Administrator. The Administrator of the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, United States Department of Agriculture, or any employee of the United States Department of Agriculture delegated to act in his or her stead.

Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS). The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Controlled import permit. A written or electronically transmitted authorization issued by APHIS for the importation into the United States of otherwise prohibited or restricted plant material for experimental, therapeutic, or developmental purposes, under controlled conditions as prescribed by the Administrator in accordance with § 319.6.

From. An article is considered to be “from” any country or locality in which it was grown.

Grain. Wheat (Triticum aestivum), durum wheat (Triticum durum), and triticale (Triticum aestivum × Secale cereale) used for consumption or processing and not for planting.

Hay. Host crops cut and dried for feeding to livestock. Hay cut after reaching the dough stage may contain mature kernels of the host crop.

Host crops. Plants or plant parts, including grain, seed, or hay, of wheat (Triticum aestivum), durum wheat (Triticum durum), and triticale (Triticum aestivum × Secale cereale).

Inspector. Any individual authorized by the Administrator of APHIS or the Commissioner of the Bureau of Customs and Border Protection, Department of Homeland Security, to enforce the regulations in this subpart.

Karnal bunt. A plant disease caused by the fungus Tilletia indica (Mitra) Mundkur.

Plant. Any plant (including any plant part) for or capable of propagation, including a tree, a tissue culture, a plantlet culture, pollen, a shrub, a vine, a cutting, a graft, a scion, a bud, a bulb, a root, and a seed.

Seed. Wheat (Triticum aestivum), durum wheat (Triticum durum), and triticale (Triticum aestivum × Secale cereale) used for propagation.

Spp. (species). All species, clones, cultivars, strains, varieties, and hybrids, of a genus.

Straw. The vegetative material left after the harvest of host crops. Straw is generally used as animal feed or bedding, as mulch, or for erosion control.

United States. The States, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the District of Columbia, Guam, the Virgin Islands of the United States, or any other territory or possession of the United States.

(a) [Reserved]

(b) Articles listed in § 319.59-3 as prohibited importation pending risk evaluation, and articles regulated for Karnal bunt in § 319.59-4(a) may be imported for experimental, therapeutic, or developmental purposes under a controlled import permit issued in accordance with § 319.6 if:

(1) Imported at the National Plant Germplasm Inspection Station, Building 580, Beltsville Agricultural Center East, Beltsville, MD 20705, or through any USDA plant inspection station listed in accordance with § 319.37-8(a);

(2) Imported pursuant to a controlled import permit issued for such article and kept on file at the National Plant Germplasm Inspction Station;

(3) Imported under conditions of treatment, processing, growing, shipment, or disposal specified on the controlled import permit and found by the Administrator to be adequate to prevent the introduction into the United States of tree, plant, or fruit diseases, injurious insects, and other plant pests, and

(4) Imported with a controlled import tag or label securely attached to the outside of the container containing the article or securely attached to the article itself if not in a container, and with such tag or label bearing a controlled import permit number corresponding to the number of the controlled import permit issued for such article.

(c) The importation of any host crops (including seed and any other plant parts) that are for planting or capable of being planted is restricted under Subpart H—Plants for Planting of this part.

The articles listed in paragraph (a) of this section from the countries and localities listed in paragraph (b) of this section are prohibited from being imported or offered for entry into the United States, except as provided in § 319.59-2(b), pending the completion of an evaluation by APHIS of the potential pest risks associated with the articles. The national plant protection organization of any listed country or locality may contact APHIS 1 to initiate the preparation of a risk evaluation. If supported by the results of the risk evaluation, APHIS will take action to remove that country or locality from the list in paragraph (b) of this section.

(a) The following articles of Triticum spp. (wheat) or of Aegilops spp. (barb goatgrass, goatgrass): Straw (other than straw, with or without heads, which has been processed or manufactured for use indoors, such as for decorative purposes or for use in toys); chaff; and products of the milling process (i.e., bran, shorts, thistle sharps, and pollards) other than flour.

