[Federal Register Volume 59, Number 54 (Monday, March 21, 1994)]
[Unknown Section]
[Page 0]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 94-6547]


[[Page Unknown]]

[Federal Register: March 21, 1994]


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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service

7 CFR Parts 301 and 319

[Docket No. 93-077-2]

 

Unshu Oranges From Japan

AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, USDA.

ACTION: Final rule.

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SUMMARY: We are amending the regulations governing the importation and 
interstate movement of Unshu oranges from Japan by allowing this fruit 
to be moved into or through the States of Alabama, Georgia, 
Mississippi, Nevada, New Mexico, North Carolina, and South Carolina. 
These States are not commercial citrus-producing States, and, 
therefore, will not be threatened by the possibility of infection with 
citrus canker from the Japanese Unshu oranges. This action will expand 
the area into which Unshu oranges may be imported and moved interstate.

EFFECTIVE DATE: March 16, 1994.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Peter Grosser, Senior Operations 
Officer, Port Operations, Plant Protection and Quarantine, APHIS, USDA, 
room 632, Federal Building, 6505 Belcrest Road, Hyattsville, MD 20782, 
(301) 436-6799.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    Citrus canker is a disease which affects citrus, and is caused by 
the infectious bacterium Xanthomonas campestris pv. citri (Hasse) Dye. 
The strain of citrus canker that occurs in Japan infects the twigs, 
leaves, and fruit of a wide spectrum of Citrus species.
    The regulations in 7 CFR 301.83 and 319.28 prohibit the importation 
and interstate movement of Japanese Unshu oranges into or through the 
commercial citrus-producing States of American Samoa, Arizona, 
California, Florida, Louisiana, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto 
Rico, Texas, and the Virgin Islands of the United States, as well as 
``buffer'' States near the continental commercial citrus-producing 
States (Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, Nevada, New Mexico, North 
Carolina, and South Carolina), to help prevent the introduction and 
dissemination of citrus canker.
    On December 20, 1993, we published in the Federal Register (58 FR 
66304-66305, Docket No. 93-077-1) a proposal to amend the regulations 
by allowing Unshu oranges from Japan to be moved into or through the 
buffer States of Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, Nevada, New Mexico, 
North Carolina, and South Carolina. In the proposal, we stated that our 
experience with citrus canker at this time does not convince us that 
the importation of Unshu oranges from Japan into commercial citrus-
producing areas of the United States would be entirely without 
significant risk. However, we have never detected citrus canker on any 
shipments of Unshu oranges from Japan imported into the United States. 
The regulations in Sec. 319.28 impose strict safeguards on Unshu 
oranges imported from Japan to prevent the dissemination of citrus 
canker. We proposed that, with these safeguards, it is not necessary to 
continue the prohibition on the importation and interstate movement of 
Japanese Unshu oranges into or through States that are not commercial 
citrus-producing States.
    We solicited comments concerning our proposal for a 30-day comment 
period ending January 19, 1994. We received 4 comments by that date, 
all of which opposed the proposed rule. They were from State 
departments of citrus and agriculture and citrus growers associations. 
We carefully considered all of the issues raised. They are discussed 
below.
    Some of the commenters expressed concern that Japan does not have 
in place safeguards to restrict Unshu orange movement from infected 
areas, and that Japan may not comply with other safeguards required by 
our regulations.
    The regulations in 7 CFR 319.28(b) provide for extensive safeguards 
on the growing, packing, and inspection of Unshu oranges for export 
from Japan into the United States. These regulations require that the 
oranges, among other things, be grown and packed in isolated, canker-
free export areas where only Unshu orange trees are grown. These areas 
must be surrounded by a disease-free buffer zone in which only 10 
varieties of citrus may be grown, which, like the Unshu, are highly 
resistant to citrus canker. The export areas must be kept free of all 
citrus other than the propagative material of Unshu oranges. The buffer 
zones must be kept free of all citrus other than the 10 canker-
resistant varieties. Both the export areas and the buffer zones must be 
inspected by both Japanese and U.S. plant pathologists in the groves 
prior to and during harvest, and in the packinghouses during packing 
operations. During inspection, these areas must be found free of citrus 
canker and prohibited material, before export of fruit from each area 
is permitted.
    These safeguards are designed to prevent the introduction into the 
United States of the citrus canker disease. We wish to emphasize that a 
U.S. plant pathologist must accompany the Japanese plant pathologist on 
inspections to ensure compliance with these regulations. These 
regulations have proven to be effective in preventing citrus canker 
from entering the United States through the importation of Japanese 
Unshu oranges. We wish to assure the commenters that APHIS will 
continue to monitor all phases of Unshu orange production and 
importation to ensure compliance with our regulations.
