Notice2024-25740
Importation of Phalaenopsis Spp. Orchid Plants for Planting in Approved Growing Media From Germany and the Netherlands Into the United States
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Published
November 6, 2024
Issuing agencies
Agriculture DepartmentAnimal and Plant Health Inspection Service
Abstract
We are proposing to authorize the importation of Phalaenopsis spp. orchid plants from Germany and the Netherlands in approved growing media into the United States. As a condition of entry, Phalaenopsis spp. orchid plants in approved growing media from Germany and the Netherlands would have to meet all relevant requirements included in the U.S. Department of Agriculture Plants for Planting Manual and detailed in a bilateral workplan. This proposed action would allow for the importation of Phalaenopsis spp. orchid plants for planting from Germany and the Netherlands in approved growing media while providing protection against the introduction of plant pests.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 89 Issue 215 (Wednesday, November 6, 2024)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 215 (Wednesday, November 6, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 87999-88000]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2024-25740]
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Notices
Federal Register
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Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 215 / Wednesday, November 6, 2024 /
Notices
[[Page 87999]]
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service
[Docket No. APHIS-2024-0001]
Importation of Phalaenopsis Spp. Orchid Plants for Planting in
Approved Growing Media From Germany and the Netherlands Into the United
States
AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, USDA.
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: We are proposing to authorize the importation of Phalaenopsis
spp. orchid plants from Germany and the Netherlands in approved growing
media into the United States. As a condition of entry, Phalaenopsis
spp. orchid plants in approved growing media from Germany and the
Netherlands would have to meet all relevant requirements included in
the U.S. Department of Agriculture Plants for Planting Manual and
detailed in a bilateral workplan. This proposed action would allow for
the importation of Phalaenopsis spp. orchid plants for planting from
Germany and the Netherlands in approved growing media while providing
protection against the introduction of plant pests.
DATES: We will consider all comments that we receive on or before
January 6, 2025.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by either of the following methods:
<bullet> Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to <a href="http://www.regulations.gov">www.regulations.gov</a>.
Enter APHIS-2024-0001 in the Search field. Select the Documents tab,
then select the Comment button in the list of documents.
<bullet> Postal Mail/Commercial Delivery: Send your comment to
Docket No. APHIS-2024-0001, Regulatory Analysis and Development, PPD,
APHIS, Station 2C-10.16, 4700 River Road, Unit 25, Riverdale, MD 20737-
1238.
Supporting documents and any comments we receive on this docket may
be viewed at <a href="http://www.regulations.gov">http://www.regulations.gov</a> or in our reading room, which
is located in room 1620 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) 799-7039 before coming.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. Narasimha Chary Samboju, Senior
Regulatory Policy Specialist, PPQ, APHIS, 4700 River Road, Unit 133,
Riverdale, MD 20737-1236; (301) 851-2038;
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#5618372437253f3b3e3778157805373b34393c231637263e3f25782325323778313920"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="2e604f5c4f5d4743464f006d007d4f434c41445b6e4f5e46475d005b5d4a4f00494158">[email protected]</span></a>.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
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.
Section 319.37-10 restricts the importation of plants for planting
in approved growing media, with exceptions. Paragraph (d) of Sec.
319.37-10 states that certain types of plants for planting, as listed
in the USDA Plants for Planting Manual, may be imported when they are
established in a growing medium approved by the Administrator and
produced in accordance with additional requirements specified in the
manual.
Section 319.37-20 contains provisions for making changes to the
list of plants for planting that may be imported in approved growing
media, as well as restrictions for the importation of those types of
plants for planting beyond the general restrictions in Sec. Sec.
319.37-5 through 319.37-11. To initiate a change to the list, APHIS
will publish in the Federal Register a notice for public comment
announcing our proposal to add, change, or remove restrictions on the
importation of a specific type of plants for planting. After close of
the comment period, we will review comments and issue a second notice
announcing the specific restrictions, if any, that APHIS has determined
to be necessary to mitigate pest risk. Any changes to the list of types
of plants for planting whose importation is subject to additional
restrictions, and the specific restrictions applicable to them, will be
made to the USDA Plants for Planting Manual and the Agricultural
Commodity Import Requirements database (ACIR).\1\
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\1\ <a href="https://acir.aphis.usda.gov/s/acir-global-search?category=Plants-for-Planting-and-Propagation">https://acir.aphis.usda.gov/s/acir-global-search?category=Plants-for-Planting-and-Propagation</a>.
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Currently, the entry of Phalaenopsis spp. orchid plants in approved
growing media from Germany and the Netherlands into the United States
is not authorized. Germany and the Netherlands have requested that
importation into the United States of Phalaenopsis spp. orchid plants
in approved growing media be allowed pursuant to Sec. 319.37-10(d).
To be eligible for importation, plants for planting in approved
growing media must be of approved plant taxa and come from a facility
that is part of an approved growing media program approved by APHIS.
Basic requirements \2\ applicable to all plant taxa in approved growing
media are listed in chapter 7 of the USDA Plants for Planting Manual
and ACIR. Among these basic requirements, taxa imported in approved
growing media from approved facilities must:
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\2\ The basic requirements are listed in full under ``Plants in
Growing Media Program'' in chapter 7 of the Plants for Planting
Manual: <a href="https://acir.aphis.usda.gov/s/plants-for-planting-hub">https://acir.aphis.usda.gov/s/plants-for-planting-hub</a>.
