[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 15 (Tuesday, January 24, 1995)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 4529-4530]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-1741]



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 Rules and Regulations
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  Federal Register / Vol. 60, No. 15 / Tuesday, January 24, 1995 / 
Rules and Regulations  
[[Page 4529]]

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service

7 CFR Part 319

[Docket No. 93-147-2]


Importation of Strawberries, Currants, and Palms

AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, USDA.

ACTION: Final rule.

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SUMMARY: We are adopting as a final rule, with changes, portions of an 
interim rule concerning the importation of strawberry, currant, and 
palm plants. This final rule will allow the importation of both of the 
Howea species of sentry palms into the United States from Australia 
(including Lord Howe and Norfolk Islands) and from New Zealand, subject 
to certain conditions. This action will allow the importation of the 
Howea species of sentry palms without significant risk of introducing 
exotic palm diseases into the United States.
    We are still considering comments on the provisions of the interim 
rule concerning the importation of strawberry and currant plants and as 
yet have not decided whether to affirm or revise these provisions. We 
will do so in a separate Federal Register document.

EFFECTIVE DATE: January 24, 1995.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Peter Grosser or Mr. Frank E. 
Cooper, Senior Operations Officers, Port Operations, Plant Protection 
and Quarantine, APHIS, USDA, P.O. Drawer 810, Riverdale, MD, 20738. The 
telephone number for the agency contact will change when agency offices 
in Hyattsville, MD, move to Riverdale, MD, during February. Telephone: 
(301) 436-8295 (Hyattsville); (301) 734-8295 (Riverdale).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    The Plant Quarantine Act (7 U.S.C. 151 et seq.) and the Federal 
Plant Pest Act (7 U.S.C. 150aa et seq.) authorize the Animal and Plant 
Health Inspection Service (APHIS) to prohibit or restrict the 
importation into the United States of any plants, roots, bulbs, seeds, 
or other plant products in order to prevent the introduction of plant 
pests into the United States.
    Regulations promulgated under this authority, among others, include 
7 CFR 319.37 through 319.37-14, ``Subpart--Nursery Stock, Plants, 
Roots, Bulbs, Seeds, and Other Plant Products'' (the regulations). 
These regulations govern the importation of living plants, plant parts, 
and seeds for or capable of propagation, and related articles. Other 
sections of 7 CFR 319 deal with articles such as cut flowers, or fruits 
and vegetables intended for consumption.
    The regulations restrict or prohibit the importation of most 
nursery stock, plants, roots, bulbs, seeds, and other plant products. 
These articles are classified as either ``prohibited articles'' or 
``restricted articles.''
    A prohibited article is an article that the Deputy Administrator 
for Plant Protection and Quarantine (PPQ), APHIS, has determined cannot 
feasibly be inspected, treated, or handled to prevent it from 
introducing plant pests new to or not widely prevalent or distributed 
within and throughout the United States. Prohibited articles may not be 
imported into the United States, unless imported by the United States 
Department of Agriculture (USDA) for experimental or scientific 
purposes under specified safeguards.
    A restricted article is an article that the Deputy Administrator 
for PPQ has determined can be inspected, treated, or handled to 
essentially eliminate the risk of its spreading plant pests if imported 
into the United States. Restricted articles may be imported into the 
United States if they are imported in compliance with restrictions that 
may include permit and phytosanitary certificate requirements, 
inspection, treatment, or postentry quarantine.
    In an interim rule effective and published in the Federal Register 
on August 30, 1994 (59 FR 44608-44610, Docket No. 93-147-1), we amended 
the regulations to prohibit the importation of strawberry plants from 
all foreign countries except Canada and Israel, prohibit the 
importation of currant plants from New Zealand, and prohibit the 
importation of both species of the genus Howea (sentry palms), except 
from Lord Howe Island, New South Wales, Australia.
    Comments on the interim rule were required to be received on or 
before October 31, 1994. By that date, we received 44 comments on the 
interim rule. Twelve of the comments addressed the new restrictions on 
the importation of strawberry and currant plants. We are still 
considering these comments and as yet have not decided whether to 
affirm or revise the interim rule provisions regarding the importation 
of strawberry and currant plants. We will do so in a separate Federal 
Register document.
    Thirty-five of the comments concern the new restrictions on the 
importation of sentry palms. These comments were submitted by members 
of Congress, palm growers, importers and exporters, trade associations, 
universities, State governments, and foreign governments. Thirteen of 
the comments support the interim rule provisions regarding the 
prohibition on the importation of both species of the genus Howea from 
everywhere except Lord Howe Island. The other 22 comments object to the 
prohibition. The objections and our responses are summarized below.
    Prior to the publication of the interim rule, one species of sentry 
palm, Howea forsteriana, could be imported into the United States as a 
restricted article from anywhere in the world. The other species 
though, Howea belmoreana, was classified as a prohibited article, owing 
to its susceptibility to the cadang-cadang and lethal yellowing 
pathogens.
    A representative of a palm company on Lord Howe Island requested 
that APHIS consider revising the regulations to allow the importation 
of Howea belmoreana from Lord Howe Island into the United States as a 
restricted article. Our review of the scientific literature did not 
reveal any indication of the presence of the lethal yellowing pathogen, 
the cadang-cadang pathogen, or any other damaging palm pests on Lord 
Howe Island. Furthermore, New South Wales prohibits the importation of 
all palms and palm products onto the Lord Howe Island from all sources. 
We thus revised the regulations accordingly to allow the importation of 
Howea [[Page 4530]] belmoreana from Lord Howe Island into the United 
States as a restricted article.
    Also, during our review of this request, we found no evidence that 
the other species of sentry palm, Howea forsteriana, was immune to the 
cadang-cadang or lethal yellowing pathogens. Because pathogens attack 
most species within a genus, we decided to extend the import 
prohibition to both species of Howea. However, we decided to allow 
Howea forsteriana to be imported from Lord Howe Island as a restricted 
article, due to the disease status of the island and the phytosanitary 
restrictions in effect there.
    All of the 22 comments objecting to the interim rule requested that 
we reconsider the prohibition with respect to Howea species grown in 
Australia, Norfolk Island (a self-governing territory of Australia), 
and New Zealand. The comments point out that Australia, Norfolk Island, 
and New Zealand are free of the cadang-cadang and lethal yellowing 
pathogens. Also, they maintained that the plant protection agencies of 
Australia, Norfolk Island, and New Zealand impose phytosanitary 
restrictions in regard to palm imports comparable to those imposed on 
Lord Howe Island by New South Wales.
    We have confirmed this information and now believe that both 
species of Howea can be imported from Australia (including Norfolk 
Island) and New Zealand with a negligible degree of risk of introducing 
exotic palm pests into the United States. Therefore, this final rule 
will allow both species of Howea to be imported into the United States 
from Australia (including Lord Howe and Norfolk Islands) and New 
Zealand, as restricted articles. In the future, we will welcome for 
review information regarding the relevant disease status and 
phytosanitary programs of additional countries that wish to export 
Howea species into the United States.