    The commenters also cited as a concern the possibility of 
transhipment of Japanese Unshu oranges from the buffer States into 
commercial citrus producing States. One commenter from California was 
particularly concerned because there is a large Japanese population in 
California, which could be an incentive for transhipment of Unshu 
oranges from Nevada. The same commenter asserted that this rule could 
increase the possibility that tourists returning to California from 
Nevada will bring Unshu oranges with them.
    This rule will remove Nevada and the other ``buffer'' States from 
the list of non-quarantined areas in 7 CFR 301.83. Therefore, it will 
be illegal to move Unshu oranges grown in Japan from these States into 
commercial citrus-producing States. Illegal transhipment of prohibited 
fruit has always been a possibility, and will continue to be one, even 
though it is a violation of Federal law. Instances of tourists carrying 
prohibited produce are also difficult to control. However, even if some 
Unshu oranges were brought into citrus-producing States, the 
possibility that these oranges would be the source of any citrus canker 
infection is negligible. First, the oranges would have to be 
contaminated with citrus canker bacteria. This is extremely unlikely, 
given the other safeguards required by our regulations, the fact that 
Japanese Unshu oranges are highly resistant to citrus canker, and the 
fact that we have never detected citrus canker on any shipments of 
Unshu oranges from Japan imported into the United States.
    In the event, however remote, that an Unshu orange contaminated 
with citrus canker bacteria should reach a citrus-producing State, 
these bacteria could establish a new infection only under an unlikely 
combination of circumstances. First, the bacteria on the skin of the 
fruit would have to be released without coming into contact with any of 
the natural juice of the fruit since citrus canker bacteria are quickly 
killed by contact with the acidic juice. Then, the bacteria would have 
to settle on young, live twigs or leaves of host plants. Finally, 
certain conditions of temperature and humidity would have to occur for 
the bacteria to cause an infection in the host plant. While this 
combination of circumstances is theoretically possible, there is no 
evidence that fruit or peel of any citrus variety has ever been the 
cause of citrus canker infection under field conditions. Therefore, 
although the quarantine on Unshu oranges is a valuable safeguard 
against the establishment of citrus canker in the United States, a 
breach of the domestic quarantine, or the failure of any other single 
safeguard, is unlikely to result in the spread of citrus canker.
    Finally, there was one comment regarding our citation of the 
regulations in 7 CFR 301.75, which regulate interstate movement of 
domestic citrus fruit. These regulations prohibit the interstate 
movement of citrus fruit from an area quarantined because of citrus 
canker into any commercial citrus-producing area; these regulations do 
not prohibit the movement of citrus into other areas, including the 
``buffer'' States of Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, Nevada, New Mexico, 
North Carolina, and South Carolina. The regulations in Sec. 301.75 have 
been successful in preventing the dissemination of citrus canker in the 
United States. We asserted in the proposal that, similarly, allowing 
Unshu oranges grown in Japan to be moved into or through these 
``buffer'' States should not pose a significant risk of spreading 
citrus canker. The commenter stated that the comparison was not 
appropriate because the areas currently listed in Sec. 301.75 as 
quarantined areas are under an eradication treatment program. He 
believes that the risk presented by commodities moved under Sec. 301.75 
is substantially less than the risk presented by commodities coming 
from Japan, where there is no eradication program in place.
    The success of the domestic quarantine in Sec. 301.75 is by no 
means the basis for this rule. The basis for this rule is the existence 
of the safeguards in Japan and the fact that we have never detected 
citrus canker on any shipments of Unshu oranges from Japan imported 
into the United States. Our point in mentioning the regulations in 
Sec. 301.75 was to show that there is no evidence that the absence of 
buffer States in our domestic regulations has led to the dissemination 
of citrus canker into non-infested areas of the United States.
    Therefore, based on the rationale set forth in the proposed rule 
and in this document, we are adopting the provisions of the proposal as 
a final rule.

Effective Date

    This is a substantive rule that relieves restrictions and, pursuant 
to the provisions of 5 U.S.C. 553, may be made effective less than 30 
days after publication in the Federal Register. Immediate 
implementation of this rule is necessary to provide relief to those 
persons who are adversely affected by restrictions we no longer find 
warranted. The safeguards required by our regulations for importation 
of Unshu oranges from Japan require some preparation, such as printing 
the tissue paper and boxes in which the oranges are packed with a 
statement specifying the States into which the Unshu oranges may be 
imported, and from which they are prohibited removal under a Federal 
plant quarantine. Making this rule effective immediately will allow 
interested producers and shippers time to prepare for the fall shipping 
season. Therefore, the Administrator of the Animal and Plant Health 
Inspection Service has determined that this rule should be effective 
upon signature.

