Lesson 4: How the Process Works
Topic 8: Publish a Final Rule or Notice
In this topic, you will learn about step eight of the U.S. market access process: Publishing a final rule or notice.
Objective:
- Describe the process for publishing a final rule or notice and how APHIS specifies the effective date of the final rule or notice
Once APHIS has considered the comments and developed responses, the process for publishing a final rule or notice is mostly the same as that for publishing a proposed rule or notice, except that the documents required for the action have already been completed. Sometimes comments might lead APHIS to make changes to the pest risk analysis, economic analysis, environmental analysis, or other documentation, but these documents typically do not need to be completely rewritten.
Final rules and notices both specify a date on which the requirements they specify are effective. In the case of market access requests, this is the date when APHIS and the NPPO of the exporting country can begin implementing the requirements necessary to allow the importation of the commodity. Under the Administrative Procedure Act, the effective date of a final rule must be no less than 30 days after the date the final rule is published, unless the rule relieves restrictions. Most final rules and notices for market access provide access to a commodity that did not previously have access, so they are considered to relieve restrictions. Therefore, APHIS may make such actions effective upon publication, in some circumstances.
In this topic, you learned about step eight of the U.S. market access process: Publishing a final rule or notice.
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