[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 249 (Wednesday, December 29, 2010)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 81942-81943]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-32770]
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Proposed Rules
Federal Register
________________________________________________________________________
This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER contains notices to the public of
the proposed issuance of rules and regulations. The purpose of these
notices is to give interested persons an opportunity to participate in
the rule making prior to the adoption of the final rules.
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Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 249 / Wednesday, December 29, 2010 /
Proposed Rules
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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service
7 CFR Part 319
[Docket No. APHIS-2010-0036]
RIN 0579-AD27
Importation of Clementines From Spain; Amendment to Inspection
Provisions
AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, USDA.
ACTION: Proposed rule.
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SUMMARY: We are proposing to amend the regulations governing the
importation of clementines from Spain by removing from the regulations
the number of clementines per consignment intended for export to the
United States that are required to be sampled by inspectors of the
Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS). In place of this
number, we propose to state in the regulations that the number to be
sampled will be determined by APHIS. By removing from the regulations
the number of clementines per consignment from Spain to be sampled,
APHIS would have the flexibility to respond to changing risk levels
while continuing to provide protection against the introduction of
quarantine pests.
DATES: We will consider all comments that we receive on or before
February 28, 2011.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by either of the following methods:
Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to http://www.regulations.gov/fdmspublic/component/main?main=DocketDetail&d=APHIS-2010-0036 to submit or view comments and
to view supporting and related materials available electronically.
Postal Mail/Commercial Delivery: Please send one copy of
your comment to Docket No. APHIS-2010-0036, Regulatory Analysis and
Development, PPD, APHIS, Station 3A-03.8, 4700 River Road Unit 118,
Riverdale, MD 20737-1238. Please state that your comment refers to
Docket No. APHIS-2010-0036.
Reading Room: You may read any comments that we receive on this
docket in our reading room. The reading room is located in room 1141 of
the USDA South Building, 14th Street and Independence Avenue, SW.,
Washington, DC. Normal reading room hours are 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.,
Monday through Friday, except holidays. To be sure someone is there to
help you, please call (202) 690-2817 before coming.
Other Information: Additional information about APHIS and its
programs is available on the Internet at http://www.aphis.usda.gov.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. William Wesela, Assistant Director
of Preclearance Programs, Quarantine Policy, Analysis, and Support,
PPQ, APHIS, 4700 River Road Unit 133, Riverdale, MD 20737-1231; (301)
734-5718.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
The regulations in ``Subpart-Fruits and Vegetables'' (7 CFR 319.56-
1 through 319.56-50, referred to below as the regulations) prohibit or
restrict the importation of fruits and vegetables into the United
States from certain parts of the world to prevent the introduction and
spread of plant pests that are new to or not widely distributed within
the United States.
The regulations in Sec. 319.56-34 list specific requirements for
the importation into the United States of clementines from Spain.
Clementines may only be imported if the Government of Spain or its
designated representative enters into a trust fund agreement with the
Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) before each shipping
season. To minimize the risk of plant pests being introduced into the
United States, the regulations also require that growers who produce
clementines in Spain for export to the United States be registered with
the Government of Spain, and that they agree to follow the requirements
of the Mediterranean fruit fly (Ceratitis capitata, or Medfly)
management program administered by the Government of Spain.
Clementines from Spain must be accompanied by a phytosanitary
certificate stating that the fruit meets the conditions of the Medfly
management program and the regulations. Clementines from Spain must
also be cut and inspected (i.e., sampled) before undergoing cold
treatment in accordance with the regulations, and be sampled at the
port of entry.
Specifically, with respect to pre-treatment sampling, paragraph (f)
of Sec. 319.56-34 states that APHIS inspectors will cut and inspect
200 fruit randomly selected from throughout each consignment prior to
cold treatment. The purpose of this inspection is to look for live
Medflies in any stage of development that may be present. If a single
Medfly is found, the entire consignment of clementines is rejected. If
a single Medfly is found in any two lots from the same orchard during
the same shipping season, that orchard is removed from the export
program for the remainder of the shipping season.
