[Federal Register Volume 59, Number 174 (Friday, September 9, 1994)]
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From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 94-22158]


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[Federal Register: September 9, 1994]


                                                   VOL. 59, NO. 174

                                          Friday, September 9, 1994

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service

7 CFR Part 319

[Docket No. 94-042-1]

 

True Potato Seed From Chile

AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, USDA.

ACTION: Proposed rule.

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SUMMARY: We are proposing to allow, under certain conditions, the 
importation of true potato seed from Chile. The true potato seed 
proposed for importation from Chile would originate from certified 
virus-free plantlets from the United States, be produced under the 
supervision of Chilean plant protection authorities, and be tested for 
seedborne viruses prior to being offered for entry into the United 
States. Allowing the importation of true potato seed from Chile would 
give potato producers in the United States another means of producing 
disease-free tubers.

DATES: Consideration will be given only to comments received on or 
before October 11, 1994.

ADDRESSES: Please send an original and three copies of your comments to 
Chief, Regulatory Analysis and Development, PPD, APHIS, USDA, room 804, 
Federal Building, 6505 Belcrest Road, Hyattsville, MD 20782. Please 
state that your comments refer to Docket No. 94-042-1. Comments 
received may be inspected at USDA, room 1141, South Building, 14th 
Street and Independence Avenue SW., Washington, DC, between 8 a.m. and 
4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, except holidays. Persons wishing to 
inspect comments are requested to call ahead on (202) 690-2817 to 
facilitate entry into the comment reading room.

