[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 183 (Wednesday, September 20, 2000)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 56803-56806]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-24133]


 ========================================================================
 Proposed Rules
                                                 Federal Register
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 This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER contains notices to the public of 
 the proposed issuance of rules and regulations. The purpose of these 
 notices is to give interested persons an opportunity to participate in 
 the rule making prior to the adoption of the final rules.
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  Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 183 / Wednesday, September 20, 2000 / 
Proposed Rules  

[[Page 56803]]



DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service

7 CFR Part 319

[Docket No. 98-103-1]


Importation of Artificially Dwarfed Plants in Growing Media From 
the People's Republic of China

AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, USDA.

ACTION: Proposed rule.

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SUMMARY: We are proposing to amend our regulations governing the 
importation of plants and plant products to allow artificially dwarfed 
(penjing) plants of the genera Buxus, Ehretia (Carmona), Podocarpus, 
Sageretia, and Serissa to be imported into the United States from the 
People's Republic of China in an approved growing medium subject to 
specified growing, inspection, and certification requirements. We have 
assessed the pest risks associated with the importation of these 
artificially dwarfed plants established in growing media and have 
determined that they may be imported from the People's Republic of 
China under the conditions proposed without presenting a significant 
risk of introducing or disseminating dangerous plant pests. This 
proposed rule would relieve restrictions that currently allow these 
genera to be imported only as bare-rooted plants.

DATES: We invite you to comment on this docket. We will consider all 
comments that we receive by November 20, 2000.

ADDRESSES: Please send your comment and three copies to: Docket No. 98-
103-1, 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. 98-103-1.
    You may read any comments that we receive on this docket 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.
    APHIS documents published in the Federal Register, and related 
information, including the names of organizations and individuals who 
have commented on APHIS dockets, are available on the Internet at 
http://www.aphis.usda.gov/ppd/rad/webrepor.html.

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

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    The regulations in 7 CFR part 319 prohibit or restrict the 
importation into the United States of certain plants and plant products 
to prevent the introduction of plant pests. The regulations contained 
in ``Subpart--Nursery Stock, Plants, Roots, Bulbs, Seeds, and Other 
Plant Products,'' Secs. 319.37 through 319.37-14 (referred to below as 
the regulations), restrict, among other things, the importation of 
living plants, plant parts, and seeds for propagation.
    Paragraph Sec. 319.37-8(a) of the regulations requires, with 
certain exceptions, that plants offered for importation into the United 
States be free of sand, soil, earth, and other growing media. This 
requirement is intended to help prevent the introduction of plant pests 
that might be present in the growing media; the exceptions to the 
requirement take into account factors that mitigate that plant pest 
risk. Those exceptions, which are found in paragraphs (b) through (e) 
of Sec. 319.37-8, consider either the origin of the plants and growing 
media (paragraph (b)), the nature of the growing media (paragraphs (c) 
and (d)), or the use of a combination of growing conditions, approved 
media, inspections, and other requirements (paragraph (e)).
    That combination approach found in Sec. 319.37-8(e) provides 
conditions under which plants from 10 listed taxa may be imported into 
the United States established in an approved growing medium. In 
addition to other requirements, Sec. 319.37-8(e):
     Specifies the types of growing media that may be used;
     Requires plants to be grown in accordance with written 
agreements between the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service 
(APHIS) and the plant protection service of the country where the 
plants are grown and between the foreign plant protection service and 
the grower;
     Requires the plants to be rooted and grown in a greenhouse 
that meets certain requirements for pest exclusion and that is used 
only for plants being grown in compliance with Sec. 319.37-8(e);
     Restricts the source of the seeds or parent plants used to 
produce the plants, and requires grow-out or treatment of parent plants 
imported into the exporting country from another country;
     Specifies the sources of water that may be used on the 
plants, the height of the benches on which the plants must be grown, 
and the conditions under which the plants must be stored and packaged; 
and
     Requires that the plants be inspected in the greenhouse 
and found free of evidence of plant pests no more than 30 days prior to 
the exportation of the plants.
    A phytosanitary certificate issued by the plant protection service 
of the country in which the plants were grown that declares that the 
above conditions have been met must accompany the plants at the time of 
importation. These conditions have been used successfully to mitigate 
the risk of pest introduction associated with the importation into the 
United States of approved plants established in growing media.
    In 1994, the Animal and Plant Quarantine Service of the People's 
Republic of China (CAPQ) requested that APHIS consider amending the 
regulations to allow Buxus (Buxaceaea) spp., Ehretia (Carmona) 
(Boraginaceae) spp., Podocarpus (Podocarpaceae) spp., Sageretia 
(theazans) (Rhamnaceae) spp., and Serissa (Rubiaceae) spp. to be 
imported into the United States under the conditions set forth in 
Sec. 319-37-8(e). These species are commonly traded as artificially 
dwarfed plants (often

