(a) Adult honeybees. The following regions are approved for the importation of adult honeybees into the continental United States (not including Hawaii) under the conditions of this subpart: Australia, Canada, and New Zealand.

(b) Honeybee germ plasm. The following regions are approved for the importation of honeybee germ plasm into the United States under the conditions of this subpart: Australia, Bermuda, Canada, France, Great Britain, New Zealand, and Sweden.

(c) Bees other than honeybees. The following regions are approved for the importation of bees other than honeybees into the continental United States (not including Hawaii) under the conditions of this subpart: Canada.

(d) If the name of the region from which you want to import adult honeybees, honeybee germ plasm, or bees other than honeybees into the United States does not appear in paragraphs (a), (b), or (c), respectively, of this section, refer to subpart C of this part, “Importation of Restricted Organisms,” for requirements.

(e) For information on approving other regions for the importation of adult honeybees, honeybee germ plasm, or bees other than honeybees into the United States, see § 322.12.

(a) All shipments of bees and honeybee germ plasm imported into the United States under this subpart must be shipped directly to the United States from an approved region.

(b) Adult honeybees. (1) You may import adult honeybees under this subpart only from regions listed in § 322.4(a).

(2) The honeybees must be package bees or queens with attending adult bees.

(c) Honeybee germ plasm. You may import honeybee germ plasm under this subpart only from regions listed in § 322.4(b).

(d) Bees other than honeybees. (1) You may import live adult bees or live brood and essential nest substrate under this subpart only from regions listed in § 322.4(c).

(2) The live bees or brood must belong to one of the following species:

(i) Bumblebees of the species Bombus impatiens;

(ii) Bumblebees of the species Bombus occidentalis;

(iii) Alfalfa leafcutter bee (Megachile rotundata);

(iv) Blue orchard bee (Osmia lignaria); or

(v) Horn-faced bee (Osmia cornifrons).

(3) If you want to import species of bees other than those listed in paragraph (d)(2) of this section, refer to subpart C of this part, “Importation of Restricted Organisms,” for requirements.

Each shipment of bees and honeybee germ plasm arriving in the United States from an approved region must be accompanied by an export certificate issued by the appropriate regulatory agency of the national government of the exporting region.

(a) Adult honeybees. (1) For adult honeybees, the export certificate must:

(i) Certify that the hives from which the honeybees in the shipment were derived were individually inspected by an official of the regulatory agency no more than 10 days prior to export;

(ii) Identify any diseases, parasites, or undesirable species or subspecies of honeybee found in the hive during that preexport inspection; and

(iii) Certify that the bees in the shipment were produced in the exporting region and are the offspring of bees or semen also produced in the exporting region.

(2) If the export certificate identifies a bee disease or parasite of concern to the United States, including, but not limited to, Thai sacbrood virus, Tropilaelaps clareae, and Euvarroa sinhai, or an undesirable species or subspecies of honeybee, including, but not limited to, the Cape honeybee (Apis mellifera capensis) and the Oriental honeybee (Apis cerana), as occurring in the hive from which the shipment was derived, we will refuse the shipment's entry into the United States.

(b) Honeybee germ plasm. (1) For honeybee germ plasm, the export certificate must:

(i) Certify that the hives from which the germ plasm in each shipment was derived were individually inspected by an official of the regulatory agency no more than 10 days prior to export;

(ii) Identify any diseases, parasites, or undesirable species or subspecies of honeybee found in the hive during that preexport inspection; and

(iii) Certify that the bees in the hives from which the shipment was derived were produced in the exporting region and are the offspring of bees or semen also produced in the exporting region.

(2) If the export certificate identifies a bee disease or parasite of concern to the United States, including, but not limited to, Thai sacbrood virus, Tropilaelaps clareae, and Euvarroa sinhai, or an undesirable species or subspecies of honeybee, including, but not limited to, the Cape honeybee (Apis mellifera capensis) and the Oriental honeybee (Apis cerana), as occurring in the hive from which the shipment was derived, we will refuse the shipment's entry into the United States.

(c) Bees other than honeybees. For bees other than honeybees, the export certificate must certify that the bees in the shipment were produced in the exporting region and are the offspring of bees or semen also produced in the exporting region.

(a) At least 10 business days prior to the arrival in the United States of any shipment of bees or honeybee germ plasm imported into the United States under this subpart, you must notify APHIS of the impending arrival. Your notification must include the following information:

(1) Your name, address, and telephone number;

(2) The name and address of the receiving apiary;

(3) The name, address, and telephone number of the producer;

(4) The U.S. port where you expect the shipment to arrive. The port must be staffed by an APHIS inspector (see § 322.11);

(5) The date you expect the shipment to arrive at that U.S. port;

(6) The scientific name(s) of the organisms in the shipment;

(7) A description of the shipment (i.e., package bees, queen bees, nest boxes, etc.); and

(8) The total number of organisms you expect to receive.