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

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    The regulations in 7 CFR part 319 prohibit or restrict the 
importation into the United States of certain plants and plant products 
to prevent the introduction of plant pests. The regulations contained 
in ``Subpart--Nursery Stock, Plants, Roots, Bulbs, Seeds, and Other 
Plant Products,'' Secs. 319.37 through 319.37-14 (referred to below as 
the regulations), restrict, among other things, the importation of 
living plants, plant parts, and seeds for propagation.
    One of the articles restricted in the regulations is Solanum 
species (spp.) true seed, also known as true potato seed. ``Solanum 
spp. true seed'' is defined in Sec. 319.37-1 as ``seed produced by 
flowers of Solanum capable of germinating and producing new Solanum 
plants, as distinguished from Solanum tubers, whole or cut, that are 
referred to as Solanum seeds or seed potatoes.''
    Currently, Sec. 319.37-2(a) of the regulations prohibits the 
importation into the United States of Solanum spp. true seed from all 
parts of the world except Canada and New Zealand. The prohibition is in 
place due to the risk of introducing three seedborne viruses--Andean 
Potato Latent Virus, Potato Virus T, and the Andean Potato Calico 
Strain of Tobacco Ringspot Virus--into the United States. (True potato 
seed may be imported from Canada and New Zealand because the viruses 
are not reported to occur in those countries.)
    The Chilean ministry of agriculture, the Servicio Agricola y 
Ganadero (SAG), has informed the Animal and Plant Health Inspection 
Service (APHIS) that, of the viruses of concern mentioned above, only 
Andean Potato Latent Virus has been reported to occur in Chile, and 
then only in limited areas of the country. One area of Chile where 
Andean Potato Latent Virus is not reported to occur is the country's 
Tenth (X) Region (that area of the country between 39 deg. and 44 deg. 
South latitude). SAG has designated the entire X Region as a 
quarantined area for potatoes and restricts the entry of potato seeds, 
true seed, plants, and tubers into the quarantined area. Given the 
apparent absence of seedborne viruses of Solanum spp. in the X Region, 
SAG has requested that APHIS allow the importation into the United 
States of true potato seed from the X Region of Chile.
    Based on our review of the information provided by SAG and a review 
of the scientific literature on the occurrence of seedborne potato 
diseases, we are proposing to amend the regulations to allow, under 
certain conditions, the importation of true potato seed from the X 
Region of Chile.
    We are proposing to require that Solanum spp. true seed imported 
into the United States from Chile be produced using certified virus-
free Solanum spp. plantlets from the United States. Under the protocol 
submitted by SAG, the Solanum plants that would produce the true potato 
seed in Chile would be propagated from the virus-free Solanum spp. 
plantlets imported into Chile from the United States. Although the 
seedborne viruses discussed above are not reported to exist in the 
United States, SAG's phytosanitary standards require that the Solanum 
spp. plantlets be certified as virus-free before they may enter Chile. 
We believe that this use of certified virus-free Solanum spp. plantlets 
from the United States will provide a virus-free base for the 
production of Solanum spp. true seed in Chile. Such a virus-free base, 
when combined with the proposed sampling and testing requirements 
discussed below, would minimize the likelihood that any seedborne 
viruses would be introduced into the United States by Solanum spp. true 
seed imported from Chile.
    In order to confirm the virus-free status of the growing area and 
the Solanum plants used to produce the true potato seed in Chile, we 
would require that Solanum spp. tubers, plants, and seeds from each 
field in which the Solanum plants that produce the true potato seed are 
grown be sampled by SAG once per growing season at a rate to allow the 
detection of 1 percent contamination with a 99 percent confidence 
level. This works out to a sampling rate of approximately 17 tubers, 17 
plants, and 17 true seeds per acre. SAG has indicated that the Solanum 
plants used to produce the true potato seed would be cultivated in 30-
acre fields; thus, the sampling rate necessary to achieve the 99 
percent confidence level in a 30-acre field would be 500 tubers, 500 
plants, and 500 true seeds per 30-acre field. The samples would have to 
be tested by SAG using the nitro-cellulose membrane (NCM) enzyme-linked 
immunosorbent assay (ELISA) test, which is a serologic test capable of 
detecting the presence of the viruses of concern. We would require that 
the samples test negative for Andean Potato Latent Virus, Potato Virus 
T, the Andean Potato Calico Strain of Tobacco Ringspot Virus, and 
Arracacha Virus B.
    Arracacha Virus B is not currently cited in Sec. 319.37-2(a) of the 
regulations as being a plant pest of concern to Solanum spp. true seed, 
as is the case with the first three viruses mentioned, but that virus 
has been reported to exist in Bolivia and Peru. Because each of those 
countries shares a border with Chile, we believe it is necessary to 
screen the Solanum spp. tubers, plants, and true seed to ensure that 
Arracacha Virus B--as well as Andean Potato Latent Virus, Potato Virus 
T, and the Andean Potato Calico Strain of Tobacco Ringspot Virus--would 
not be introduced into the United States. Because Arracacha Virus B has 
been identified in the scientific literature and in this document as a 
plant pest of potatoes and true potato seed, we also propose to add 
Arracacha Virus B to the list of plant pests of concern in both the 
``Solanum spp.'' entry and the ``Solanum spp. true seed'' entry in the 
table of prohibited articles in Sec. 319.37-2(a).
    We would require that true potato seed imported into the United 
States from Chile be accompanied by a permit issued by APHIS. The 
permit would help APHIS inspectors at the port of first arrival in the 
United States ensure that the true potato seed originated in Chile. To 
add this proposed permit requirement to the regulations, we would add a 
new paragraph to Sec. 319.37-3(a), which lists the categories of 
restricted articles that may be imported into the United States only 
after a permit has been issued by APHIS.
    In adding that new paragraph, we would also modify a potentially 
misleading paragraph in the same section. Paragraph (a)(3) of 
Sec. 319.37-3 currently reads ``Bulbs of Allium sativum spp. (garlic), 
Crocosmia spp. (montebretia), Gladiolus spp. (gladiolus), and Watsonia 
spp. (bugle lily); true seed of Solanum spp. (tuber bearing species 
only--Section Tuberarium) from New Zealand.'' The ``from New Zealand'' 
qualification applies only to Solanum spp. true seed, but its placement 
at the end of the paragraph could lead a reader to mistakenly assume 
that the ``from New Zealand'' qualification also applies to the bulbs 
listed in the same paragraph. Therefore, we would move the text 
referring to Solanum spp. true seed from New Zealand out of 
Sec. 319.37-3(a)(3) and combine it with the proposed new entry for 
Solanum spp. true seed from Chile that we would add to Sec. 319.37-
3(a).
    We would also require that true potato seed imported into the 
United States from Chile be accompanied by a phytosanitary certificate 
of inspection issued in Chile by SAG. The phytosanitary certificate of 
inspection would have to confirm that SAG had visually inspected the 
true seed for plant pests prior to its export, and provide written 
verification that the conditions in our regulations regarding the 
growing, sampling, and analysis of the true potato seed, Solanum 
plants, and tubers have been met.
    We believe that these multiple safeguards would be sufficient to 
prevent the introduction of seedborne viruses into the United States on 
true potato seed from Chile.