[[Page 56804]]

referred to as ``penjing'' in China and ``bonsai'' in Japan) and are 
currently allowed to be imported into the United States only as bare-
rooted plants.
    The regulations in Sec. 319.37-8(g) provide that we will evaluate a 
request such as that made by China to allow the importation of 
additional taxa of plants established in growing media using specific 
pest risk evaluation standards. We conduct that assessment to determine 
the plant pest risks associated with each requested plant article and 
to determine whether or not we will propose to allow the requested 
plant article established in growing media to be imported into the 
United States. The pest risk evaluation, the standards for which are 
set forth in Sec. 319.37-8(g)(1) through (g)(4), involves collecting 
commodity information, cataloging quarantine pests, conducting 
individual pest risk assessments, and determining an overall estimation 
of risk based on a compilation of the component estimates.
    After receiving China's request to allow the importation of Buxus 
spp., Ehretia (Carmona) spp., Podocarpus spp., Sageretia spp., and 
Serissa spp. artificially dwarfed (penjing) plants established in 
growing media, we conducted a pest risk assessment. The assessment is 
described in a qualitative, pathway-initiated pest risk assessment 
titled ``Pest Risk Assessments Penjing Plants from China,'' copies of 
which are available through the person listed under FOR FURTHER 
INFORMATION CONTACT. The pest risk assessment identified arthropod 
pests, mollusks, nematodes, and fungi as the plant pests most likely to 
travel with the plant and having the greatest potential for economic 
damage. Several of the pests were identified in the pest risk 
assessment for each genus. It is important to note, however, that our 
pest risk assessment did not include a risk management component, i.e., 
it did not take into account the mitigative effects of the requirements 
of Sec. 319.37-8(e), which are designed to establish and maintain a 
pest-free production environment and ensure the use of pest-free seeds 
or parent plants.
    We have determined that the existing regulations in Sec. 319.37-
8(e) that pertain to the importation of plants in growing media would 
not, by themselves, provide adequate protection against certain pests 
that may be present in shipments of artificially dwarfed plants from 
China that are established in growing media. In order to address the 
pest risks posed by these plants, we have identified additional risk 
management measures related to propagative cuttings, inspections, 
treatment, and greenhouse growing to protect against pest introduction. 
These measures would apply only to the five genera of artificially 
dwarfed (penjing) plants identified in this proposed rule and would 
supplement the general requirements that apply to all plants that are 
imported in growing media under Sec. 319.37-8(e). Descriptions of each 
of these risk management measures follow. We propose to add these risk 
management measures to the regulations in Sec. 319.37-8(e).
    1. We propose to require that the propagative materials used to 
produce the artificially dwarfed (penjing) plants enter an approved 
greenhouse as either seeds, tissue cultures, unrooted cuttings, or 
rooted cuttings. If the rooted cuttings were grown in soil, the soil 
would be required to be sampled and found free from, or fumigated for, 
the nematodes Paratrophorus spp., Tylenchorhynchus crassicaudatus, and 
Tylenchorhynchus leviterinalis within the 12 months prior to the 
introduction of the plants into the greenhouse. Before rooted or 
unrooted cuttings are introduced into the greenhouse, they would be 
required to be inspected and found free of pests and then treated with 
a pesticide dip, approved by CAPQ, that would control mites, scale 
insects, whiteflies, thrips, and fungi. Rooted cuttings would also be 
required to be treated with a nematicide dip in addition to or in 
conjunction with the pesticide dip.
    This requirement is necessary because the propagative materials 
used to produce artificially dwarfed plants are derived from mother 
plants that are not grown within the controlled environment of a 
greenhouse. Mother plants that are grown outdoors necessarily present a 
high risk of infestation with nematodes, mites, scale insects, 
whiteflies, thrips, and fungi that, left untreated, could be spread to 
plants intended for export. These measures help to ensure that seeds, 
tissue cultures, unrooted cuttings, or rooted cuttings enter the 
greenhouse free from such pests. If the rooted cuttings were grown in 
soil, the soil would have to be sampled and/or fumigated for the 
nematodes Paratrophorus spp., Tylenchorhynchus crassicaudatus, and 
Tylenchorhynchus leviterinalis because these nematodes were identified 
in the ``Pest Risk Assessments Penjing Plants from China'' as 
presenting, in the absence of mitigation measures, both a high 
likelihood of introduction and severe economic consequences in the 
event of an introduction. By sampling and/or fumigating soil for 
nematodes, and by applying pesticide dips to cuttings, and an 
additional nematicide dip to rooted cuttings, the risk that plants 
intended for export could be exposed to the pests identified above is 
decreased to a negligible level.
    2. We propose to require the mother plants from which the 
artificially dwarfed (penjing) plants are produced to be visually 
inspected by an APHIS inspector or an inspector of CAPQ and found free 
of evidence of Paratrophorus spp., Tylenchorhynchus crassicaudatus, and 
Tylenchorhynchus leviterminalis nematodes and the following species-
specific diseases and organisms:
     For Buxus spp.: Guignardia miribelii, Macrophoma ehretia, 
Meliola buxicola, and Puccinia buxi.
     For Ehretia spp.: Macrophoma ehretia, Phakopsora ehretiae, 
Pseudocercosporella ehretiae, Pseudocercospora ehretiae-thyrsiflora, 
Uncinula ehretiae, Uredo ehretiae, and Uredo garanbiensis.
     For Podocarpus spp.: Pestalosphaeria jinggangensis, 
Pestalotia diospyri, Phellinus noxius, and Sphaerella podocarpi.
     For Sageretia spp.: Aecidium sageretiae.
     For Serissa spp.: Melampsora serissicola.
    The above species-specific diseases and organisms were identified 
in ``Pest Risk Assessments Penjing Plants from China'' as presenting, 
in the absence of mitigation measures, both a high likelihood of 
introduction and severe economic consequences in the event of an 
introduction. Inspectors can visually identify evidence of the presence 
of any of the above pests in Buxus spp., Ehretia spp., Podocarpus spp., 
Sageretia spp., and Serissa spp. This requirement will help to ensure 
that propagative materials used to produce artificially dwarfed plants 
enter the greenhouse free from the pests identified above.
    3. We propose to require the artificially dwarfed (penjing) plants 
to have been grown in an approved greenhouse for at least 6 months 
immediately prior to export. In addition to other phytosanitary 
procedures required under Sec. 319.37-8(e), the greenhouses would have 
to have mesh screens with openings no larger than 0.6 mm if the plants 
had been treated with broad spectrum pesticides at least once a month 
for the 3 months before shipping. Otherwise, the vents and openings of 
the greenhouse would have to be covered with mesh screens with openings 
no larger than 0.2 mm.
    We are proposing this requirement because plants that have been 
grown in an approved greenhouse for 6 months are easier to observe for 
signs of pest infestations and generally pose less of a