A cutting and inspection level of 200 fruit per consignment has
generally provided APHIS inspectors with the ability to detect for
Medfly if they are present at even low levels of infestation. However,
in the past year, inspectors from the Department of Homeland Security's
Bureau of Customs and Border Protection have repeatedly discovered high
levels of dead larvae in clementine consignments arriving in the United
States from Spain. Under the current regulations, APHIS inspectors are
unable to adjust the number of fruit sampled prior to cold treatment
without an agreement from the national plant protection organization of
Spain to sample at a rate higher than we have specified in the
regulations. However, when conditions indicate a higher risk of Medfly,
our experience indicates that adjusting the sampling rate would detect
pests that might otherwise go undetected prior to treatment.
We propose to remove the requirement in paragraph (f) of Sec.
319.56-34 that exactly 200 fruit be sampled before treatment and
instead state that the number of fruit to be sampled will be determined
by APHIS. The actual sampling level would be included in the bilateral
workplan agreed to by APHIS and the Government of Spain, which
describes in detail how the regulations are implemented operationally.
This change would give
[[Page 81943]]
APHIS the flexibility to adjust the sample without going through the
rulemaking process, and would be more in line with agreements that we
have with other countries exporting fruit to the United States. APHIS
would be able to increase the number of fruit sampled if the risk of
Medfly larvae in consignments of fruit is determined to have increased,
and lower the number if environmental, climatic, or other factors
indicate a lower risk.
Executive Order 12866 and Regulatory Flexibility Act
This proposed rule has been determined to be not significant for
the purposes of Executive Order 12866 and, therefore, has not been
reviewed by the Office of Management and Budget.
In accordance with the Regulatory Flexibility Act, we have analyzed
the potential economic effects of this action on small entities. The
analysis is summarized below. Copies of the full analysis are available
by contacting the person listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT
or on the Regulations.gov Web site (see ADDRESSES above for
instructions for accessing Regulations.gov).
A consignment of clementines consists of one or more lots
containing no more than a combined total of 200,000 boxes of
clementines that are presented to an inspector for pre-treatment
inspection. Under the current regulations that allow for sampling of
200 clementines, the percentage of sampled clementines ranges from 0.02
percent to 0.1 percent per consignment inspected. Even if inspection
amounts were increased two or three times when there is a higher pest
risk (or reduced when there is a lower pest risk), the percentage of
clementines sampled would remain negligible.
While this rule would help reduce the risk of pest introduction, we
are unable to quantify the economic impact of decreasing the
probability of introducing Medfly into the United States. Medfly
introductions can be very costly to producers and to the Federal and
State Governments. The mean cost of eradicating six Medfly outbreaks in
2007 was $13.54 million.
This rule would not have a significant economic effect on producers
of clementines or other U.S. entities, regardless of their size or
resources. As described, an increase or decrease in the number of fruit
sampled due to pest risk level changes would have a negligible effect
on the number of clementines imported from Spain.
Under these circumstances, the Administrator of the Animal and
Plant Health Inspection Service has determined that this action would
not have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small
entities.
Executive Order 12988
This proposed rule has been reviewed under Executive Order 12988,
Civil Justice Reform. If this proposed rule is adopted: (1) All State
and local laws and regulations that are inconsistent with this rule
will be preempted; (2) no retroactive effect will be given to this
rule; and (3) administrative proceedings will not be required before
parties may file suit in court challenging this rule.
Paperwork Reduction Act
This proposed rule contains no new information collection or
recordkeeping requirements under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995
(44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.).
List of Subjects in 7 CFR Part 319
Coffee, Cotton, Fruits, Imports, Logs, Nursery stock, Plant
diseases and pests, Quarantine, Reporting and recordkeeping
requirements, Rice, Vegetables.
Accordingly, we propose to amend 7 CFR part 319 as follows:
PART 319--FOREIGN QUARANTINE NOTICES
1. The authority citation for part 319 continues to read as
follows:
Authority: 7 U.S.C. 450, 7701-7772, and 7781-7786; 21 U.S.C. 136
and 136a; 7 CFR 2.22, 2.80, and 371.3.
2. In Sec. 319.56-34, paragraph (f) is amended as follows:
a. In the paragraph heading, by removing the words ``; rates of
inspection''.
b. By removing the words ``200 fruit'' and adding in their place
the words ``a sample of clementines determined by APHIS''.
Done in Washington, DC on December 22, 2010.
Kevin Shea,
Acting Administrator, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
[FR Doc. 2010-32770 Filed 12-28-10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-34-P