[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 116 (Thursday, June 16, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 35186-35187]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-14992]
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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service
[Docket No. APHIS-2011-0037]
Notice of Availability of a Pest Risk Analysis for Interstate
Movement of Rambutan From Puerto Rico Into the Continental United
States
AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, USDA.
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: We are advising the public that we have prepared a pest risk
analysis that evaluates the risks associated with the interstate
movement into the continental United States of fresh rambutan fruit
from Puerto Rico. Based on that analysis, we believe that the
application of one or more designated phytosanitary measures will be
sufficient to mitigate the risks of introducing or disseminating plant
pests or noxious weeds via the interstate movement of rambutan from
Puerto Rico. We are making the pest risk analysis available to the
public for review and comment.
[[Page 35187]]
DATES: We will consider all comments that we receive on or before
August 15, 2011.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by either of the following methods:
Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to http://www.regulations.gov/#!documentDetail;D=APHIS-2011-0037-0001.
Postal Mail/Commercial Delivery: Send your comment to
Docket No. APHIS-2011-0037, Regulatory Analysis and Development, PPD,
APHIS, Station 3A-03.8, 4700 River Road Unit 118, Riverdale, MD 20737-
1238.
Supporting documents and any comments we receive on this docket may
be viewed at http://www.regulations.gov/#!docketDetail;D=APHIS-2011-
0037 or in our reading room, which 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.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Philip Grove, Regulatory
Coordinator, PPQ, APHIS, 4700 River Road Unit 156, Riverdale, MD 20737-
1231; (301) 734-6280.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
Under the regulations in ``Subpart--Regulated Articles From Hawaii
and the Territories'' (7 CFR 318.13-1 through 318.13-26, referred to
below as the regulations), the Animal and Plant Health Inspection
Service (APHIS) of the U.S. Department of Agriculture prohibits or
restricts the interstate movement of fruits and vegetables into the
continental United States from Hawaii, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin
Islands, Guam, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands to
prevent plant pests and noxious weeds from being introduced into and
spread within the continental United States. (The continental United
States is defined in Sec. 318.13-2 of the regulations as the 48
contiguous States, Alaska, and the District of Columbia.)
Section 318.13-4 contains a performance-based process for approving
the interstate movement of commodities that, based on the findings of a
pest risk analysis, can be safely moved subject to one or more of the
designated phytosanitary measures listed in paragraph (b) of that
section.
APHIS received a request from the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico to
allow the interstate movement of fresh rambutan fruit (Nephelium
lappaceum L.) from Puerto Rico to the continental United States. We
have completed a pest list to identify pests of quarantine significance
that could follow the pathway of interstate movement into the
continental United States and, based on that pest list, have prepared a
risk management analysis to identify phytosanitary measures that could
be applied to the commodity to mitigate the pest risk. We have
concluded that rambutan can be safely moved from Puerto Rico to the
continental United States using one or more of the six designated
phytosanitary measures listed in Sec. 318.13-4(b). These measures are:
Inspection and certification by an inspector in Puerto
Rico that the rambutan are free of all quarantine pests likely to
follow the pathway of interstate movement of the rambutan;
Movement of the rambutan as commercial consignments only;
and
Distribution of the rambutan only within a defined area (a
prohibition on movement to Hawaii, the Virgin Islands, or Guam) and
marking of the boxes or containers in which the rambutan is distributed
to indicate those distribution restrictions.
Therefore, in accordance with Sec. 318.13-4(c), we are announcing
the availability of our pest risk analysis for public review and
comment. The pest risk analysis may be viewed on the Regulations.gov
Web site or in our reading room (see ADDRESSES above for instructions
for accessing Regulations.gov and information on the location and hours
of the reading room). You may request paper copies of the pest risk
analysis by calling or writing to the person listed under FOR FURTHER
INFORMATION CONTACT. Please refer to the subject of the pest risk
analysis when requesting copies.
After reviewing the comments we receive, we will announce our
decision regarding the interstate movement of rambutan from Puerto Rico
to the continental United States in a subsequent notice. If the overall
conclusions of the analysis and the Administrator's determination of
risk remain unchanged following our consideration of the comments, then
we will begin allowing the interstate movement of rambutan from Puerto
Rico to the continental United States subject to the requirements
specified in the risk management document.
Authority: 7 U.S.C. 7701-7772, and 7781-7786; 7 CFR 2.22, 2.80,
and 371.3.
Done in Washington, DC, this 10th day of June 2011.
Kevin Shea,
Acting Administrator, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
[FR Doc. 2011-14992 Filed 6-15-11; 8:45 am]
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