[[Page 56805]]

risk of pest infestation due to their controlled environment. Further, 
we have determined that treatment of the plants with broad spectrum 
pesticides would decrease the possibility that plants could be infested 
with pests such as thrips and whiteflies that could otherwise enter the 
greenhouse through 0.6 mm mesh screens. In order to preclude 
infestations of those pests without the use of broad spectrum 
pesticides, vents in the greenhouses would be required to be screened 
with 0.2 mm mesh.
    Based on the pest risk assessment, we have determined that Buxus 
spp., Ehretia (Carmona) spp., Podocarpus spp., Sageretia spp., and 
Serissa spp. artificially dwarfed (penjing) plants established in 
growing media could be imported from the People's Republic of China 
under Sec. 319.37-8(e) and the additional conditions described in this 
proposed rule without posing any greater plant pest risk than is posed 
by the importation of these species as bare-rooted plants under 
Sec. 319.37-8(a). We have also determined that sufficient APHIS 
resources are available to implement or ensure implementation of the 
proposed mitigation measures described above, as required under 
Sec. 319.37-8(g)(4)(ii) of the regulations. Therefore, we propose to 
amend the regulations to allow Buxus spp., Ehretia (Carmona) spp., 
Podocarpus spp., Sageretia spp., and Serissa spp. to be imported in 
approved growing media subject to those conditions.
    In this document, we are also correcting the number of a footnote 
in Sec. 319.37-8(e).

