. /.WORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONG/SPS/N/USA/162
28 May 1999
(99-2169)
Committee on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures Original:  English
NOTIFICATION
1. Member to Agreement notifying:   UNITED STATES
If applicable, name of local government involved:
2. Agency responsible:   Environmental Protection Agency
3. Products covered (provide tariff item number(s) as specified in national schedules
deposited with the WTO;  ICS numbers may be provided in addition, where applicable).
Regions or countries likely to be affected, to the extent relevant or practicable:
Pesticides
4. Title and number of pages of the notified document:  Formaldehyde;  Proposed Revocation
of Exemptions from the Requirement of Tolerances (5 pages)
5. Description of content:  The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposes to revoke
exemptions from the requirement of tolerances for residues found in 40 CFR 180.1032 for
formaldehyde or a mixture of methylene bispropionate and oxy (bismethylene)bispropionate in or on the grains of barley, corn, oats, sorghum, and wheat and the forages
of alfalfa, bermuda grass, bluegrass, brome grass, clover, cowpea hay, fescue, lespedeza,
lupines, orchard grass, peanut hay, peavine hay, rye grass, soybean hay, sudan grass,
timothy, and vetch from postharvest application use as a fungicide to treat animal feeds.
This action is being taken because there are no registered uses for formaldehyde on thesecommodities. EPA expects to determine whether any individuals or groups want to support
these exemptions. The regulatory actions in this proposal are part of the Agency's
reregistration program under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act
(FIFRA), and the tolerance reassessment requirements of the Federal Food, Drug, and
Cosmetic Act (FFDCA).  By law, EPA is required to reassess 33 per cent of the tolerances inexistence on 2 August 1996, by August 1999, or about 3,200 tolerances. The regulatory
actions proposed in this document pertain to the proposed revocation of 22 exemptions,
which would be counted among reassessments made toward the August 1999 review
deadline of FFDCA section 408(q), as amended by the Food Quality Protection Act (FQPA)
of 1996.
6. Objective and rationale:  [  X ] food safety  [   ] animal health [   ] plant protection
[  ] protect humans from animal/plant pest or disease  [  ]  protect territory from other
damage from pests
7. An international standa rd, guideline or recommendati on does not exist [ X ].
If an international standard , guideline or recommendation exists, give the appropriate
reference and briefly identify deviations:G/SPS/N/USA/162
Page 2
8. Relevant documents and language(s) in which these are available:  64 FR 27943,
24 May 1999;  40 CFR Part 180 (Available in English)
9. Proposed date of adoption:  To be determined.
10. Proposed date of entry into force:  The date of adoption and entry into force will be
announced when the final rule is published in the Federal Register.
11. Final date for comments:   23 July 1999
Agency or authority designated to handle comme nts:  [  ] National notification authority,
[  ] National enquiry point, or address, fax number and E-mail address (if available) of
other body:   Environmental Protection Agency
Detailed instruction on where and how to send commen ts is in the body of the full text – which
will be sent upon request to the address in paragraph 12.
12. Texts available from:  [ X ] National notification authority,  [ X ]  National enquiry point,
or address, fax number and E-mail address (if available) of other body:
USDA/FAS/FSTD
Attn:  Carolyn F. Wilson
Room 5545 South Agriculture Building
Stop 1027
1400 Independence Avenue, S.W.
Washington, D.C. 20250
Tel:  (202) 720 2239
Fax::  (202) 690 0677E-mail address:  ofsts@fas.usda.gov