[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 78 (Thursday, April 23, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 22702-22703]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-09468]
[[Page 22702]]
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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service
[Docket No. APHIS-2015-0006]
Notice of Availability of a Treatment Evaluation Document; Hot
Water Treatment of Oversized Mangoes
AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, USDA.
ACTION: Notice of availability and request for comments.
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SUMMARY: We are advising the public that we have determined that it is
necessary to amend hot water treatment schedule T102-a in the Plant
Protection and Quarantine Treatment Manual to extend the applicability
of the treatment to additional mango commodities. We have prepared a
treatment evaluation document that describes the revised treatment
schedule and explains why we have determined that it is effective at
neutralizing certain target pests. We are making this treatment
evaluation document available to the public for review and comment.
DATES: We will consider all comments that we receive on or before June
22, 2015.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by either of the following methods:
Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to http://www.regulations.gov/#!docketDetail;D=APHIS-2015-0006.
Postal Mail/Commercial Delivery: Send your comment to
Docket No. APHIS-2015-0006, 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-2015-
0006 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) 799-7039 before coming.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. Inder P.S. Gadh, Senior Risk
Manager--Treatments, PPQ, APHIS, 4700 River Road Unit 133, Riverdale,
MD 20737-1231; (301) 851-2018.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The regulations in 7 CFR chapter III are
intended, among other things, to prevent the introduction or
dissemination of plant pests and noxious weeds into or within the
United States. Under the regulations, certain plants, fruits,
vegetables, and other articles must be treated before they may be moved
into the United States or interstate. The phytosanitary treatments
regulations contained in 7 CFR part 305 (referred to below as the
regulations) set out standards for treatments required in 7 CFR parts
301, 318, and 319 for fruits, vegetables, and other articles.
In Sec. 305.2, paragraph (b) states that approved treatment
schedules are set out in the Plant Protection and Quarantine (PPQ)
Treatment Manual.\1\ Section 305.3 sets out the processes for adding,
revising, or removing treatment schedules in the PPQ Treatment Manual.
In that section, paragraph (b) sets out the process for adding,
revising, or removing treatment schedules when there is an immediate
need to make a change. The circumstances in which an immediate need
exists are described in Sec. 305.3(b)(1). They are:
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\1\ The PPQ Treatment Manual is available at http://www.aphis.usda.gov/import_export/plants/manuals/index.shtml or by
contacting the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, Plant
Protection and Quarantine, Manuals Unit, 92 Thomas Johnson Drive,
Suite 200, Frederick, MD 21702.
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PPQ has determined that an approved treatment schedule is
ineffective at neutralizing the targeted plant pest(s).
PPQ has determined that, in order to neutralize the
targeted plant pest(s), the treatment schedule must be administered
using a different process than was previously used.
PPQ has determined that a new treatment schedule is
effective, based on efficacy data, and that ongoing trade in a
commodity or commodities may be adversely impacted unless the new
treatment schedule is approved for use.
The use of a treatment schedule is no longer authorized by
the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency or by any other Federal
entity.
A treatment currently listed in the PPQ Treatment Manual (T102-a)
requires mango (Mangifera indica) to be treated with hot water
immersion to prevent the introduction into the United States of
Ceratitis capitata (Mediterranean fruit fly) and Anastrepha spp. fruit
flies, including A. ludens (Mexican fruit fly). Historically, the
treatment schedules for T102-a required the fruit to undergo different
immersion times based on the fruit's country of origin, shape, and size
(weight). While rounded mango varieties weighing up to 900 grams were
authorized for importation from Mexico, Central America (north of and
including Costa Rica), Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and the
West Indies excluding islands of Aruba, Bonaire, Curacao, Margarita,
Tortuga, and Trinidad and Tobago, the maximum allowable size of rounded
mango varieties that could be treated with T102-a and imported into the
United States from Panama, countries in South America, and the West
Indies islands of Aruba, Bonaire, Curacao, Margarita, Tortuga, and
Trinidad and Tobago was only 650 grams.