Fish and Wildlife Service Consultation About Potential Impacts to 
Endangered Species

    APHIS has begun the process of informal consultation with the U.S. 
Fish and Wildlife Service \1\ to assess the potential effects of this 
proposed rule on endangered or threatened species. We believe that the 
phytosanitary measures that we have proposed would effectively mitigate 
the risk of introducing quarantine pests. Therefore, we currently have 
no reason to believe that there would be effects on any endangered or 
threatened species associated with this rulemaking. If, during our 
consultation with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, we determine that 
this proposal would have effects on endangered or threatened species, 
we will take appropriate action. Executive Order 12866 and Regulatory 
Flexibility Act.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \1\ The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has recommended that 
APHIS enter into formal section 7 consultation, as required by the 
Endangered Species Act (ESA) for all Federal actions that may affect 
species listed under the ESA.
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    This proposed rule has been reviewed under Executive Order 12866. 
The rule has been determined to be not significant for the purposes of 
Executive Order 12866 and, therefore, has not been reviewed by the 
Office of Management and Budget.
    This proposal would allow five genera of artificially dwarfed 
(penjing) plants established in approved growing media to be imported 
into the United States from the People's Republic of China. The five 
genera are: Buxus, Ehretia (carmona), Podocarpus, Sageretia, and 
Serissa. Plants imported or offered for importation under this program 
would be required to be presented for inspection at ports of entry with 
special inspection and treatment facilities, and they would be allowed 
to enter the United States only under specific conditions designed to 
prevent the introduction of plant pests.
    In China, trained miniature or artificially dwarfed artistic potted 
plants are called penjing (most Americans are more familiar with the 
related Japanese term, bonsai). Penjing plants may range from 4 to 60 
inches in height. Various styles of potted penjing plants are developed 
and shaped using specific preferred varieties of trees and other plants 
most fitted to each particular distinctive style. In China, there are 
over 160 species of trees, as well as a number of other plants, 
considered suitable for penjing development. Among the most commonly 
used are apricot, box, camellia, carmonas, cypress, elm, flowering 
quince, Fujian tea bush, gingko, hedge, jasmine orange, juniper, maple, 
ornamental apple, pine, pomegranate, sageretia, serissa, stone yew, and 
yew podocarpus. Each school of styles uses various combinations of 
these trees to painstakingly develop the preferred miniature of the 
parent tree. The objective is to make the penjing plants look as 
natural, ancient, and picturesque as their large relatives. Growing 
penjing plants is highly labor intensive and requires much time. Some 
of these plants have been actively cultivated for hundreds of years by 
succeeding generations. Penjing plants may be cultivated either from 
natural trees by cutting, pruning, and shaping, or propagated 
artificially through seeding, cutting, grafting, and a process known as 
layering.
    The art of miniature tree gardening is a relatively recent 
phenomenon in the United States. Because it is highly time consuming 
and very labor intensive, it is practiced by a relatively small number 
of households. Acquiring the already developed trees can be an 
expensive investment, with prices ranging between $40 and $10,000 per 
plant. Value increases with age, regardless of size. Information on the 
number of households that own penjing plants is not available. However, 
if the size of the industry is an indicator, then the number of 
households may be very small. Currently, there are about 400 companies 
in the United States engaged in the production and distribution of 
artificially dwarfed plants and related materials, with gross revenue 
of less than $10 million. Most of these establishments are family owned 
and operated. Some are plant and seed producers. Other companies are 
engaged in supplying tools and stands for artificially dwarfed plants. 
Still others specialize in the production of pots and containers. 
Certain companies also produce business newsletters and magazines or 
are otherwise engaged in consulting. Approximately 99 percent of these 
firms are considered to be small entities.
    Artificially dwarfed plants imported into the United States come 
from the People's Republic of China, Japan, and the Republic of Korea. 
None of the artificially dwarfed plants are currently imported in 
growing media. Between 5 and 10 companies import about 20,000 bare-
rooted artificially dwarfed plants (about 5,000 from China, 10,000 from 
Japan, and 5,000 from Korea) annually. To minimize the time between 
unpotting and repotting these plants so the bare-rooted plants are not 
damaged, they are shipped by air. Since the cost of air shipment of 
these plants is based not only on weight but also on space occupied, 
the cost per unit is quite high. The cost of transporting the plants in 
a growing media, by ship, would be lower than the current air freight 
cost.
    We expect that adoption of this proposed rule would cause a slight 
decrease in the costs of business for importers of artificially dwarfed 
plants. The cost reduction would be mainly from reduced transportation 
expenses. The ability to import penjing plants in growing media would 
allow importers to use sea transport without risking the loss of 
valuable plants. The average savings per importer would depend on the 
number of penjing plants moved by air versus by sea. Those entities 
that opt to ship their products by sea could save as much as 50 percent 
per unit. If these savings were passed on to penjing buyers, consumers 
could benefit from lower prices.