Miscellaneous

    We are correcting the misspelling of Howea forsteriana in the 
interim 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. Since August 30, 1994, growers in Australia (including 
Norfolk Island) have had to divert to other destinations shipments of 
Howea forsteriana palms originally destined for the United States; U.S. 
entities counting on these shipments have had to find other sources for 
Howea forsteriana palms. Making this rule effective upon publication 
will grant immediate relief to these entities. Therefore, the 
Administrator of the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service has 
determined that this rule should be effective upon publication in the 
Federal Register.

Executive Order 12866 and Regulatory Flexibility Act

    This rule has been reviewed under Executive Order 12866. The rule 
has been determined to be not significant for purposes of Executive 
Order 12866 and, therefore, has not been reviewed by the Office of 
Management and Budget.
    In accordance with 5 U.S.C. 601 et seq., we have performed a Final 
Regulatory Flexibility Analysis, set forth below, regarding the 
economic impact of this rule on small entities.
    In an August 30, 1994, interim rule, we prohibited the importation 
of both species of Howea (sentry palm) from everywhere but Lord Howe 
Island, New South Wales, Australia. As a result of comments received on 
the rule and a subsequent reappraisal of phytosanitary risks, we have 
decided to finalize this rule with revisions prohibiting the 
importation of both species of Howea from everywhere except Australia 
(including Lord Howe and Norfolk Islands) and New Zealand.
    Although USDA does not collect information on trade in Howea, 
domestic and foreign industry sources indicate the Howea forsteriana 
seeds and seedlings have growing import markets in the United States, 
particularly in Hawaii, California, and Florida. (Neither the interim 
rule nor this final rule affect trade in seeds of Howea.) Some sources 
estimate annual revenues generated by Howea forsteriana trade in the 
United States to be as high as $15 million.
    Growers in mainland Australia and on Lord Howe and Norfolk Islands 
have been the major suppliers of Howea forsteriana seed and seedlings. 
Since the publication of the interim rule prohibiting the importation 
of Howea plants from everywhere but Lord Howe Island, growers in 
mainland Australia and on Norfolk Island have had to divert shipments 
of Howea forsteriana seedlings originally destined for the United 
States. Also, U.S. entities trading with these growers have had to find 
other sources for the seedlings.
    This final rule will grant relief to these foreign growers and to 
U.S. entities trading with them by again allowing the importation of 
Howea forsteriana plants from all of Australia, including Norfolk 
Island. Furthermore, this rule will provide market opportunities for 
foreign growers and U.S. entities trading with them by allowing Howea 
belmoreana plants to be imported into the United States from Australia 
(including Norfolk Island) and New Zealand, subject to certain 
conditions.

Executive Order 12778

    This rule has been reviewed under Executive Order 12778, Civil 
Justice Reform. This rule: (1) Preempts all State and local laws and 
regulations that are inconsistent with this rule; (2) has no 
retroactive effect; and (3) does not require administrative proceedings 
before parties may file suit in court challenging this rule.

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 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 is amended as follows:

PART 319--FOREIGN QUARANTINE NOTICES

    1. 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. 319.37-5  Special foreign inspection and certification 
requirements.

    2. In Sec. 319.37-5, paragraph (n), the phrase ``Lord Howe Island, 
New South Wales, Australia,'' is removed and the phrase ``Australia or 
New Zealand'' is added in its place; and, the phrase ``(must be Lord 
Howe Island)'' is removed.

    Done in Washington, DC, this 18th day of January 1995.
Lonnie J. King,
Acting Administrator, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
[FR Doc. 95-1741 Filed 1-23-95; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-34-P