Executive Order 12866 and Regulatory Flexibility Act

    This proposed rule has been reviewed under Executive Order 12866. 
The 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.
    This proposed rule would allow, under certain conditions, the 
importation of true potato seed from Chile. The true potato seed 
proposed for importation from Chile would originate from certified 
virus-free plantlets from the United States, would be grown under the 
supervision of Chilean plant protection authorities, and a sample of 
the plants, tubers, and true potato seeds would be tested for seedborne 
viruses prior to the true potato seed being offered for entry into the 
United States. Allowing the importation of true potato seed from Chile 
would give potato producers in the United States another means of 
producing disease-free tubers.
    The United States produced approximately 2,880 million pounds of 
seed potatoes in 1992 (U.S. Department of Agriculture [USDA], Economic 
Research Service). During that same period, the United States imported 
approximately 128 million pounds of seed potatoes, which represents 
about 4.4 percent of U.S. production. Because imports represent such a 
small portion of the domestic seed potato supply, fluctuations in 
import levels and prices would be expected to have no significant 
effect on domestic seed potato prices.
    For example, U.S. imports of seed potatoes declined by more than a 
third between 1990 and 1992, dropping from 201 million pounds in 1990 
to 128 million pounds in 1992. This decline in imports did not, 
however, result in an increase in U.S. grower or retail prices for seed 
potatoes. In fact, the price of imported seed potatoes also fell by 
more than a third during that time, dropping from $11 per 100 pounds in 
1990 to $7 per 100 pounds in 1992 (USDA, ``Agricultural Statistics 
1992,'' Table 371, page 239). Based on the decline in both import 
levels and price during the same 2-year period, it appears that 
domestic seed potato prices are influenced more by the volume of U.S. 
production.
    The import levels and prices discussed above do not reflect any 
imports of true potato seed from anywhere in the world, nor is there 
any record of true potato seed being imported into the United States. 
Our records indicate that true potato seed is a product that is not 
currently commercially available in the United States. If true potato 
seed is allowed to be imported into the United States from Chile, we 
expect that it would take several years before true potato seed and its 
products would be in a position to capture any significant market 
share. Thus, its potential impact on price and competition in the 
potato seed market remains uncertain.
    We have identified domestic seed potato producers and seed potato 
importers as the entities potentially affected by this proposed rule. 
According to the Small Business Administration's criteria, an 
agricultural producer is considered to be a small entity if it has 
annual sales of less than $500,000; an importer is considered to be a 
small entity if it employs fewer than 100 people. According to the U.S. 
Department of Commerce's ``1987 Census of Agriculture,'' there were 
about 14,732 farms that produced potatoes in the United States, and 
about 96 percent of those farms reported sales of less than $100,000. 
The exact percentage of those farms that produced only seed potatoes or 
a combination of seed potatoes and table potatoes is not known, but it 
is likely that the number is small, based on the total production of 
seed potatoes versus table potatoes (2,880 million pounds vs. 42,500 
million pounds, respectively).
    Information regarding the total number of seed potato importers and 
the percentage of those importers that would be considered small 
entities was unavailable. It is unlikely, however, that allowing the 
importation of true potato seed from Chile would have a significant 
impact on seed potato import levels. The true potato seed imported from 
Chile could be used by potato producers in the United States to produce 
potatoes of a different variety than those potatoes currently grown in 
the United States; the economic impact of the imported true potato seed 
would thus be affected by consumer response to the new variety of 
potatoes. If consumer response was favorable and true potato seed 
imported from Chile became competitive with the seed potatoes currently 
available in the United States, the price of seed potatoes could be 
driven down. However, because U.S. seed potato prices are influenced 
more by domestic production and market conditions than by imports, it 
is likely that any economic impact on domestic seed potato producers 
would be small. Any slight negative impact would likely be offset by 
the positive impact on domestic potato producers, who would benefit 
from lower seed potato prices, and consumers would benefit from any 
resulting lower prices.
    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 12778