(b) Afghanistan, Algeria, Armenia, Australia, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Belarus, Bulgaria, Chile, China, Cyprus, Egypt, Estonia, Falkland Islands, Georgia, Greece, Guatemala, Hungary, India, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Italy, Japan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Libya, Lithuania, Moldova, Morocco, Nepal, North Korea, Oman, Pakistan, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Spain, Tajikistan, Tanzania, Tunisia, Turkey, Turkmenistan, South Africa, South Korea, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, and Venezuela.

(a) Regulated articles. The following are regulated articles for Karnal bunt:

(1) Conveyances, including trucks, railroad cars, and other containers used to move host crops from a region listed in paragraph (b)(1) of this section that test positive for Karnal bunt through the presence of bunted kernels;

(2) Plant parts, including grain, straw, or hay, of all varieties of wheat (Triticum aestivum), durum wheat (Triticum durum), and triticale (Triticum aestivum × Secale cereale) from a region listed in paragraph (b)(1) of this section, except for straw/stalks/seed heads for decorative purposes that have been processed or manufactured prior to movement and are intended for use indoors;

(3) Tilletia indica (Mitra) Mundkur;

(4) Mechanized harvesting equipment that has been used in the production of wheat, durum wheat, or triticale that has tested positive for Karnal bunt through the presence of bunted kernels; and

(5) Seed conditioning equipment and storage/handling equipment that has been used in the production of wheat, durum wheat, or triticale seed found to contain the spores of Tilletia indica.

(b)(1) Karnal bunt is known to occur in the following regions: Afghanistan, India, Iran, Iraq, Mexico, Nepal, Pakistan, and South Africa.

(2) The Administrator may recognize an area within a region listed in paragraph (b)(1) of this section as an area free of Karnal bunt whenever he or she determines that the area meets the requirements of the International Standard for Phytosanitary Measures (ISPM) No. 4, “Requirements for the establishment of pest free areas.” The international standard was established by the International Plant Protection Convention of the United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization and is incorporated by reference in § 300.5 of this chapter. APHIS will publish a notice in the Federal Register and maintain on an APHIS Web site a list of the specific areas that are approved as areas in which Karnal bunt is not known to occur in order to provide the public with current, valid information. Areas listed as being free from Karnal bunt are subject to audit by APHIS to verify that they continue to merit such listing.

(c) Handling, inspection and phytosanitary certificates. Unless otherwise prohibited under § 319.59-3 of this subpart, any articles described in paragraph (a)(2) of this section that are from a region listed in paragraph (b)(1) of this section may be imported into the United States subject to the following conditions:

(1) The articles must be from an area that has been recognized, in accordance with paragraph (b)(2) of this section, to be an area free of Karnal bunt, or the articles have been tested and found to be free of Karnal bunt;

(2) The articles have not been commingled prior to arrival at a U.S. port of entry with articles from areas where Karnal bunt is known to occur;

(3) The articles offered for entry must be made available to an inspector for examination and remain at the port until released, or authorized further movement pending release, by an inspector; and

(4) The articles must be accompanied by a phytosanitary certificate issued by the national plant protection organization of the region of origin that includes the following additional declaration: “These articles originated in an area where Karnal bunt is not known to occur, as attested to either by survey results or by testing for bunted kernels or spores.”

(d) Treatments. (1) Prior to entry into the United States, the following articles must be cleaned by removing any soil and plant debris that may be present.

(i) All conveyances and mechanized harvesting equipment used for storing and handling wheat, durum wheat, or triticale that tested positive for Karnal bunt based on bunted kernels.

(ii) All grain storage and handling equipment used to store or handle seed that has tested spore positive or grain that has tested bunted-kernel positive.

(iii) All seed-conditioning equipment used to store or handle seed that has tested spore-positive.

(2) Articles listed in paragraphs (d)(1)(i) and (d)(1)(ii) of this section will require disinfection in addition to cleaning prior to entry into the United States if an inspector or an official of the plant protection organization of the country of origin determines that disinfection is necessary to prevent the spread of Karnal bunt. Disinfection is required for all seed conditioning equipment covered under paragraph (d)(1)(iii) prior to entry into the United States.

(3) Items that require disinfection prior to entry into the United States must be disinfected in accordance with part 305 of this chapter.