(b) You must provide the notification to APHIS through one of the following means:

(1) By mail to the Permit Unit, PPQ, APHIS, 4700 River Road Unit 133, Riverdale, MD 20737-1236; or

(2) By facsimile at (301) 734-8700; or

(3) By electronic mail to [email protected], or

(4) Using a U.S. Government electronic information exchange system or other authorized method.

(a) Adult honeybees. All shipments of adult honeybees imported into the United States under this subpart:

(1) Must be packaged to prevent the escape of any bees or bee pests;

(2) Must not include any brood, comb, pollen, or honey; and

(3) May include sugar water or crystallized sugar (e.g., candy) for use as food during transit.

(b) Bees other than honeybees—(1) Adult bees. All adult bees other than honeybees imported into the United States must be packaged to prevent the escape of any bees or bee pests.

(2) Live brood. For live brood of bees other than honeybees, packages:

(i) Must be securely closed;

(ii) May not include any soil, except for that which is present in nest cells that include developing, immature bees;

(iii) May include only packing materials that were grown or produced in the exporting region and that meet all other applicable requirements of this chapter, such as the regulations pertaining to unmanufactured wood in part 319 of this chapter and the plant pest regulations in part 330 of this chapter; and

(iv) May consist of brood housed in new or used bee boards, provided the bee boards meet all applicable requirements of this part.

(a) If you import a package of honeybees, honeybee germ plasm, or bees other than honeybees under this subpart through the mail or through commercial express delivery, you must mark all sides of the outside of that package with the contents of the shipment, i.e., “Live Bees,” “Bee Germ Plasm,” or “Live Bee Brood,” and the name of the exporting region. The marking must be clearly visible using black letters at least 1 inch in height on a white background.

(b) If you import a package of honeybees, honeybee germ plasm, or bees other than honeybees under this subpart through commercial express delivery, you must provide an accurate description of the complete contents of the shipment, i.e., “Live Bees,” “Bee Germ Plasm,” or “Live Bee Brood,” for the shipment's delivery manifest entry.

(c) In addition to the export certificate required in § 322.6, a package of honeybees, honeybee germ plasm, or bees other than honeybees imported under this subpart by commercial express delivery must be accompanied at the time of arrival in the United States by an invoice or packing list accurately indicating the complete contents of the shipment.

(a) Shipments of honeybees, honeybee germ plasm, and bees other than honeybees imported into the United States under this subpart will be inspected at the port of entry in the United States for:

(1) Proper documentation (see § 322.6);

(2) Timely notice of arrival (see § 322.7); and

(3) Adequate packaging (see § 322.8).

(b) If, upon inspection, any shipment fails to meet the requirements of this part, that shipment will be refused entry into the United States. In accordance with § 322.2(c), the inspector will offer you, or in your absence the shipper, the opportunity to immediately export any refused shipments. If you, or in your absence the shipper, decline to immediately export the shipment, we will destroy the shipment at your expense.

Shipments of honeybees, honeybee germ plasm, and bees other than honeybees imported under this subpart may enter the United States only at a port of entry staffed by an APHIS inspector. 2

(a) The national government of the region wishing to export must request that we perform a risk assessment for the importation into the United States of honeybees, honeybee germ plasm, or bees other than honeybees from that region.

(b) When we receive a request, we will evaluate the science-based risks associated with such importation. Our risk assessment will be based on information provided by the exporting region, information from topical scientific literature, and, if applicable, information we gain from a site visit to the exporting region. The risk assessment will include:

(1) Identification of all bee diseases, including fungi, bacteria, viruses, mycoplasmas, and protozoa, that occur in the exporting region but not in the United States or that are listed as significant for international trade by the Office International des Epizooties (OIE);

(2) Identification of all bee parasites, including mites, that occur in the exporting region but not in the United States or that are listed as significant for international trade by the OIE;

(3) Identification of all species and subspecies of honeybees that occur in the exporting region but not in the United States or that are listed as significant for international trade by the OIE, if applicable;

(4) Identification of all pests of bee culture, such as the small hive beetle, that occur in the exporting region but not in the United States or that are listed as significant for international trade by the OIE;

(5) Evaluation of the probability of establishment, including pathway, entry, colonization, and spread potentials, of any diseases, parasites, undesirable species or subspecies of honeybees, or pests identified in accordance with paragraphs (b)(1), (2), (3), or (4) of this section;

(6) Evaluation of the potential consequences of establishment, including economic, environmental, and perceived social and political effects, of each disease, parasite, undesirable species or subspecies of honeybees, or pest identified in accordance with paragraphs (b)(1), (2), (3), or (4) of this section; and

(7) Consideration of the effectiveness of the regulatory system of the exporting region to control bee diseases, parasites, undesirable species and subspecies of honeybees, and pests that occur there and to prevent occurrences of new bee diseases, parasites, undesirable species and subspecies of honeybees, and pests.

(c) Based on the conclusions of the risk assessment, we will either:

(1) Publish in the Federal Register a notice of proposed rulemaking to allow honeybees, honeybee germ plasm, or bees other than honeybees to be imported into the United States from that region; or

(2) Deny the request in writing, stating the specific reasons for that action.

(d) We will publish a notice of availability of all completed risk assessments for public comment.