Executive Order 12866 and Regulatory Flexibility Act

    This final rule has been reviewed under Executive Order 12866.
    Currently, Unshu oranges from Japan are only imported into the 
United States by one large Canadian company. There are no small 
businesses (defined as having 100 or fewer employees by the Small 
Business Administration) in the United States that import Unshu oranges 
from Japan.
    Unshu oranges are a premium product aimed at a luxury market. They 
are available for only a short time each year (late November into 
December). Their main competition in the United States is tangerines. 
In FY 1992, 3 million pounds of Unshu oranges were imported into the 
United States from Japan. In the 1991-92 growing season, close to 380 
million pounds of tangerines were produced in Arizona, California, and 
Florida. The Unshu orange competes most directly with the domestically 
grown satsuma tangerine, but the number and size of satsuma producers 
is not known.
    APHIS does not expect importation of Unshu oranges from Japan to 
increase significantly as a result of this rule change. Unshu oranges 
have not become very popular in the United States because they are not 
as sweet as the American counterpart, the satsuma tangerine, and they 
are more expensive.
    Unshu oranges average $15-17 for an 8-pound box, while domestically 
grown satsuma tangerines average $3-5 per 8-pound box. Consequently, it 
is not expected that allowing Unshu oranges into seven new States will 
have a significant economic effect on small domestic growers of the 
satsuma tangerine.
    Under these circumstances, the Administrator of the Animal and 
Plant Health Inspection Service has determined that this action will 
not have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small 
entities.

Executive Order 12778

    This rule allows Unshu oranges to be imported into additional 
States in the United States from Japan. State and local laws and 
regulations regarding Unshu oranges imported under this rule will be 
preempted while the fruit is in foreign commerce. Fresh Unshu oranges 
are generally imported for immediate distribution and sale to the 
consuming public, and will remain in foreign commerce until sold to the 
ultimate consumer. The question of when foreign commerce ceases in 
other cases must be addressed on a case-by-case basis. No retroactive 
effect will be given to this rule; and this rule will not require 
administrative proceedings before parties may file suit in court 
challenging this rule.

Paperwork Reduction Act

    This rule contains no information collection or recordkeeping 
requirements under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1980 (44 U.S.C. 3501 
et seq.).

List of Subjects

7 CFR Part 301

    Agricultural commodities, Plant diseases and pests, Quarantine, 
Reporting and recordkeeping requirements, Transportation.

7 CFR Part 319

    Bees, Coffee, Cotton, Fruits, Honey, Imports, Incorporation by 
reference, Nursery stock, Plant diseases and pests, Quarantine, 
Reporting and recordkeeping requirements, Rice, Vegetables.

    Accordingly, 7 CFR parts 301 and 319 are amended as follows:

PART 301--DOMESTIC QUARANTINE NOTICES

    1. The authority citation for part 301 continues to read as 
follows:

    Authority: 7 U.S.C. 150bb, 150dd, 150ee, 150ff; 161, 162, and 
164-167; 7 CFR 2.17, 2.51, and 371.2(c).


Sec. 301.83  [Amended]

    2. In Sec. 301.83, paragraph (b) is amended by removing 
``Alabama,'' ``Georgia,'' ``Mississippi, Nevada, New Mexico, North 
Carolina,'' and ``South Carolina,''.

PART 319--FOREIGN QUARANTINE NOTICES

    3. The authority citation for part 319 continues to read as 
follows:

    Authority: 7 U.S.C. 150dd, 150ee, 150ff, 151-167, 450; 21 U.S.C. 
136 and 136a; 7 CFR 2.17, 2.51, and 371.2(c).


Sec. 319.28  [Amended]

    4. In Sec. 319.28, paragraph (a) is amended by removing the words 
``Xanthomonas citri (Hasse) Dowson'' and adding ``Xanthomonas 
campestris pv. citri (Hasse) Dye'' in their place.
    5. In Sec. 319.28, the introductory text in paragraph (b), and 
paragraph (b)(6) are amended by removing ``Alabama,'' ``Georgia,'' 
``Mississippi, Nevada, New Mexico, North Carolina,'' and ``South 
Carolina,''.

    Done in Washington, DC, this 16th day of March 1994.
Patricia Jensen,
Acting Assistant Secretary, Marketing and Inspection Services.
[FR Doc. 94-6547 Filed 3-18-94; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-34-P