honeybee germ plasm from New Zealand and qualitatively
assesses the likelihood of the introduction of these quarantine pests
into the United States, as well as the consequences of introduction.
We are making this draft pest risk assessment available to the
public for review and comment. In particular, we request feedback on
the risk factors, methodology, and documentation used in the draft pest
risk assessment. We will consider all comments that we receive by the
date listed under the heading DATES at the beginning of this notice.
The draft pest risk assessment is available in our reading room
(information on the location and hours of the reading room is listed
under the heading ADDRESSES at the beginning of this notice), on the
Internet at http://www.aphis.usda.gov/ppq/pra/honeybees/, by calling
the Plant Protection and Quarantine automated fax retrieval system at
(301) 734-3560 and requesting document 0512, or by contacting the
person listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT.
Authority: 7 U.S.C. 281; 7 CFR 2.22, 2.80, and 371.2(c).
Done in Washington, DC, this 3rd day of December 1999.
Bobby R. Acord,
Acting Administrator, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
[FR Doc. 99-31955 Filed 12-8-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-34-U
