Various U.S. government agencies are seeking comments on the following information collections for which they have requested or intend to request Office of Management and Budget approval or extension of approval (see notices for specific details):
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service has updated the following PPQ electronic manuals as of June 9, 2011 (since June 2, 2011):
The U.S. Department of Agriculture has issued its Preliminary Plan for Retrospective Analysis of Existing Regulations, which is required under Executive Order 135361 and is part of the President’s plan to create a “21st-century regulatory system.” USDA is focusing its initial retrospective review on FSIS and APHIS, etc.
On June 3, 2011, the fiscal year 2012 USDA and FDA1 Appropriations bill was introduced in the House after being reported by the House Appropriations Committee. The bill would cut FDA appropriations, project additional funding from user fees, and prohibit funding of payments to Brazil to settle a WTO cotton dispute. In its report, the Appropriations Committee also encourages FDA to establish a highly compliant importer pilot.
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service has updated the following PPQ electronic manuals as of June 2, 2011 (since May 26, 2011):
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service announces the availability of a pest risk analysis that evaluates the risks associated with the importation into the continental U.S. of fresh apricot, sweet cherry, and plumcot fruit from South Africa. Based on its analysis, APHIS has concluded that the application of one or more designated phytosanitary measures will be sufficient to mitigate the risks of introducing or disseminating plant pests via the importation of those commodities from South Africa. APHIS also determined that it is necessary to revise a treatment schedule in the Plant Protection and Quarantine Treatment Manual. Comments are due by August 1, 2011.
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service has announced the following recent updates in its Animal Export Regulations History:
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service has issued a proposed rule to remove lists of regions classified with respect to certain animal diseases and pests from its animal and animal product import regulations, and to remove lists of States approved to receive horses imported from foreign regions where it considers contagious equine metritis to exist, and instead post these lists to its Web site. The regulations would provide the Web address and would explain APHIS' criteria and process for adding a region to, or removing a region from, each of the lists. The technical criteria APHIS uses to evaluate whether a region should be added to or removed from a list, or for approving a State, would not change. Comments are due by August 1, 2011. APHIS' press release on this proposed rule is available here.
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service is delaying enforcement of its March 25, 2011 interim rule which amended the regulations regarding the importation of horses from countries affected with contagious equine metritis (CEM) by incorporating an additional certification requirement for imported horses 731 days of age or less and adding new testing protocols for test mares and imported stallions and mares more than 731 days of age. That interim rule became effective on March 25, 2011; however, APHIS is delaying the enforcement of the interim rule until July 25, 2011.
Various U.S. government agencies are seeking comments on the following information collections for which they have requested or intend to request Office of Management and Budget approval or extension of approval (see notices for specific details):