[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 41 (Tuesday, March 2, 2004)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 9743-9744]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-4600]



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  Federal Register / Vol. 69, No. 41 / Tuesday, March 2, 2004 / Rules 
and Regulations  

[[Page 9743]]



DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service

7 CFR Part 319

[Docket No. 02-108-2]


Unshu Oranges from Honshu Island, Japan

AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, USDA.

ACTION: Final rule.

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SUMMARY: We are adopting as a final rule, with two changes, an interim 
rule that amended the regulations governing the importation of citrus 
fruit to allow Unshu oranges grown on Honshu Island, Japan, to be 
imported without fumigation if the distribution of the fruit within the 
United States is limited to States that are not commercial citrus-
producing States. We will continue to require fumigation if the fruit 
is distributed to commercial citrus-producing States. This final rule 
amends the regulations to include a reference to the island of Shikoku, 
along with the islands of Honshu and Kyushu, as an island from which 
Unshu oranges may be exported to the United States in accordance with 
the requirements of the regulations.

EFFECTIVE DATE: April 1, 2004.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Jeanne VanDersal, Import 
Specialist, Phytosanitary Issues Management, PPQ, APHIS, 4700 River 
Road Unit 140, Riverdale, MD 20737-1231; (301) 734-6799.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    Citrus canker is a disease that 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.
    In an interim rule effective and published in the Federal Register 
on March 3, 2003 (68 FR 9851-9854, Docket No. 02-108-1), we amended the 
regulations governing the importation of citrus fruit in 7 CFR 319.28 
(referred to below as the regulations) to allow Unshu oranges grown on 
Honshu Island, Japan, to be imported without fumigation if the 
distribution of the fruit within the United States was limited to non-
citrus-producing States.
    Comments on the interim rule were required to be received on or 
before May 2, 2003. We received one comment by that date. It was from a 
Japanese government official and is discussed below.
    The commenter asked if Unshu oranges grown on the island of Shikoku 
were eligible for entry under the same conditions included in the 
interim rule for Honshu-grown Unshu oranges.
    Previously, the regulations provided for the importation of Unshu 
oranges from approved, canker-free growing areas in Japan without 
specifying any particular islands or geographic areas in Japan. 
However, when we amended the regulations to provide for the importation 
of fumigated fruit into citrus-producing States (see 67 FR 4873-4877, 
Docket No. 99-099-2, published February 1, 2002), it was necessary to 
name the islands from which fruit could be exported, given the 
differing conditions that apply based on the origin and destination of 
the fruit. In that February 2002 final rule, we named only Honshu and 
Kyushu islands. Although Shikoku Island contains canker-free growing 
areas, there had been no exports of Unshu oranges to the United States 
from that island for several years, so we did not include a reference 
to Shikoku. This comment called our attention to our oversight; 
therefore, we are amending the regulations in this final rule to allow 
Unshu oranges grown in approved growing areas on Shikoku Island, Japan, 
to be imported without fumigation if the distribution of the fruit 
within the United States is limited to States that are not commercial 
citrus-producing States. As is the case with Unshu oranges from Honshu 
Island, we will require fumigation if the fruit is distributed to 
commercial citrus-producing States.
    The commenter also asked when Hawaii was added to the list of 
commercial citrus-producing States, noting that the addition was never 
clearly explained. The commenter requested specific documentation of 
the rule in which Hawaii was added.
    Hawaii was listed in both the February 2002 final rule cited 
previously and in the proposed rule that preceded it, which was 
published in the Federal Register on April 18, 2001 (66 FR 19892-19898, 
Docket No. 99-099-1). Hawaii was added to the list of commercial 
citrus-producing areas in Sec.  301.75-5 of our domestic citrus canker 
regulations in a final rule published in the Federal Register on 
December 13, 1985 (50 FR 51228-51234, Docket No. 85-381).
    The commenter requested that Japan have the opportunity to discuss 
specific details regarding box marking and the marking of individual 
fruit when Japan and the United States meet to prepare the bilateral 
(operational) workplan \1\ for the export of Japanese Unshu oranges to 
the United States.
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    \1\ A bilateral workplan is a written agreement between the 
Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) and a foreign 
plant protection organization that clarifies the responsibilities of 
each organization in enforcing APHIS regulations that pertain to 
preclearance export programs. The workplan also clarifies how 
specific aspects of the program operate, and may include directives 
as to how certain pest problems must be remedied. The workplan goes 
into more detail regarding the day-to-day operation of the program 
than do the regulations and, because of their separation from the 
regulations, workplans are flexible and can be revised as needed 
within the framework established by the regulations based on 
changing circumstances in the exporting country. Failure of the 
exporting country to abide by the conditions of the workplan is 
grounds for suspension, and possibly cancellation, of the export 
program.
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    With respect to box labeling requirements, the regulations provide 
some flexibility by requiring only that the individual boxes in which 
the oranges are shipped be stamped or printed 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. The specific manner in which the required box marking will 
be accomplished will be covered in the bilateral workplan. With respect 
to individual fruit marking, the regulations currently contain no 
provisions for the marking of individual fruit. We understand that 
Japan may wish to mark individual fruit that has been fumigated,

