APHIS Proposes Overhaul of Plants for Planting Import Regulations, More Use of Manual

Plant-Specific Conditions Move to Plants for Planting Manual

The proposed rule would remove importation conditions on specific plants for planting from the plants for planting regulations at 7 CFR Part 319, and instead put them in the Plants for Planting Manual. Importers and inspectors usually need to find what restrictions apply to the specific plants they want to import or inspect, APHIS said. The Plants for Planting Manual already organizes these restrictions by plant, in contrast to the regulations, which in some cases list by restriction. By listing all restrictions for specific plants in the Plants for Planting Manual, importers and inspectors would be able to more quickly and easily see what specific restrictions apply to each plant, the agency said.

Lists of approved items, such as approved growing media, packing materials, and ports of entry, would be also removed from the regulations and put in the Plants for Planting Manual, APHIS said. According to APHIS, the procedures for updating the lists would be similar to the notice-based process it is proposing for updating restrictions on specific plants for planting (see below), as opposed to the current form rulemaking process needed to amend the regulations.

Provisions affecting general importation, like requirements for permits, phytosanitary certificates, growing media, and packing materials, would still be listed in the regulations, APHIS said. The proposed rule would reorganize the plants for planting regulations, however, by grouping together requirements that affect all plants for planting. This change would make it easier for readers to see what requirements apply to all plants, the agency said.

Prohibited Plants Lists Combined

Another organizational change would consolidate lists of plants for planting for which importation is currently prohibited. The proposal would combine the list of plants for planting prohibited for importation because they are hosts of quarantine pests, with the list of plants for planting for which importation is not authorized pending pest risk analysis (NAPPRA). APHIS said the currently separated lists confuse readers of the regulation. The addition of the prohibited plants for planting to the list of NAPPRA plants for planting would also make clear that anyone may request a pest risk analysis to determine whether importation should be allowed for a particular plant, even for plants previously on the prohibited list.

Move to Notice-Based Procedures for Prohibiting, Allowing Importation

APHIS would also modify procedures for removal of prohibitions on importing plants for planting. Because the agency is removing the prohibited list from the regulations, the normal rulemaking process would no longer be necessary if a pest risk analysis shows importation of a plant for planting should not be allowed, it said. Under the proposed rule, if a pest risk analysis shows the plant for planting should not be imported, APHIS would continue to list the plant as NAPPRA and publish a notice in the Federal Register asking for comments. If the comments cause APHIS to change its mind, the agency would again ask for comments on its new determination. If not, APHIS would publish a second notice responding to comments and affirming its determination to continue the listing as NAPPRA, it said.

Similarly, the removal of product-specific import requirements would allow APHIS to use notice-based procedures when changing conditions for importation, the agency said. Under the new process, APHIS would publish a notice in the Federal Register announcing its determination to add, change, or remove restrictions on imports of specific plants for planting. The agency would issue a document describing the restrictions alongside the notice. A 60-day comment period would then follow. After the close of the comment period, APHIS would issue a second notice outlining the agency’s final decision on import restrictions.

Notice Procedures Make Agency More Responsive, Says APHIS

APHIS said it expects that the NAPPRA provisions of the plants for planting regulations, added in 2011, will eventually result in a large number of plants being added to the NAPPRA lists and being prohibited from importation. The quicker notice-based process for addition of plants to the NAPPRA list makes this process even quicker, it said.

The move to a notice-based process for changing plant-specific import requirements would allow APHIS to more quickly allow importation of plants for planting on the NAPPRA list by allowing it to more quickly set out conditions, the agency said. The current formal rulemaking system typically takes from 18 months to three years to complete, APHIS said. The notice-based system “would result in measurable time savings over the rulemaking process while continuing to allow for public input on the [pest risk analysis]."

The notice-based procedures would also allow the agency to allow the continued importation of a plant subject to new conditions if quarantine pests change, it said. Regulations often don’t reflect imposition of new and changed measures in response to changing conditions, because of time required for formal rulemaking, APHIS said. The notice-based process would allow the agency to get public comment on new requirements more quickly, it said.

New Framework for ‘Integrated Pest Management Measures’

The proposed rule would also create a new framework for development of “integrated pest risk management measures,” currently known as the “systems approach.” The proposal would outline responsibilities of all parties involved in the measures, including the place of production, the national plant protection organization of the exporting country, the plant broker in the exporting country, and APHIS. Requirements for specific integrated pest management measures programs would be moved to the Plants for Planting Manual under the proposed rule, APHIS said.

(See the APHIS proposed rule for a full list of changes made by the proposed rule. APHIS said the changes to not make any major changes to restrictions that currently apply. The changes to organization are extensive, however.)