[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 114 (Wednesday, June 12, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 49824-49825]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-12830]


 ========================================================================
 Notices
                                                 Federal Register
 ________________________________________________________________________
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 This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER contains documents other than rules 
 or proposed rules that are applicable to the public. Notices of hearings 
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 delegations of authority, filing of petitions and applications and agency 
 statements of organization and functions are examples of documents 
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  Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 114 / Wednesday, June 12, 2024 / 
Notices  

[[Page 49824]]



DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service

[Docket No. APHIS-2018-0074]


Decision To Recognize Freedom From Citrus Longhorned Beetle and 
Asian Longhorned Beetle in Certain Countries

AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, USDA.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: We are notifying the public that we are updating the U.S. 
Department of Agriculture Plants for Planting Manual by recognizing the 
United Kingdom and 21 European Union Member States as being free from 
citrus longhorned beetle (CLB) and Asian longhorned beetle (ALB) and 
removing them from the list of countries where CLB and ALB are present. 
We are also changing the entry conditions in the manual for imports of 
certain host plant taxa of CLB and ALB from Belgium, Denmark, the 
Netherlands, and the United Kingdom because they have previously 
approved genera exempted from the category of plants Not Authorized 
Pending Pest Risk Analysis. These changes will relieve certain 
restrictions on imports of host plants of CLB and ALB into the United 
States from Belgium, Denmark, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom 
while continuing to mitigate the risk of introducing quarantine pests 
into the United States.

DATES: The changes to the entry conditions are effective June 12, 2024.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Narasimha C. Samboju, Senior 
Regulatory Policy Specialist, PHP, PPQ, APHIS, 4700 River Road, Unit 
137, Riverdale, MD 20737; (301) 851-2038; [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Under the regulations in ``Subpart H--Plants 
for Planting'' (7 CFR 319.37-1 through 319.37-23, referred to below as 
the regulations), the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service 
(APHIS) of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) prohibits or 
restricts the importation of plants for planting (including living 
plants, plant parts, seeds, and plant cuttings) to prevent the 
introduction of quarantine pests into the United States. Quarantine 
pest is defined in Sec.  319.37-2 as a plant pest or noxious weed that 
is of potential economic importance to the United States and not yet 
present in the United States, or present but not widely distributed and 
being officially controlled. In accordance with Sec.  319.37-20, APHIS 
may impose quarantines and other restrictions on the importation of 
specific types of plants for planting. These restrictions are listed in 
the USDA Plants for Planting Manual.\1\ Under Sec.  319.37-20, if APHIS 
determines it is necessary to add, change, or remove restrictions on 
the importation of a specific type of plant for planting, we will 
publish in the Federal Register a notice that announces the proposed 
change to the manual and invites public comment.
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    \1\ https://www.aphis.usda.gov/import_export/plants/manuals/ports/downloads/plants_for_planting.pdf.
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    On July 17, 2019, we published in the Federal Register (84 FR 
34116-34117, Docket No. APHIS-2018-0074) a notice \2\ in which we 
proposed to update the USDA Plants for Planting Manual by recognizing 
22 European Union (EU) Member States \3\ as being free from citrus 
longhorned beetle (CLB) and Asian longhorned beetle (ALB) and removing 
them from the list of countries where CLB and ALB are present. We also 
proposed changing the entry conditions in the manual for imports of 
certain host plant taxa of CLB and ALB from Belgium, Denmark, the 
Netherlands, and the United Kingdom because they have previously 
approved genera exempted from the category of plants Not Authorized 
Pending Pest Risk Analysis.
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    \2\ To view the notice, supporting documents, and the comment we 
received, go to http://www.regulations.gov and enter APHIS-2018-0074 
in the Search field.
    \3\ As the United Kingdom is no longer part of the European 
Union, we changed the number to 21 Member States in this final 
notice to reflect this change.
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    We solicited comments on the notice for 60 days ending on September 
16, 2019. We received one comment by that date, from a foreign 
government.
    The commenter noted that we proposed to recognize ALB and CLB 
freedom in certain EU countries but not in pest-free areas within other 
EU countries where ALB or CLB outbreaks have occurred. The commenter 
asked that we not only recognize pest freedom in the countries 
identified in the notice but also within the pest-free areas of EU 
countries that have had outbreaks, noting that the United States had 
been provided with information showing that ALB and CLB are being 
contained successfully in pest-free areas of the EU in accordance with 
international standards.
    In our notice, we acknowledged receiving the supporting information 
cited by the commenter and used it to prepare a commodity import 
evaluation document. However, for this request, we only evaluated 
criteria for recognition of ALB/CLB freedom by country and not by pest-
free area recognition. Before APHIS can consider recognizing freedom 
for pest-free areas, we will need to engage in further evaluation and 
consultation with the European Commission.
    Based on our current evaluation, we are recognizing the United 
Kingdom and 21 EU Member States as being free from ALB and CLB and 
removing them from the lists of countries where those pests are 
present. We are only recognizing EU Member States that are free from 
both pests or that eradicated an infestation at least 3 years ago. The 
EU Member States that continue to be listed as countries where ALB and/
or CLB are present are: Austria, Croatia, Finland, France, Germany, and 
Italy.
    We are also changing the entry conditions in the manual for imports 
of certain host plant taxa of CLB and ALB from Belgium, Denmark, the 
Netherlands, and the United Kingdom because they have previously 
approved genera exempted from the category of plants Not Authorized 
Pending Pest Risk Analysis.

Congressional Review Act

    Pursuant to the Congressional Review Act (5 U.S.C. 801 et seq.), 
the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs designated this action 
as not a major rule, as defined by 5 U.S.C. 804(2).

[[Page 49825]]

    Authority: 7 U.S.C. 1633, 7701-7772, and 7781-7786; 21 U.S.C. 136 
and 136a; 7 CFR 2.22, 2.80, and 371.3.

    Done in Washington, DC, this 5th day of June 2024.
Michael Watson,
Administrator, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
[FR Doc. 2024-12830 Filed 6-11-24; 8:45 am]
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