[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 197 (Tuesday, October 13, 1998)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Page 54553]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-27369]



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  Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 197 / Tuesday, October 13, 1998 / 
Rules and Regulations  

[[Page 54553]]


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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service

7 CFR Parts 319 and 354

[Docket No. 98-087-2]


Solid Wood Packing Material From China

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 is hosting, in addition to the public hearing in 
Washington, DC, two more public hearings to accept oral comments from 
the public on an interim rule that will amend the regulations for 
importing logs, lumber, and other unmanufactured wood articles by 
adding treatment and documentation requirements for solid wood packing 
material imported from China.

Places, Dates, and Times of Meetings: The first meeting will be held at 
the Jackson Federal Building, North and South Auditorium, 4th Floor, 
915 Second Avenue, Seattle, WA. This meeting will begin at 9:00 a.m. 
local time and is scheduled to end at 5:00 p.m. local time, on Tuesday, 
November 3, 1998. Visitors must enter the Jackson Federal Building 
through the Second Avenue entrance.
    The second meeting will be held at the Hyatt Regency Long Beach, 
Regency Ballroom ABC, 4th Floor, 200 South Pine Avenue, Long Beach, CA. 
This meeting will begin at 9:00 a.m. local time and is scheduled to end 
at 5:00 p.m. local time, on Thursday, November 5, 1998.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Ronald Campbell, Import 
Specialist, Phytosanitary Issues Management Team, PPQ, APHIS, 4700 
River Road, Unit 140, Riverdale, MD 20737-1236, (301) 734-6799.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On September 18, 1998, the Animal and Plant 
Health Inspection Service (APHIS) published an interim rule in the 
Federal Register (63 FR 50100-50111, Docket No. 98-087-1) that will 
amend the regulations for importing logs, lumber, and other 
unmanufactured wood articles by adding treatment and documentation 
requirements for solid wood packing material imported from China. This 
change means that wooden pallets, crating, dunnage, and other wooden 
packing material imported into the United States from China will have 
to be heat treated, fumigated, or treated with preservatives prior to 
departure from China. This action will affect anyone who uses solid 
wood packing material in connection with exporting commodities from 
China to the United States. This action is necessary to control the 
risk that solid wood packing material from China could introduce 
dangerous plant pests, including forest pests, into the United States, 
a risk demonstrated by many recent incidents where exotic pests were 
detected in solid wood packing material from China. This interim rule 
is scheduled to become effective December 17, 1998.
    In the preamble to the interim rule, we announced that there would 
be three public hearings on the interim rule--one in Washington, DC, on 
October 16, 1998, at the Jefferson Auditorium, U.S. Department of 
Agriculture, South Building, 14th Street and Independence Avenue, SW., 
and two others on the west coast, dates and locations to be announced. 
This notice announces the dates and locations for the public hearings 
on the west coast.
    All three public hearings will provide interested persons a full 
opportunity to present their views regarding this interim rule. The 
public hearings will begin at 9:00 a.m. local time and are scheduled to 
end at 5:00 p.m. local time. However, the hearings may be terminated at 
any time after they begin if all persons desiring to speak have been 
heard. We ask that anyone who reads a statement provide two copies to 
the presiding officer at the hearing. If the number of speakers at the 
hearing warrants, the presiding officer may limit the time for each 
presentation so that everyone wishing to speak has the opportunity.
    The purpose of the hearings is to give interested persons an 
opportunity for oral presentations of data, views, and arguments. 
Questions about the content of the interim rule may be part of the 
commenters' oral presentations. Neither the presiding officer nor any 
other representative of APHIS will respond to comments at the hearings. 
However, they will be able to answer questions to clarify or explain 
provisions of the interim rule.

    Done in Washington, DC, this 6th day of October 1998.
Craig A. Reed,
Administrator, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
[FR Doc. 98-27369 Filed 10-9-98; 8:45 am]
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