[[Page 56806]]

Since the price of other ornamental trees and plants is relatively much 
lower than penjing plants, their competitive advantage over penjing 
plants would continue to be great even with reduced prices for penjing 
plants. It is also unlikely that more people would be drawn to purchase 
these plants as a result of the proposed rule, as unique individual 
preferences are not changed by such minor cost reductions. Therefore, 
we expect that overall effects of this proposed rule upon price and 
competitiveness would be relatively insignificant.
    Under these circumstances, the Administrator of the Animal and 
Plant Health Inspection Service has determined that this action would 
not have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small 
entities. Executive Order 12988.
    This proposed rule has been reviewed under Executive Order 12988, 
Civil Justice Reform. If this proposed rule is adopted: (1) All State 
and local laws and regulations that are inconsistent with this rule 
will be preempted; (2) no retroactive effect will be given to this 
rule; and (3) administrative proceedings will not be required before 
parties may file suit in court challenging this rule.

National Environmental Policy Act

    APHIS has begun the process of preparing an environmental 
assessment for this action. When the environmental assessment has been 
completed, we will publish a notice in the Federal Register that 
announces the availability of the environmental assessment and requests 
public comment on it. We will also make the environmental assessment 
available to the public for inspection on the APHIS web site at http://www.aphis.usda.gov/ppd/ead/ppqdocs.html.
    The environmental assessment will be prepared in accordance with: 
(1) The National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA), as amended 
(42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.), (2) regulations of the Council on 
Environmental Quality for implementing the procedural provisions of 
NEPA (40 CFR parts 1500-1508), (3) USDA regulations implementing NEPA 
(7 CFR part 1b), and (4) APHIS' NEPA Implementing Procedures (7 CFR 
part 372).

Paperwork Reduction Act

    This proposed rule contains no new information collection or 
recordkeeping requirements under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 
(44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.).

List of Subjects in 7 CFR Part 319

    Bees, Coffee, Cotton, Fruits, Honey, Imports, Logs, Nursery stock, 
Plant diseases and pests, Quarantine, Reporting and recordkeeping 
requirements, Rice, Vegetables.

    Accordingly, we propose to amend 7 CFR part 319 as follows:

PART 319--FOREIGN QUARANTINE NOTICES

    1. The authority citation for part 319 would be revised to read as 
follows:

    Authority: Title IV, Pub. L. 106-224, 114 Stat. 438, 7 U.S.C. 
7701-7772; 7 U.S.C. 166 and 450; 21 U.S.C. 136 and 136a; 7 CFR 2.22, 
2.80, and 371.3.

    2. In Sec. 319.37-8, paragraph (e) would be amended as follows:
    a. By revising the introductory text.
    b. In paragraph (e)(2)(ix), by removing the word ``and'' at the end 
of the paragraph.
    c. In paragraph (e)(2)(x)(B), by removing the period at the end of 
the paragraph and adding in its place a semicolon followed by the word 
``and''.
    d. By adding new paragraph (e)(2)(xi).


