Notice2026-02746
Ball Horticultural Company: Availability of a Petition for a Determination of Nonregulated Status and Draft Plant Pest Risk Assessment for Red Flower Petals African Marigold (Tagetes erecta) Event pBALL123-022-BE113.
Primary source
Metadata and text below are from the Federal Register, a public-domain U.S. government work. Always verify the official published version before relying on it for any legal matter.
Published
February 11, 2026
Issuing agencies
Agriculture DepartmentAnimal and Plant Health Inspection Service
Abstract
We are advising the public that the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service has received a petition from Ball Horticultural Company seeking a determination of nonregulated status for African marigold (Tagetes erecta) event pBALL123-022-BE113 which has been developed using genetic engineering to produce red flower petals. We are making the petition and draft plant pest risk assessment available for public review and comment.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 91 Issue 28 (Wednesday, February 11, 2026)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 91, Number 28 (Wednesday, February 11, 2026)]
[Notices]
[Pages 6179-6180]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2026-02746]
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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service
[Docket No. APHIS-2026-0001]
Ball Horticultural Company: Availability of a Petition for a
Determination of Nonregulated Status and Draft Plant Pest Risk
Assessment for Red Flower Petals African Marigold (Tagetes erecta)
Event pBALL123-022-BE113.
AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, USDA.
ACTION: Notice of availability.
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SUMMARY: We are advising the public that the Animal and Plant Health
Inspection Service has received a petition from Ball Horticultural
Company seeking a determination of nonregulated status for African
marigold (Tagetes erecta) event pBALL123-022-BE113 which has been
developed using genetic engineering to produce red flower petals. We
are making the petition and draft plant pest risk assessment available
for public review and comment.
DATES: We will consider all comments that we receive on or before April
13, 2026.
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-2026-0001 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-2026-0001, Regulatory Analysis and Development, PPD,
APHIS, 5601 Sunnyside Avenue #AP760, Beltsville, MD 20705.
The petition, draft plant pest risk assessment, and any comments we
receive on this docket may be viewed at <a href="http://www.regulations.gov">www.regulations.gov</a>, or in our
reading room, which is located in 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: Mr. Alan Pearson, Biotechnology
Regulatory Services, APHIS, USDA, 5601 Sunnyside Avenue, AP100-3-WS-
1151, Beltsville, MD 20705; (301) 851-3944; email:
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#5d3c313c33732d383c2f2e32331d282e393c733a322b"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="46272a27286836232734352928063335222768212930">[email protected]</span></a>.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Under the authority of the plant pest
provisions of
[[Page 6180]]
the Plant Protection Act (7 U.S.C. 7701 et seq.), 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,'' 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 organisms and products are
considered ``regulated articles.''
Section 340.6(a) of the regulations provides that any person may
submit a petition to the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service
(APHIS) seeking a determination that an article should not be regulated
under 7 CFR part 340. Paragraphs (b) and (c) of Sec. 340.6 describe
the form that a petition for a determination of nonregulated status
must take and the information that must be included in the petition.
APHIS has received a petition (APHIS Petition Number 25-205-01p)
from Ball Horticultural Company seeking a determination of nonregulated
status for African marigold (Tagetes erecta) event pBALL123-022-BE113,
designated as pBALL123, which has been developed using genetic
engineering to produce red flower petals. The petition states that the
information provided indicates that pBALL123 is unlikely to pose a
plant pest risk and therefore should not be regulated under APHIS'
regulations in 7 CFR part 340.
As part of our decision-making process regarding the organism's
regulatory status, APHIS prepared a draft plant pest risk assessment
(PPRA) to assess the plant pest risk of the organism. APHIS' draft PPRA
compared the pest risk posed by pBALL123 with that of the nonmodified
variety from which it was derived. The draft PPRA concluded that
pBALL123 is unlikely to pose an increased plant pest risk compared to
the nonmodified African marigold.
Paragraph (d) of Sec. 340.6 provides that APHIS will publish a
notice in the Federal Register providing 60 days for public comment on
petitions for a determination of nonregulated status. In accordance
with Sec. 340.6(d), we are publishing this notice to inform the public
that APHIS will accept written comments regarding the petition and
draft PPRA from interested or affected persons for a period of 60 days
from the date of this notice. The petition and draft PPRA are available
for public review and comment, and copies are available as indicated
under ADDRESSES and from the individual listed under the FOR FURTHER
INFORMATION CONTACT section of this notice. We are particularly
interested in receiving comments regarding biological or ecological
issues, and we encourage the submission of scientific data, studies, or
research to support your comments.
After the comment period closes, APHIS will review and evaluate any
information received during the comment period and any other relevant
information. Based upon available information, APHIS will respond to
the petitioner either approving or denying the petition. APHIS will
post its regulatory determination on its website and publish a notice
of availability in the Federal Register.
Authority: 7 U.S.C. 7701-7772 and 7781-7786; 31 U.S.C. 9701; 7 CFR
2.22, 2.80, and 371.3.
Done in Washington, DC, this 9th day of February 2026.
Kelly Moore
Acting Administrator, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
[FR Doc. 2026-02746 Filed 2-10-26; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-34-P
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</html>Indexed from Federal Register on February 11, 2026.
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