[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 95 (Wednesday, May 16, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 22739-22740]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-10432]
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DEPARTMENT OF STATE
[Public Notice 10410]
Bureau of Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific
Affairs
ACTION: Annual certification of shrimp-harvesting nations.
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SUMMARY: On May 8, 2018, the Department of State certified that 13
shrimp-harvesting nations and five fisheries have a regulatory program
comparable to that of the United States governing the incidental taking
of the relevant species of sea turtles in the course of commercial
shrimp harvesting and that the particular fishing environments of 26
shrimp-harvesting nations, one economy, and four fisheries do not pose
a threat of the incidental taking of covered sea turtles in the course
of such harvesting.
DATES: This notice is applicable on May 16, 2018.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Section 609 Program Manager, Office of
Marine Conservation, Bureau of Oceans and International Environmental
and Scientific Affairs, Department of State, 2201 C Street NW,
Washington, DC 20520-2758; telephone: (202) 647-3263; email:
[email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Section 609 of Public Law 101-162 (``Sec.
609'') prohibits imports of certain categories of shrimp unless the
President certifies to the Congress by May 1, 1991, and annually
thereafter, that either: (1) The harvesting nation has adopted a
program governing the incidental taking of sea turtles in its
commercial shrimp fishery comparable to the program in effect in the
United States and has an incidental take rate comparable to that of the
United States; or (2) the particular fishing environment of the
harvesting nation does not pose a threat of the incidental taking of
sea turtles. The President has delegated the authority to make this
certification to the Department of State (``the Department''). The
Department's Revised Guidelines for the Implementation of Section 609
were published in the Federal Register on July 8, 1999, at 64 FR 36946.
On May 8, 2018, the Department certified 13 nations on the basis
that their sea turtle protection programs are comparable to that of the
United States: Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Gabon,
Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Panama, and
Suriname. The Department also certified 26 shrimp-harvesting nations
and one economy as having fishing environments that do not pose a
danger to sea turtles. Sixteen nations have shrimping grounds only in
cold waters where the risk of taking sea turtles is negligible:
Argentina, Belgium, Canada, Chile, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Iceland,
Ireland, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Russia, Sweden, the
United Kingdom, and Uruguay. Ten nations and Hong Kong only harvest
shrimp using small boats with crews of less than five that use manual
rather than mechanical means to retrieve nets or catch shrimp using
other methods that do not threaten sea turtles. Use of such small-scale
technology does not adversely affect sea turtles. The 10 nations are
the Bahamas, Belize, China, the Dominican Republic, Fiji, Jamaica,
Oman, Peru, Sri Lanka, and Venezuela.
A completed DS-2031 Shrimp Exporter's/Importer's Declaration must
accompany all shipments of shrimp or products from shrimp into the
United States. Only shrimp or products from shrimp harvested in the 39
certified nations and one economy listed above may be accompanied by a
DS-2031 with Box 7(B) checked. All DS-2031 forms accompanying shrimp
imports from uncertified nations must be originals with Box 7(A)(1),
7(A)(2), or 7(A)(4) checked, consistent with the form's instructions
with regard to the method of harvest of the product and based on any
relevant prior determinations by the Department, and signed by a
responsible government official of the harvesting nation's competent
domestic fisheries authority. The Department has not determined that
any uncertified nation qualifies to export shrimp or products from
shrimp harvested in a manner as described in 7(A)(3).
Shrimp and products of shrimp harvested with turtle excluder
devices (``TEDs'') in an uncertified nation may, under specific
circumstances, be eligible for importation into the United States under
the DS-2031 Box 7(A)(2) provision for ``shrimp harvested by commercial
shrimp trawl vessels using TEDs comparable in effectiveness to those
required in the United States.'' Use of this provision requires that
the Department determine in advance that the government of the
harvesting nation has put in place adequate procedures to monitor the
use of TEDs in the specific fishery in question and to ensure the
accurate completion of the DS-2031 forms. At this time, the Department
has determined that only shrimp and products from shrimp harvested in
the Northern Prawn Fishery, the Queensland East Coast Trawl Fishery,
and the Torres Strait Prawn Fishery in Australia, in the French Guiana
domestic trawl fishery, and in the East Coast fishery of peninsular
Malaysia are eligible for entry under this provision. The importation
of TED-caught shrimp from any other uncertified nation will not be
allowed. A responsible government official of Australia, France, or
Malaysia must sign in Block 8 of the DS-2031 form accompanying these
imports into the United States.
In addition, the Department has determined that shrimp and products
from shrimp harvested in the Spencer Gulf region in Australia, with
shrimp baskets in Hokkaido, Japan, with ``mosquito'' nets in the
Republic of Korea, and Mediterranean red shrimp (Aristeus antennatus)
and products from that shrimp harvested in the Mediterranean Sea by
Spain may be imported into the United States under the DS-2031 Box
7(A)(4) provision for ``shrimp harvested in a manner or under
circumstances determined by the Department of State not to pose a
threat of the incidental taking of sea turtles.'' A responsible
government official of Australia, Japan, the Republic of Korea, or
Spain must sign in Block 8 of the DS-2031 form accompanying these
imports into the United States.
The Department has communicated these certifications and
determinations under Sec. 609 to the Office of
[[Page 22740]]
International Trade of U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
William Gibbons-Fly,
Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Oceans and Fisheries,
Bureau of Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific
Affairs, Department of State.
[FR Doc. 2018-10432 Filed 5-15-18; 8:45 am]
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