[Federal Register Volume 59, Number 136 (Monday, July 18, 1994)]
[Unknown Section]
[Page 0]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 94-17346]


[[Page Unknown]]

[Federal Register: July 18, 1994]


                                                   VOL. 59, NO. 136

                                              Monday, July 18, 1994

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service

7 CFR Part 322

[Docket No. 89-117-3]

 

Importation of Honeybees and Honeybee Semen From New Zealand

AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, USDA.

ACTION: Notice of reopening and extension of comment period.

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SUMMARY: We are reopening the comment period for a proposal that would 
amend the honeybee and honeybee semen regulations to allow honeybees 
and honeybee semen to be imported from New Zealand into the United 
States, subject to certain conditions. The proposed action appears 
warranted based on our determination that New Zealand is free of, and 
has adequate protection against the introduction of, diseases and 
parasites of honeybees, and undesirable species or subspecies of 
honeybees and their semen. The proposed action would relieve certain 
restrictions on the importation of honeybees and honeybee semen from 
New Zealand without presenting a significant risk of introducing 
harmful diseases or parasites of honeybees into the United States. 
Reopening the comment period will provide interested persons with 
another opportunity to comment on the proposed rule.

DATES: Consideration will be given only to comments received on or 
before August 17, 1994.

ADDRESSES: Please send an original and three copies of your comments to 
Chief, Regulatory Analysis and Development, PPD, APHIS, USDA, room 804, 
Federal Building, 6505 Belcrest Road, Hyattsville, MD 20782. Please 
state that your comments refer to Docket No. 89-117. Comments received 
may be inspected at USDA, room 1141, South Building, 14th Street and 
Independence Avenue SW., Washington, DC, between 8 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., 
Monday through Friday, except holidays. Persons wishing to inspect 
comments are requested to call ahead on (202) 690-2817 to facilitate 
entry into the comment reading room.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. James Fons, Operations Officer, 
Port Operations Staff, Plant Protection and Quarantine, APHIS, USDA, 
room 637, Federal Building, 6505 Belcrest Road, Hyattsville, MD 20782, 
(301) 436-8295.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    The regulations in 7 CFR part 322 (referred to below as the 
regulations) govern the importation into the United States of honeybees 
and honeybee semen. These regulations were established pursuant to the 
Honeybee Act (7 U.S.C. 281 et seq.). The Honeybee Act was designed to 
prevent the movement into the United States of diseases and parasites 
harmful to honeybees. In addition, the Honeybee Act was designed to 
prevent the movement into the United States of undesirable species or 
subspecies of honeybees, such as Apis mellifera scutellata, commonly 
known in the United States as the African honeybee.
    In this regard, 7 U.S.C. 281 provides, in relevant part, that:
    (a) In order to prevent the introduction and spread of diseases and 
parasites harmful to honeybees, and the introduction of genetically 
undesirable germplasm of honeybees, the importation into the United 
States of all honeybees is prohibited, except that honeybees may be 
imported into the United States--
    (1) By the United States Department of Agriculture for experimental 
or scientific purposes;
    (2) From countries determined by the Secretary of Agriculture--
    (A) To be free of diseases or parasites harmful to honeybees, and 
undesirable species or subspecies of honeybees; and
    (B) To have in operation precautions adequate to prevent the 
importation of honeybees from other countries where harmful diseases or 
parasites, or undesirable species or subspecies, of honeybees exist; or
    (3) From Canada or Mexico, subject to such terms and conditions as 
the Secretary of Agriculture determines appropriate, if the Secretary 
determines that the region of Canada or Mexico from which the honeybees 
originated is, and is likely to remain, free of diseases or parasites 
harmful to honeybees, and undesirable species or subspecies of 
honeybees.
    These provisions are set forth at Sec. 322.1 as criteria for 
determining which countries may be listed in the regulations as 
countries from which honeybees or honeybee semen may be imported into 
the United States.
    Under the regulations, honeybees may be imported into the United 
States from New Zealand only by the United States Department of 
Agriculture (USDA) for experimental or scientific purposes. Honeybee 
semen may be imported from New Zealand only after issuance of a permit 
by Plant Protection and Quarantine, Animal and Plant Health Inspection 
Service.
    On February 6, 1990, we published in the Federal Register (55 FR 
3968-3969, Docket No. 89-117) a proposal to amend the regulations by 
removing these restrictions on honeybees and honeybee semen imported 
into the United States from New Zealand. We stated that the proposal 
was warranted because it had been determined that New Zealand met the 
criteria set forth in Sec. 322.1, based on USDA review of the 
scientific literature; an ongoing sampling program of New Zealand 
honeybees by the USDA; an ongoing exchange of information between New 
Zealand and the United States relating to bee diseases and parasites, 
and undesirable species and subspecies of honeybees; and a review by 
USDA of the bee enforcement program in New Zealand.
    However, we recognized that shipments of honeybees or honeybee 
semen from New Zealand could, during transit through countries from 
which honeybees and honeybee semen may not be imported into the United 
States, come in contact with foreign honeybees that may be diseased. We 
therefore proposed to allow honeybees and honeybee semen to be imported 
from New Zealand into the United States if they were shipped to the 
United States nonstop and if they were accompanied by a certificate of 
origin issued by the New Zealand Department of Agriculture certifying 
that the honeybees and honeybee semen were of New Zealand origin. We 
also proposed to amend Sec. 322.2 to add a definition for ``certificate 
of origin.''
    We solicited comments concerning the 1990 proposal for a 15-day 
comment period ending February 21, 1990. In response to a comment, we 
published a notice in the Federal Register on March 2, 1990 (55 FR 
7499, Docket No. 90-025), that extended the comment period to April 2, 
1990. We received 37 comments by that date. The comments were from 
apiaries, queen breeders, beekeeper associations, and State departments 
of agriculture.
    We did not at that time publish a final rule. However, we now wish 
to proceed with rulemaking. We have consulted the most current 
scientific literature and discussed this action with experts within and 
outside of the Department, and we have confirmed that the actions 
described in the original proposal are still appropriate. Nevertheless, 
because considerable time has elapsed since publication of the original 
proposed rule, we are reopening the comment period on the 1990 proposal 
to allow interested persons another opportunity to comment.

    Done in Washington, DC, this 13th day of July 1994.
B. Glen Lee,
Acting Administrator, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
[FR Doc. 94-17346 Filed 7-15-94; 8:45 am]
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