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<bullet> Be accompanied by a phytosanitary certificate issued by
the national plant protection organization (NPPO) of the country in
which the plants were grown;
<bullet> Be only in approved growing media;
<bullet> Be grown in compliance with a written agreement (bilateral
work plan);
<bullet> Be developed from mother stock that was inspected and
found free from evidence of quarantine pests;
<bullet> Be grown solely in a greenhouse in which sanitary
procedures adequate to exclude quarantine pests are always employed;
<bullet> Be rooted and grown in an active state of foliar growth
for at least 4 consecutive months immediately prior to importation into
the United States;
[[Page 88000]]
<bullet> Be grown from seeds germinated in the greenhouse unit; or
descended from a mother plant that was grown for at least 9 months in
the exporting country prior to importation into the United States of
the descendant plants;
<bullet> Be watered only with rainwater that has been boiled or
pasteurized, with clean well water, or with potable water;
<bullet> Be rooted and grown in approved growing media;
<bullet> Be stored and packaged only in areas free of sand, soil,
earth, and quarantine pests; and
<bullet> Be inspected in the greenhouse and found free from
evidence of quarantine pests by an APHIS inspector or an inspector of
the NPPO of the exporting country.
In addition, the grower is required to comply with the provisions
of the program and to allow inspectors, and representatives of the NPPO
of the exporting country, access to where the plants are grown. These
requirements have been used successfully to mitigate the risk of pest
introduction associated with the importation into the United States of
approved plants established in approved growing media.
Beyond the basic requirements for import eligibility applicable to
all taxa in approved growing media, the Plants for Planting Manual and
ACIR contain approved growing media program requirements specific to
plant taxa and the country in which they are grown. Programs for
importation of Phalaenopsis spp. orchid plants in approved growing
media from approved facilities have been established for four
countries: China, Costa Rica, South Korea, and Taiwan.
In response to the request by Germany and the Netherlands, we
conducted pest risk assessments to evaluate the risk to the United
States, including territories, of importation of Phalaenopsis spp.
orchid plants in approved growing media from Germany and the
Netherlands. After a review of the scientific literature, port-of-entry
pest interception data, and information from the NPPO of Germany and
the Netherlands, we conducted pest risk assessments listing all
potential pests with actionable regulatory status for the United States
and its territories that occur in Germany and the Netherlands and are
associated with Phalaenopsis spp. orchid plants anywhere in the world.
We analyzed the pest risk potential of these organisms and determined
that no organism in Germany of quarantine concern had a reasonable
likelihood of following the pathway of Phalaenopsis spp. plants in
growing media from Germany into the United States. Nonetheless, the
general plants in growing media regulations outlined in the Plants for
Planting Manual and ACIR will still apply for this pathway. This will
ensure that Phalaenopsis spp. imported into the United States from
Germany have been produced under the conditions evaluated by the pest
risk assessment. For the pest risk assessment of the Netherlands, we
found three pests, the arthropods Lyprauta cambria and L. chacoensis,
and the fungus Colletotrichum orchidearum, are candidates for risk
management measures because they meet the threshold to likely cause
unacceptable consequences if introduced into the United States.
Based on the findings in the pest risk assessments, we prepared
risk management documents (RMDs) \3\ to determine mitigations that will
be required of Germany, and that will adequately prevent the
introduction of Lyprauta cambria, L. chacoensis, and Colletotrichum
orchidearum from the Netherlands into the United States, for
Phalaenopsis spp. orchid plants in approved growing media. In order for
Phalaenopsis spp. orchid plants to be safely imported into the United
States from Germany and the Netherlands, the RMDs specify that the
plants must be grown in approved growing media and meet the
requirements outlined in the USDA Plants for Planting Manual. The RMD
for the Netherlands additionally provides mitigations required to
prevent the introduction of Lyprauta cambria, L. chacoensis, and
Colletotrichum orchidearum, into the United States via Phalaenopsis
spp. orchid plants in approved growing media from the Netherlands.
These requirements for each country are detailed in written agreements
between APHIS and Germany and the Netherlands regarding risk management
measures to prevent the entry of quarantine plant pests.
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\3\ The RMDs can be viewed on the <a href="http://Regulations.gov">Regulations.gov</a> website (see
the link under ADDRESSES) or by contacting the person listed under
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT.
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Therefore, in accordance with Sec. 319.37-20(c), we are announcing
the availability of our pest risk assessments and RMDs for public
review and comment. These documents may be viewed on the
<a href="http://Regulations.gov">Regulations.gov</a> website or in our reading room (see ADDRESSES above for
a link to <a href="http://Regulations.gov">Regulations.gov</a> and information on the location and hours of
the reading room). You may request paper copies of these documents by
calling or writing to the person listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION
CONTACT. Please refer to the subject of the analyses you wish to review
when requesting copies.
After we review any comments that we receive on our proposed
changes to the USDA Plants for Planting Manual and ACIR, we will
publish a second notice. The second notice will inform the public of
any changes to the list of countries approved for the importation into
the United States of Phalaenopsis spp. orchid plants in approved
growing media.
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 22nd day of October 2024.
Michael Watson,
Administrator, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
[FR Doc. 2024-25740 Filed 11-5-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-34-P
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