[[Page 9744]]

and is thus eligible for entry into commercial citrus-producing States, 
to distinguish such fruit from non-fumigated Unshu oranges. We will 
discuss this matter with Japan when we meet to prepare the bilateral 
workplan.

Miscellaneous

    In a final rule published in the Federal Register on April 27, 2001 
(see 66 FR 21049-21064), paragraph (a) of Sec.  319.28 was divided into 
paragraphs (a)(1) through (a)(3). Prior to that final rule, those same 
provisions ran together in a single, undivided paragraph (a). At the 
end of what is now paragraph (a)(3) are two sentences that read ``Seeds 
and processed peel of fruits designated in this section are excluded 
from this prohibition. Such seeds, however, are subject to the 
requirements of Sec. Sec.  319.37 through 319.37-27.'' Before we 
divided paragraph (a), it was clear that the exclusion for seeds and 
processed peel applied to the entire paragraph. However, now that those 
sentences are located at the end of paragraph (a)(3), it may appear 
that the exclusion applies only to paragraph (a)(3). Therefore, for the 
sake of clarity, we are removing those two sentences from paragraph 
(a)(3) and placing them in a new paragraph (a)(4).
    Therefore, for the reasons given in the interim rule and in this 
document, we are adopting the interim rule as a final rule, with the 
changes discussed in this document.
    This final rule also affirms the information contained in the 
interim rule concerning Executive Order 12866 and the Regulatory 
Flexibility Act, Executive Order 12988, and the Paperwork Reduction 
Act.
    Further, this final 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.

List of Subjects in 7 CFR Part 319

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

0
Accordingly, the interim rule amending 7 CFR part 319 that was 
published at 68 FR 9851-9854 on March 3, 2003, is adopted as a final 
rule with the following changes:

PART 319--FOREIGN QUARANTINE NOTICES

0
1. The authority citation for part 319 continues to read as follows:

    Authority: 7 U.S.C. 450 and 7701-7772; 21 U.S.C. 136 and 136a; 7 
CFR 2.22, 2.80, and 371.3.


0
2. Section 319.28 is amended as follows:
0
a. In paragraph (a)(3), by removing the last two sentences of the 
paragraph.
0
b. By adding a new paragraph (a)(4) to read as set forth below.
0
c. In paragraph (b)(5), first and third sentences, and paragraphs 
(b)(7)(i) and (b)(7)(ii), by adding the words ``or Shikoku Island'' 
after the words ``Honshu Island.''


Sec.  319.28  Notice of quarantine.

    (a) * * *
    (4) Seeds and processed peel of fruits designated in this section 
are excluded from this prohibition. Such seeds, however, are subject to 
the requirements of Sec. Sec.  319.37 through 319.37-27.
* * * * *

    Done in Washington, DC, this 26th day of February 2004.
Kevin Shea,
Acting Administrator, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
[FR Doc. 04-4600 Filed 3-1-04; 8:45 am]
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