[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 88 (Wednesday, May 7, 1997)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 24849-24851]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-11886]


=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service

7 CFR Parts 319, 321, and 330

[Docket No. 97-010-1]


Foreign Potatoes

AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, USDA.

ACTION: Proposed rule.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: We are proposing to amend our regulations concerning imported 
plants and plant products to prohibit the importation of potato tubers 
from Bermuda and to prohibit the importation of potato plants from 
Newfoundland and a portion of Central Saanich, British Columbia, 
Canada. These changes appear necessary to prevent the introduction of 
foreign potato diseases and insect pests into the United States. We are 
also proposing to reorganize and streamline the regulations concerning 
the importation of potatoes into the United States. These changes would 
remove unnecessary regulations and relieve restrictions that no longer 
appear warranted.

DATES: Consideration will be given only to comments received on or 
before July 7, 1997.

ADDRESSES: Please send an original and three copies of your comments to 
Docket No. 97-010-1, Regulatory Analysis and Development, PPD, APHIS, 
suite 3C03, 4700 River Road Unit 118, Riverdale, MD 20737-1238. Please 
state that your comments refer to Docket No. 97-010-1. 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. James Petit de Mange, Staff 
Officer, Import-Export Team, PPQ, APHIS, 4700 River Road, Unit 140, 
Riverdale, MD 20737-1236; (301)-734-6799; fax (301)-734-5786; E-mail: 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    The regulations concerning the importation of foreign potato tubers 
are contained in 7 CFR part 321, Restricted Entry Orders, Subpart--
Foreign Potatoes (referred to below as the Foreign Potatoes 
regulations). The Foreign Potatoes regulations allow the importation of 
potato tubers from Bermuda and Canada (except for Newfoundland and a 
portion of South Saanich, British Columbia) without restriction. The 
Foreign Potatoes regulations also contain provisions for importing 
potato tubers from other countries that are free of injurious potato 
diseases and insect pests that are new to or not widely distributed 
throughout the United States. At present there are no countries 
considered free of injurious potato diseases and insect pests except 
Bermuda and parts of Canada.
    The regulations concerning the importation of foreign potato plants 
are contained in 7 CFR 319.37 through 319.37-14, Subpart--Nursery 
Stock, Plants, Roots, Bulbs, Seeds, and Other Plant Products (referred 
to below as the Nursery Stock regulations). The Nursery Stock 
regulations prohibit the importation of potato plants from all parts of 
the world except Canada.
    The regulations concerning the importation of most foreign fruits 
and vegetables are contained in 7 CFR 319.56 through 319.56-8, 
Subpart--Fruits and Vegetables (referred to below

[[Page 24850]]

as the Fruits and Vegetables regulations). The Fruits and Vegetables 
regulations refer readers to the Foreign Potatoes regulations for rules 
governing the importation of potatoes.
    The Foreign Potatoes, Fruits and Vegetables, and Nursery Stock 
regulations are intended to prevent the introduction of foreign plant 
diseases and insect pests into the United States.
    We are proposing to prohibit the importation of potato plants from 
Newfoundland and a portion of Central Saanich, British Columbia; 
Canada. As noted above, potato tubers are already prohibited 
importation into the United States from Newfoundland and South Saanich, 
British Columbia. The reference to South Saanich, British Columbia is 
incorrect; the reference should be to Central Saanich and we are 
changing ``South Saanich'' to ``Central Saanich'' in this proposed 
rule. Potato tubers are prohibited because of potato wart disease in 
Newfoundland and golden nematode in a portion of Central Saanich. 
Potato wart disease may be carried by both potato plants and potato 
tubers. Although golden nematode is associated with tubers, the 
Canadian government currently prohibits the movement of both potato 
plants and tubers from the affected portion of Central Saanich. This 
change would bring our regulations in line with Canada's prohibition 
and simplify the regulations. This action would have no impact on trade 
because Canada already prohibits the movement of potato plants and 
tubers from this portion of Central Saanich and Newfoundland. This 
change would be reflected in the Nursery Stock regulations, 
Sec. 319.37-2(a), in the list of prohibited articles.
    We are also proposing to prohibit the importation of potato tubers 
from Bermuda. Because Bermuda's regulations allow for the importation 
of seed potatoes from countries other than the United States and 
Canada, potato tubers grown in Bermuda could present a pest and disease 
risk if imported into the United States. This action will have little, 
if any, impact on trade, as there have been no requests to import 
potato tubers from Bermuda, no record of shipments of potato tubers 
from Bermuda, and Bermuda has no potato tuber production for export.
    Further, we are proposing to move the prohibitions on the 
importation of potato tubers from Bermuda, parts of Canada 
(Newfoundland and a portion of Central Saanich, British Columbia), and 
all other parts of the world, from the Foreign Potatoes regulations to 
the Nursery Stock regulations (see proposed Sec. 319.37-2(a)). In 
conjunction with this change, we propose to remove Restricted Entry 
Orders, Subpart--Foreign Potatoes, since the remainder of the 
regulatory text appears to be unnecessary. As explained above, the 
remainder of this text contains provisions for importing potato tubers 
from countries other than Canada or Bermuda. The importation of 
potatoes from countries other than Canada or Bermuda is prohibited. 
This would consolidate the regulations for importing foreign potatoes 
into one place and eliminate provisions that are not being used. We 
would amend the Fruits and Vegetables regulations to refer readers to 
the Nursery Stock regulations, rather than the Foreign Potatoes 
regulations, for rules governing the importation of potatoes.