    This proposed rule has been reviewed under Executive Order 12778, 
Civil Justice Reform. This proposed rule would allow true seed of 
Solanum spp. to be imported into the United States from Chile. If this 
proposed rule is adopted, State and local laws and regulations 
regarding true seed imported under this rule would be preempted while 
the true seed is in foreign commerce. Seeds are generally imported for 
immediate distribution and sale to the public, and would 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. If this proposed rule is adopted, no retroactive 
effect will be given to this rule, and this rule will not require 
administrative proceedings before parties may file suit in court.

Paperwork Reduction Act

    In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1980 (44 U.S.C. 
3501 et seq.), the information collection or recordkeeping requirements 
included in this proposed rule have been approved by the Office of 
Management and Budget (OMB), and there are no new requirements. The 
assigned OMB control number is 0579-0049.

List of Subjects in 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 part 319 would be amended as follows:

PART 319--FOREIGN QUARANTINE NOTICES

     1. The authority citation for part 319 would continue 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. 319.37-2  [Amended]

    2. In Sec. 319.37-2(a), in the table, the listing for Solanum spp. 
would be amended in the third column by adding the words ``; Arracacha 
Virus B'' at the end of the entry, immediately before the period.
    3. In Sec. 319.37-2(a), in the table, the listing for Solanum spp. 
true seed would be amended in the second column by removing the words 
``Canada and New Zealand'' and adding the words ``Canada, New Zealand, 
and the X Region of Chile (that area of Chile between 39 deg. and 
44 deg. South latitude--see Sec. 319.37-5(h))'' in their place, and in 
the third column by adding the words ``, Arracacha Virus B'' at the end 
of the entry, immediately before the period.
    4. In Sec. 319.37-3, paragraph (a)(3) would be amended by removing 
the words ``true seed of Solanum spp. (tuber bearing species only--
Section Tuberarium) from New Zealand;'', and a new paragraph (a)(17) 
would be added to read as set forth below:


Sec. 319.37-3  Permits.

    (a) * * *
    (17) Solanum spp. true seed (tuber bearing species only--Section 
Tuberarium) from New Zealand and the X Region of Chile (that area of 
Chile between 39 deg. and 44 deg. South latitude--see Sec. 319.37-
5(h)).
* * * * *
    5. In Sec. 319.37-5, paragraph (h) would be added to read as 
follows:


Sec. 319.37-5  Special foreign inspection and certification 
requirements.

* * * * *
    (h) Any Solanum spp. true seed (tuber bearing species only--Section 
Tuberarium) imported from Chile shall, at the time of arrival at the 
port of first arrival in the United States, be accompanied by a 
phytosanitary certificate of inspection issued in Chile by the Servicio 
Agricola y Ganadero (SAG), containing additional declarations that:
    (i) The Solanum spp. true seed was produced by Solanum plants that 
were propagated from plantlets from the United States;
    (ii) The Solanum plants that produced the Solanum spp. true seed 
were grown in the Tenth (X) Region of Chile (that area of the country 
between 39 deg. and 44 deg. South latitude); and
    (iii) Solanum spp. tubers, plants, and true seed from each field in 
which the Solanum plants that produced the Solanum spp. true seed were 
grown have been sampled by SAG once per growing season at a rate to 
detect 1 percent contamination with a 99 percent confidence level (500 
tubers/500 plants/500 true seeds for a 30-acre field), and that the 
samples have been analyzed by SAG using the nitro-cellulose membrane 
(NCM) enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) test, with negative 
results, for Andean Potato Latent Virus, Arracacha Virus B, Potato 
Virus T, and the Andean Potato Calico Strain of Tobacco Ringspot Virus.
* * * * *
    Done in Washington, DC, this 1st day of September 1994.
Terry L. Medley,
Acting Administrator, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
[FR Doc. 94-22158 Filed 9-8-94; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-34-P