USDA ADOPTS FINAL RULE REGARDING POTATO CYST NEMATODE QUARANTINE IN IDAHO
April 29, 2009
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) is advising the public that it is adopting as a final rule, with two changes, an interim rule that amended the regulations by quarantining parts of Bingham and Bonneville counties (Idaho) due to the discovery of the potato cyst nematode there and establishing restrictions on the interstate movement of regulated articles from the quarantined area. As amended by this document, the rule refers to the nematode of concern, Globodera pallida, by the common name “pale cyst nematode” rather than by the name “potato cyst nematode;” allows the movement of Phaseolus spp. (beans) and Pisum spp. (peas) under the same conditions that apply to the movement of other crops to which soil is often attached; and requires that a protocol approved by the Administrator as sufficient to support removal of infested fields from quarantine, rather than a three-year biosurvey protocol, be completed in order to remove an infested field from quarantine. APHIS is also making minor, nonsubstantive changes. These actions will prevent the spread of the pale cyst nematode via potatoes, soil, and other host material to noninfested areas of the United States.
Notice of this final rule is published in the April 29 Federal Register and becomes effective upon publication.
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Note to Reporters: Public notices and other APHIS information are available on the Internet. Go to the APHIS news release page at http://www.aphis.usda.gov and click on the “Newsroom” button. For additional information about this topic contact David Sacks at (301) 734-5271 or by e-mail at david.sacks@aphis.usda.gov.