The Office of Advocacy will host a roundtable to discuss the Animal, Plant, and Health Inspection Service’s (APHIS) proposed rule to establish animal welfare standards for birds not bred for research. On February 22, 2022, APHIS published a proposed rule establishing standards to govern the humane handling, care, treatment, and transportation of birds not bred for research. The agency seeks comments on requirements for enclosures, sanitation, lighting, climate, feeding and watering, veterinary care, and several other practices. The roundtable will take place on Tuesday, April 19, 2022, from 2:30-3:30 PM (ET). Roundtable participation details will be provided upon receipt of an RSVP.
RSVPs should be sent to Prianka.Sharma@sba.gov. The purpose of the roundtable will be to gather specific small entity input and presentations on the proposed rule. Parties interested in making oral presentations during the roundtable should indicate this in their RSVP.
Agenda
2:30 p.m. – 2:35 p.m. Introductory Remarks
Prianka Sharma, Assistant Chief Counsel, Office of Advocacy
Elisabeth Newcomb, Regulatory Economist, Office of Advocacy
2:35 p.m. – 3:30 p.m.
Input from Interested Small Entity Stakeholders
Presentations made during this roundtable will not substitute for written comments directly from interested parties to APHIS. Advocacy strongly encourages those entities specifically interested in this assessment to provide both oral presentations during the roundtable, and written comments to the docket.
Roundtable meetings are open to all interested persons, with the exception of the press, in order to facilitate open and frank discussion about the impacts of Federal regulatory activities on small entities. Agendas and presentations are available to all, including the press. Anyone who wants to receive roundtable agendas or presentations, or to be included in the distribution list, should forward such requests to Prianka.Sharma@sba.gov. The purpose of these Roundtable meetings is to exchange opinions, facts, and information and to obtain the attendees’ individual views and opinions regarding small entity concerns. The meetings are not intended to achieve or communicate any consensus positions of the attendees.