[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 162 (Monday, August 23, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Pages 51797-51798]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-19235]


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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service

[Docket No. 04-074-1]


Confinement of Genetically Engineered Crops During Field Testing; 
Workshop

AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, USDA.

ACTION: Notice of meeting.

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SUMMARY: This is to notify parties involved in those fields associated 
with the confinement of genetically engineered crops, as well as other 
interested persons, that a workshop will be held to review past results 
and obtain an update on the most recent scientific results relevant to 
biological dispersal and confinement of genetically engineered crops 
during field testing. The workshop is being organized by the Animal and 
Plant Health Inspection Service.

DATES: The workshop will be held September 13 through 15, 2004, from

[[Page 51798]]

8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day. The sessions on September 13 and 14, 
2004, will include panels of invited scientific experts. The session on 
September 15, 2004, will be open to the public.

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

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Robyn Rose, Biotechnology 
Regulatory Services, APHIS, 4700 River Road Unit 147, Riverdale, MD 
20737-1236; (301) 734-0489, or e-mail: [email protected].

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,'' (referred to below as the regulations) 
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.''
    Field tests of genetically engineered crops planted under an Animal 
and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) permit as plant-made 
pharmaceuticals (PMPs) and plant-made industrials (PMIs) are currently 
being conducted under the regulations. In order to provide a forum for 
the discussion of past and current information relevant to biological 
and physical factors that influence the design, implementation, 
efficacy, and feasibility of measures used to confine transgenic plants 
and their progeny to the authorized field sites, APHIS is organizing a 
workshop. This workshop will provide a forum for discussing measures 
that can be taken to limit gene flow beyond the authorized site, 
commingling with other crops, and persistence of transgenic plants in 
the environment following termination of the field trial. The workshop 
will primarily focus on plants most frequently used as PMPs and PMIs, 
such as corn, barley, rice, safflower, and tobacco, with three break-
out groups that will examine wind pollination of crops using corn as a 
model, self-pollinated crops using rice as a model, and insect-
pollinated crops using safflower as a model.
    This workshop is scheduled for September 13 through 15, 2004. The 
sessions on the first 2 days of the workshop will include panels of 
invited scientific experts. The third day will be open to the public 
and the results of the panel discussions will be summarized. 
Preregistration is required for all those who wish to attend the third 
day of the workshop. The deadline for preregistration is September 10, 
2004. Information regarding the meeting and registration instructions 
are available on the Internet at http://www.aphis.usda.gov/brs/new_info.html. Questions that will be discussed during the workshop may be 
viewed on the Internet at http://www.aphis.usda.gov/brs/confine_workshop/confine_questions.pdf.
    The third day of the workshop will be open to the public. Persons 
interested in making an oral presentation during the third day of the 
workshop related to the topic of the workshop should submit a brief 
written statement or abstract of the science they wish to present, the 
name and address of each person who will participate in the 
presentation, and an estimate of the approximate length of time needed 
to make the presentation. This information should be submitted to the 
person listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT no later than 
September 6, 2004. The number of oral presentations on the third day of 
the workshop and the time allocated for each may be limited, depending 
upon the number of requests. Send all statements or abstracts to the 
person listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT. Please state that 
your statement or abstract refers to Docket No. 04-074-1. If you use e-
mail, your comment must be contained in the body of your message or 
sent as an attachment in WordPerfect or Microsoft Word format. Please 
include your name and address in your message and ``Docket No. 04-074-
1'' on the subject line.
    Following the workshop, a proceedings will be published that will 
summarize the information gathered during the workshop. The proceedings 
will outline methods for physical, temporal, spatial, and biological 
confinement of transgenes incorporated into wind-pollinated, insect-
pollinated, and primarily self-pollinating crops along with information 
regarding their efficacy and feasibility of implementation. The effects 
of scale and use of models to predict or compare efficacy of options 
will also be addressed. Information gathered during the workshop will 
be summarized to illustrate the interaction of available tools for gene 
confinement to form a comprehensive and flexible approach to field 
testing. Scientific data and references will be included in a 
bibliography as part of the proceedings.

Parking and Security Procedures

    Please note that a fee of $2.25 is required to enter the parking 
lot at the USDA Center at Riverside. The machine accepts $1 bills or 
quarters.
    Upon entering the building, visitors should inform security 
personnel that they are attending the Crop Field Testing workshop. 
Identification is required. Security personnel will direct visitors to 
the sign-in tables located outside of the Conference Center. All 
participants must sign in upon arrival. Conference badges must be worn 
throughout the day.

    Done in Washington, DC, this 17th day of August 2004.
Kevin Shea,
Acting Administrator, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
[FR Doc. 04-19235 Filed 8-20-04; 8:45 am]
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