[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 205 (Friday, October 23, 1998)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Page 56781]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-28603]



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  Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 205 / Friday, October 23, 1998 / 
Rules and Regulations  

[[Page 56781]]


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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service

7 CFR Parts 319 and 354

[Docket No. 98-087-3]
RIN 0579-AB01


Solid Wood Packing Material From China

AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, USDA.

ACTION: Interim rule; clarification of effective date.

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SUMMARY: This document clarifies the effective date of an interim rule 
published in the Federal Register on September 18, 1998. In the interim 
rule, we amended 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. That 
rule is scheduled to take effect on December 17, 1998. We are 
clarifying that the requirements of the rule apply to shipments that 
depart China for the United States on or after December 17, 1998, but 
do not apply to shipments that depart China prior to that date, even if 
such shipments arrive in the United States after December 17, 1998.

DATES: The interim rule published at 63 FR 50100 remains effective 
December 17, 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:

Background

    The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) imposes 
requirements on the importation of logs, lumber, and other 
unmanufactured wood articles to prevent the introduction into the 
United States of dangerous plant pests, including forest pests.
    On September 18, 1998, we published in the Federal Register (63 FR 
50100-50111, Docket No. 98-087-1) an interim rule that amends the 
regulations by imposing certain requirements on imported solid wood 
packing material (SWPM) from China, in order to prevent the 
introduction and establishment of the Asian longhorned beetle and other 
dangerous plant pests associated with SWPM from China. Under that rule 
(referred to below as the interim rule), if a commercial shipment from 
China contains SWPM, then prior to departure from China the SWPM must 
be heat treated, fumigated, or treated with preservatives, and must be 
accompanied by a certificate signed by an official of a Chinese 
government agency that documents the treatment of the SWPM. Commercial 
shipments from China that do not contain any SWPM must include an 
exporter statement on or attached to the commercial invoice and as an 
attachment to the bill of lading stating that the shipment contains no 
SWPM.
    Since the publication date of the interim rule, APHIS has received 
inquiries concerning the status of shipments from China to the United 
States that depart China prior to the effective date of the interim 
rule, but arrive in the United States after the effective date of the 
interim rule.
    The interim rule requires certain actions to occur prior to the 
departure of shipments from China, i.e., treatment of SWPM, issuance of 
certificates to accompany the SWPM, and preparation of exporter 
statements to accompany shipments that do not contain any SWPM. It was 
not our intention to impose any requirements on shipments that depart 
China prior to the effective date of the interim rule. Importers, 
exporters, national governments, and others will need until December 
17, 1998, to prepare for the significant changes in operations that 
will become necessary. Therefore, any shipment that departs China prior 
to December 17, 1998, is not subject to the requirements of the interim 
rule. However, we wish to be very clear that a shipment will be subject 
to the interim rule if it departs one port in China prior to December 
17, but subsequently enters and then departs after December 17 another 
port in China prior to its arrival in the United States. For example, a 
shipment that departs Shanghai on December 16 for Hong Kong, where the 
cargo remains on the vessel, is warehoused, or is moved to another 
vessel, and then departs for the United States on December 20, would be 
subject to the requirements of the interim rule.
    In other words, for commercial shipments moved from China to the 
United States, it is the date of last departure from China that 
determines whether the shipment is subject to the requirements of the 
interim rule. If that date is on or after the effective date of the 
interim rule (December 17, 1998), then the shipment is subject to the 
requirements of the interim rule.

    Authority: 7 U.S.C. 150dd, 150ee, 150ff, 151-167, 450, 2260, 
2803, and 2809; 21 U.S.C. 136 and 136a; 49 U.S.C. 1741; 7 CFR 2.22, 
2.80, and 371.2(c).

    Done in Washington, DC, this 21st day of October 1998.
Joan M. Arnoldi,
Acting Administrator, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
[FR Doc. 98-28603 Filed 10-21-98; 1:29 pm]
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