In 2009, the national plant protection organization (NPPO) of Peru
formally requested that the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service
(APHIS) amend the PPQ Treatment Manual to allow the use of T102-a
hot[hyphen]water immersion treatment as a phytosanitary treatment to
mitigate fruit fly risks in mangoes weighing more than 650 grams. A
similar interest had previously been expressed by other countries in
South America, namely Brazil, Ecuador, and Venezuela. Based on research
conducted by the NPPO of Peru in support of its request, APHIS has
concluded that the T102-a treatment schedule of 110[hyphen]minute fruit
immersion in a constant 70 [deg]F (41.6 [deg]C) hot-water bath is an
efficacious phytosanitary treatment for eggs and larvae of C. capitata
and Anastrepha spp. fruit flies in mangoes weighing 651 to 900 grams
and that the treatment is effective for these over-sized mangoes
regardless of their country of origin.
In 2014, APHIS inspectors working in Mexico and Brazil observed
that approximately 20 percent of the treatments using the T102-a
treatment schedule involving ``flat'' or ``elongated'' mangoes weighing
between 525 grams and 570 grams contained fruit that did not reach the
target pulp temperature for mitigating the risk from fruit flies at the
end of treatment duration. However, after conducting a literature
review, APHIS determined that mango shape did not affect the efficacy
of the treatment. Therefore, as an emergency measure, the treatment was
amended so that all would have to undergo hot water immersion treatment
with treatment duration strictly governed by weight class. Treatment
duration times were based on the treatment duration times previously
put in place for rounded mangoes from those countries. As an emergency
measure, this action was done administratively and was not meant to be
permanent.
Based on Peru's research validating treatment efficacy on over-
sized mangoes and APHIS' conclusion that the 110-minute immersion at 70
[deg]F treatment covers mangoes weighing up to 900 grams regardless of
their country
[[Page 22703]]
of origin, APHIS has determined that restrictions associated with shape
or country of origin are no longer relevant. Therefore, in accordance
with Sec. 305.3(b)(2), we are providing notice that we have determined
that it is necessary to amend treatment schedule T102-a to specify the
following weight-based dip times:
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Then the dip time
If the weight is (grams): (minutes) is:
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Up to 375...................................... 65
376 to 500..................................... 75
501 to 700..................................... 90
701 to 900..................................... 110
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Valid if the fruit is not hydro-cooled within 30 minutes of removal from
the hot-water immersion tank. Alternatively, 10 minutes may be added
to the treatment duration to allow immediate hydro-cooling.
In order to have minimum adverse impact on the ongoing trade of
this commodity from mango exporting countries, we are making these
changes effective immediately upon publication of this notice.
The reasons for these revisions to the treatment manual are
described in detail in the treatment evaluation document (TED) we have
prepared to support this action. The TED 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 also request paper
copies of the TED by calling or writing to the person listed under FOR
FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT. Please refer to the subject of the TED
when requesting copies.
After reviewing the comments we receive, we will announce our
decision regarding the revised treatment schedule described in the TED
in a subsequent notice, in accordance with paragraph (b)(3) of Sec.
305.3. If we do not receive any comments, or the comments we receive do
not change our determination that the proposed changes are effective,
we will affirm these changes to the PPQ Treatment Manual and make
available a new version of the PPQ Treatment Manual reflecting these
changes. If we receive comments that cause us to determine that
additional changes need to be made to treatment schedule T102-a, we
will make available a new version of the PPQ Treatment Manual that
reflects the changes.
Authority: 7 U.S.C. 7701-7772 and 7781-7786; 21 U.S.C. 136 and
136a; 7 CFR 2.22, 2.80, and 371.3.
Done in Washington, DC, this 17th day of April 2015.
Kevin Shea,
Administrator, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
[FR Doc. 2015-09468 Filed 4-22-15; 8:45 am]
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