Sec. 319.37-8  Growing media.

* * * * *
    (e) A restricted article of any of the following groups of plants 
may be imported established in an approved growing medium listed in 
this paragraph if the article meets the conditions of this paragraph 
and is accompanied by a phytosanitary certificate issued by the plant 
protection service of the country in which the article was grown that 
declares that the article meets the conditions of this paragraph: 
Alstroemeria, Ananas \10\, Anthurium Artificially dwarfed (penjing) 
plants from the People's Republic of China as follows:
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    \10\ These articles are bromeliads, and if imported into Hawaii, 
bromeliads are subject to postentry quarantine in accordance with 
Sec. 319.7-7.
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    Buxus spp., Ehretia (Carmona) spp., Podocarpus spp., Sageretia 
spp., and Serissa spp., Begonia, Gloxinia (= Sinningia), Nidularium 
\10\, Peperomia, Polypodiophyta (=Filicales) (ferns), Rhododendron from 
Europe, Saintpaulia.
* * * * *
    (2) * * *
    (xi) Artificially dwarfed (penjing) plants of the genera Buxus, 
Ehretia (Carmona), Podocarpus, Sageretia, and Serissa from the People's 
Republic of China must also meet the following conditions:
    (A) Propagative cuttings. The propagative materials used to produce 
the artificially dwarfed (penjing) plants may enter an approved 
greenhouse only as seeds, tissue cultures, unrooted cuttings, or rooted 
cuttings. If the rooted cuttings were grown in soil, the soil must have 
been sampled and found free from, or fumigated for, the nematodes 
Paratrophorus spp., Tylenchorhynchus crassicaudatus, and 
Tylenchorhynchus leviterinalis within the 12 months prior to 
introduction of the plants into the greenhouse.
    (B) Inspection and treatment. When any cuttings are introduced into 
the greenhouse, they must be inspected and found free of plant pests 
and then treated with a pesticide dip, approved by the Animal and Plant 
Quarantine Service of the People's Republic of China, that will control 
mites, scale insects, whiteflies, thrips, and fungi. Rooted cuttings 
must also be treated with a nematicide dip in addition to or in 
conjunction with the pesticide dip. The artificially dwarfed (penjing) 
plants must be propagated from mother plants that have been visually 
inspected by an APHIS inspector or an inspector of the Animal and Plant 
Quarantine Service of the People's Republic of China, found free of 
evidence of Paratrophorus spp., Tylenchorhynchus crassicaudatus, and 
Tylenchorhynchus leviterminalis nematodes and found free of evidence of 
the following species-specific diseases and organisms:
    (1) For Buxus spp.: Guignardia miribelii, Macrophoma ehretia, 
Meliola buxicola, and Puccinia buxi.
    (2) For Ehretia spp.: Macrophoma ehretia, Phakopsora ehretiae, 
Pseudocercosporella ehretiae, Pseudocercospora ehretiae-thyrsiflora, 
Uncinula ehretiae, Uredo ehretiae, and Uredo garanbiensis.
    (3) For Podocarpus spp.: Pestalosphaeria jinggangensis, Pestalotia 
diospyri, Phellinus noxius, and Sphaerella podocarpi.
    (4) For Sageretia spp.: Aecidium sageretiae.
    (5) For Serissa spp.: Melampsora serissicola.
    (C) Growing. The artificially dwarfed (penjing) plants must be 
grown in an approved greenhouse for at least 6 months immediately prior 
to export.
    (D) Greenhouse screens. Greenhouses in which the artificially 
dwarfed (penjing) plants are grown must have mesh screens with openings 
no larger than 0.6 mm if the plants have been treated, at least once a 
month for the 3 months before shipping, with broad spectrum pesticides. 
Otherwise, the vents and openings of an approved greenhouse must be 
covered with mesh screens with openings no larger than 0.2 mm.
* * * * *

    Done in Washington, DC, this 14th day of September 2000.
Bobby R. Acord,
Acting Administrator, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
[FR Doc. 00-24133 Filed 9-19-00; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-34-P