Miscellaneous

    The Federal Plant Pest regulations, contained in 7 CFR part 330, 
regulate the movement into the United States, and interstate, of 
various materials, including soil, to prevent the dissemination of 
plant pests. Section 330.300a contains provisions concerning Canadian 
origin soil. The section refers to the Land District of South Saanich 
on Vancouver Island of British Columbia. The reference to ``South 
Saanich'' is incorrect and should be changed to ``Central Saanich.'' We 
are proposing this change in this document.

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 move the prohibitions on importing potato 
tubers from part 321 to subpart 319.37, prohibit the importation of 
potato tubers from Bermuda, and prohibit the importation of potato 
plants from Newfoundland and a portion of Central Saanich, British 
Columbia, Canada. These actions are not expected to have any economic 
impact. There have been no requests to import potato tubers from 
Bermuda, no record of shipments of potato tubers from Bermuda, and 
Bermuda has no potato tuber production for export. Canada does not 
allow potato tubers or plants to move from Newfoundland or the portion 
of Central Saanich that would be covered by our proposed rule due to 
the presence of potato wart disease and golden nematode.
    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 12988

    This proposed rule has been reviewed under Executive Order 12988, 
Civil Justice Reform. If this proposed rule is adopted: (1) All State 
and local laws and regulations that are inconsistent with this rule 
will be preempted; (2) no retroactive effect will be given to this 
rule; and (3) administrative proceedings will not be required before 
parties may file suit in court challenging this rule.

Paperwork Reduction Act

    This proposed rule contains no new information collection or 
recordkeeping requirements under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 
(44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.).

Regulatory Reform

    This action is part of the President's Regulatory Reform 
Initiative, which, among other things, directs agencies to remove 
obsolete and unnecessary regulations and to find less burdensome ways 
to achieve regulatory goals.

List of Subjects

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.

7 CFR Part 321

    Imports, Plant diseases and pests, Potatoes, Quarantine, Reporting 
and recordkeeping requirements.

7 CFR Part 330

    Customs duties and inspection, Imports, Plant diseases and pests, 
Quarantine, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements, Transportation.

    Accordingly title 7, Chapter III, 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, 2803, and 
2809; 21 U.S.C. 136 and 136a; 7 CFR 2.22, 2.80, and 371.2(c).

    2. In Sec. 319.37-2 paragraph (a), the table would be amended by 
revising the entry for Solanum spp. (potato) to read as follows.


Sec. 319.37-2  Prohibited Articles

    (a) * * *

[[Page 24851]]



------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                    Plant pests existing
 Prohibited article (includes     Foreign places    in the places named 
  seeds only if specifically        from which      and capable of being
          mentioned)                prohibited      transported with the
                                                     prohibited article 
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                        
*                  *                  *                  *              
                    *                  *              *                 
Solanum spp. (potato) (tuber    All except Canada  Andean potato latent 
 bearing species only--Section   (except            virus; Andean potato
 Tuberarium), including potato   Newfoundland and   mottle virus; potato
 tubers.                         that portion of    mop top virus;      
                                 the Municipality   dulcamara mottle    
                                 of Central         virus; tomato       
                                 Saanich in the     blackring virus;    
                                 Province of        tobacco rattle      
                                 British Columbia   virus; potato virus 
                                 east of the West   Y (tobacco veinal   
                                 Saanich Road.      necrosis strain);   
                                                    potato purple top   
                                                    wilt agent; potato  
                                                    marginal flavescence
                                                    agent; potato purple
                                                    top roll agent;     
                                                    potato witches broom
                                                    agent; stolbur      
                                                    agent; parastolbur  
                                                    agent; potato       
                                                    leaflet stunt agent;
                                                    potato spindle tuber
                                                    viroid; arracacha   
                                                    virus B; potato     
                                                    yellowing virus.    
                                                                        
*                  *                  *                  *              
                   *                  *                *                
------------------------------------------------------------------------

* * * * *
    3. In Sec. 319.56-2, footnote 1 and the reference to it would be 
removed, footnote 2 and the reference to it would be redesignated as 
footnote 1, and paragraph (c) would be revised to read as follows:


Sec. 319.56-2  Restrictions on entry of fruits and vegetables.

* * * * *
    (c) Fruits and vegetables grown in Canada may be imported into the 
United States without restriction under this subpart; provided, that 
potatoes from Newfoundland and that portion of the Municipality of 
Central Saanich in the Province of British Columbia east of the West 
Saanich Road are prohibited importation into the United States in 
accordance with Sec. 319.37-2 of this part.
* * * * *

PART 321--RESTRICTED ENTRY ORDERS [REMOVED]

    Under the authority of 7 U.S.C. 136, 136a, 154, 159, and 162, 7 
CFR, Chapter III, would be amended by removing ``Part 321--Restricted 
Entry Orders.''

PART 330--FEDERAL PLANT PEST REGULATIONS; GENERAL; PLANT PESTS; 
SOIL, STONE, AND QUARRY PRODUCTS; GARBAGE

    4. The authority citation for part 330 would be revised to read as 
follows:

    Authority: 7 U.S.C. 147a, 150bb, 150dd-150ff, 161, 162, 164a, 
450, 2260; 19 U.S.C. 1306; 21 U.S.C. 111, 114a; 136 and 136a; 31 
U.S.C. 9701; 42 U.S.C. 4331, 4332; 7 CFR 2.22, 2.80, and 371.2(c).

    5. In Sec. 330.300a, the words ``South Saanich'' would be removed 
and the words ``Central Saanich'' would be added in their place.

    Done in Washington, DC, this 1st day of May 1997.
Donald W. Luchsinger,
Acting Administrator, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
[FR Doc. 97-11886 Filed 5-6-97; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-34-P