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<p class=MsoNormal><b><font size=4 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:14.0pt;font-weight:bold'>AHPA Submits Comments on <st1:place
w:st="on"><st1:PlaceName w:st="on">Special</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceType
w:st="on">Forest</st1:PlaceType></st1:place> Products and Proposed Fees<o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><font size=4 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:14.0pt;font-weight:bold'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>(January 25, 2008) — The American Herbal Products Association
(AHPA) has submitted comments to the USDA Forest Service in response to that
agency’s proposed rule governing the sale and disposal of nontimber
forest products that are harvested on National Forest System lands. The
proposed rule, which was issued last October, sets requirements for the Forest
Service to monitor such harvests and ensure that they occur at sustainable
levels, and establishes programs for collection of fees from harvesters. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>“Our National Forests and National Grasslands provide many
commercially valuable plants to the trade,” said AHPA President <st1:PersonName
w:st="on"><st1:Street w:st="on">Michael McGuffin</st1:Street></st1:PersonName>.
“AHPA and its members are committed to sustainable use of our plant
resources and we applaud the Forest Service for its management efforts. We are
also supportive of reasonable fees that can be used to manage those resources,
but those fees must be established at levels that do not disrupt the income of
individual collectors and other small businesses that are engaged in
sustainable harvest operations.” <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>Among its comments to the Forest Service, AHPA suggested that fees for
harvested forest products be calculated at the point of harvest, rather than
further along the distribution or value-added chain, and that these fees should
be 3 percent of each product’s value at the point of harvest. AHPA also
suggested that existing resources should be used in both monitoring and pricing
activities. These include AHPA’s tonnage surveys, the AHPA/AHP Good
Agricultural and Collection Practice for Herbal Raw Materials(1), and the
ISSC-MAP(2).<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>The Federal Register notice for the Forest Service’s proposed
rule can be downloaded at: <a
href="http://a257.g.akamaitech.net/7/257/2422/01jan20071800/edocket.access.gpo.gov/2007/pdf/E7-20658.pdf">http://a257.g.akamaitech.net/7/257/2422/01jan20071800/edocket.access.gpo.gov/2007/pdf/E7-20658.pdf</a>.<font
color=navy><span style='color:navy'><o:p></o:p></span></font></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>AHPA’s comments are available <font color=black><span
style='color:black'>are at:</span></font><font color=navy><span
style='color:navy'> <a
href="http://www.ahpa.org/Portals/0/pdfs/08_0122_AHPAComments_USFS.pdf">http://www.ahpa.org/Portals/0/pdfs/08_0122_AHPAComments_USFS.pdf</a>.<o:p></o:p></span></font></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><i><u><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-style:italic'>Notes:<o:p></o:p></span></font></u></i></p>
<p class=MsoFootnoteText><font size=2 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:10.0pt'>1) Jointly published in December 2006 by AHPA and the
American Herbal Pharmacopoeia, this document is available at <a
href="http://www.ahpa.org/portals/0/pdfs/06_1208_AHPA-AHP_GACP.pdf">http://www.ahpa.org/portals/0/pdfs/06_1208_AHPA-AHP_GACP.pdf</a>.<b><span
style='font-weight:bold'><o:p></o:p></span></b></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt'>2) International Standards for Sustainable wild Collection of Medicinal
and Aromatic Plants, available at <a
href="http://www.floraweb.de/proxy/floraweb/MAP-pro/Standard_Version1_0.pdf">http://www.floraweb.de/proxy/floraweb/MAP-pro/Standard_Version1_0.pdf</a></span></font><font
size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
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12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
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