97-10655. Simplification of Requirements for Genetically Engineered Organisms; Public Meeting

[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 79 (Thursday, April 24, 1997)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Page 19917]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-10655]


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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service

7 CFR Part 340

[Docket No. 95-040-3]


Simplification of Requirements for Genetically Engineered 
Organisms; Public Meeting

AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, USDA.

ACTION: Notice of public meeting.

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SUMMARY: We are advising the public that the Animal and Plant Health 
Inspection Service will hold a meeting to discuss the introduction of 
genetically engineered plants under the amended regulations pertaining 
to notification and to the petition process for the determination of 
nonregulated status. The meeting will be operated as a workshop, and we 
request that interested persons register and submit agenda items two 
weeks before the meeting date. A revised User's Guide and guidelines 
are available as background materials for the meeting.

DATES: The meeting will be held in Riverdale, MD, on Wednesday, May 28, 
1997, from 8 a.m. until 4 p.m., and Thursday, May 29, 1997, from 8 a.m. 
until 12:30 p.m.

ADDRESSES: The meeting will be held in the Conference Center at the 
USDA Center at Riverside, 4700 River Road, Riverdale, MD.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For information about the agenda, 
contact Dr. James White, BSS, PPQ, APHIS, Suite 5B05, 4700 River Road 
Unit 147, Riverdale, MD 20737-1236, [phone]; or e-mail: 
[e-mail]. To register for the meeting and to submit agenda 
items, or to request copies of the documents referenced in this notice, 
contact Ms. Kay Peterson at [phone]; FAX [phone]; or e-
mail: [e-mail]. Documents and information are also 
available on the Internet at the APHIS World Wide Web site: http://
www.aphis.usda.gov/biotech.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The regulations in 7 CFR part 340, 
``Introduction of Organisms and Products Altered or Produced Through 
Genetic Engineering Which Are Plant Pests or Which There Is Reason to 
Believe Are Plant Pests,'' regulate, among other things, the 
introduction (importation, interstate movement, or release into the 
environment) of organisms and products altered or produced through 
genetic engineering that are plant pests or that there is reason to 
believe are plant pests. Such genetically engineered organisms and 
products are considered ``regulated articles.'' Before introducing a 
regulated article, a person is required under Sec. 340.0 of the 
regulations to either (1) notify the Animal and Plant Health Inspection 
Service (APHIS) in accordance with Sec. 340.3 or (2) obtain a permit in 
accordance with Sec. 340.4. The regulations in Sec. 340.6 provide that 
any person may submit a petition to APHIS seeking a determination that 
an article should not be regulated under 7 CFR part 340.
    In the Rules and Regulations section of this issue of the Federal 
Register, APHIS has published a final rule (Docket No. 95-040-2) that, 
among other things, amends the regulations in Sec. 340.3 to expand the 
scope of organisms that will be included under the notification 
procedure, and in Sec. 340.6 to allow the extension of a previously 
issued determination of nonregulated status to certain additional 
regulated articles. In conjunction with the final rule, APHIS has 
prepared guidelines for the submission of requests for extensions of 
determinations of nonregulated status, and an addition to the User's 
Guide for the preparation of notifications under the amended 
regulations. The final rule, guidelines, and addition to the User's 
Guide are available on the Internet at the APHIS World Wide Web site, 
and from the person listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT.
    To help familiarize the affected public with the guidelines and the 
addition to the User's Guide, and to provide an opportunity for a 
general discussion of the preparation of notifications, permits, 
petitions, and requests for extensions of determinations of 
nonregulated status, APHIS has scheduled a workshop to be held in 
Riverdale, MD, on May 28 and 29, 1997. The tentative agenda for the 
meeting is as follows: Day 1, morning--notifications and permits; 
afternoon-- petitions; Day 2, morning--extensions of determinations.
    We request that interested persons submit registrations, which 
should include name, address, and telephone number, as well as agenda 
items, by Wednesday, May 14, 1997, to the person indicated under FOR 
FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT.

    Done in Washington, DC, this 21st day of April 1997.
Terry L. Medley,
Administrator, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
[FR Doc. 97-10655 Filed 4-22-97; 9:12 am]
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