[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 143 (Tuesday, July 26, 2011)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 44455-44457]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-18851]


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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service

7 CFR Part 319

[Docket No. APHIS-2009-0086]
RIN 0579-AD26


Importation of Shepherd's Purse With Roots From the Republic of 
Korea Into the United States

AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, USDA.

ACTION: Final rule.

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SUMMARY: We are amending the regulations concerning the importation of 
fruits and vegetables to allow the importation of fresh shepherd's 
purse with roots from the Republic of Korea into the United States 
under a combination of mitigations to reduce the risk of introducing 
plant pests. As a condition of entry, the shepherd's purse will have to 
be produced in accordance with a systems approach that will include 
requirements for importation of commercial consignments, pest-free 
place of production, removal of soil, and inspection for quarantine 
pests by the national plant protection organization of the Republic of 
Korea. The shepherd's purse will also have to be accompanied by a 
phytosanitary certificate with an additional declaration stating that 
it was grown, packed, and inspected and found to be free of pests in 
accordance with the regulations. This action will allow the importation 
of fresh shepherd's purse with roots from the Republic of Korea while 
continuing to protect against the introduction of plant pests into the 
United States.

DATES: Effective Date: July 26, 2011.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Dorothy Wayson, Regulatory 
Coordination Specialist, PPQ, APHIS, 4700 River Road, Unit 39, 
Riverdale, MD 20737-1231; (301) 734-0627.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background

    The regulations in ``Subpart-Fruits and Vegetables'' (7 CFR 319.56-
1 through 319.56-50, referred to below as the regulations) prohibit or 
restrict the importation of fruits and vegetables into the United 
States from certain parts of the world to prevent the introduction and 
dissemination of plant pests that are new to or not widely distributed 
within the United States.
    The national plant protection organization (NPPO) of the Republic 
of Korea has requested that the Animal and Plant Health Inspection 
Service (APHIS) amend the regulations to allow fresh shepherd's purse 
with roots from the Republic of Korea to be imported into the United 
States. Prior to the publication of this final rule, shepherd's purse 
without roots has been authorized for entry into the United States from 
the Republic of Korea.
    On October 12, 2010, we published in the Federal Register (75 FR 
62484-62486, Docket No. APHIS-2009-0086) a proposed rule \1\ to amend 
the regulations concerning the importation of fruits and vegetables to 
allow the importation of fresh shepherd's purse with roots from the 
Republic of Korea into the United States under a combination of

[[Page 44456]]

mitigations to reduce the risk of introducing plant pests. We prepared 
a pest risk assessment (PRA), titled ``Importation of Shepherd's Purse 
(Capsella bursa-pastoris (L.) Medik.) leaves and stems with roots from 
Republic of Korea into the United States, A Pathway-Initiated Risk 
Assessment'' (October 2007). The PRA evaluated the risks associated 
with the importation of shepherd's purse into the United States from 
the Republic of Korea. Based on the information contained in the PRA, 
APHIS has determined that measures beyond standard port-of-entry 
inspection are required to mitigate the risks posed by these 
quarantined areas. To recommend specific measures to mitigate those 
risks, we prepared a risk management document (RMD).
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    \1\ To view the proposed rule, PRA, RMD, and the comments we 
received, go to http://www.regulations.gov/fdmspublic/component/main?main=DocketDetail&d=APHIS-2009-0086.
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    We solicited comments concerning the PRA and RMD for 60 days ending 
December 13, 2010. We received two comments by that date. They were 
from a private citizen and a State division of consumer services. Both 
comments were in general agreement with the proposed action; however, 
there were suggestions made regarding inspections.
    One commenter suggested that in addition to being inspected for 
pests, that the shepherd's purse with roots be inspected for pesticide 
and herbicide residue.
    While the United States does not have direct control over 
pesticides that are used on plant commodities such as shepherd's purse 
with roots in other countries, there are regulations in the United 
States concerning the importation of food to ensure that commodities do 
not enter the United States containing illegal pesticide residues. 
Through section 408 of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, the 
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has the authority to establish, 
change, or cancel tolerances for food commodities. These tolerances are 
the maximum levels of pesticide residues that have been determined, 
through comprehensive safety evaluations, to be safe for human 
consumption. Tolerances apply to both food commodities that are grown 
in the United States and food commodities that are grown in other 
countries and imported into the United States. While EPA has no 
authority in a foreign country, the tolerance levels are enforced once 
the commodity enters the United States. Federal Government food 
inspectors are responsible for monitoring food commodities that enter 
the United States to confirm that tolerance levels are not exceeded and 
that residues of pesticide chemicals that are banned in the United 
States are not present on the commodities. Tolerance levels for all 
chemicals that are acceptable for use on shepherd's purse may be found 
in EPA's regulations in 40 CFR 180.101 through 180.2020. Tolerance 
information can also be obtained at http://www.epa.gov/pesticides/regulating/index.htm.
    One commenter stated that the pest risk assessment failed to 
mention any safeguarding measures against endoparasitic nematodes such 
as new races of the soybean cyst nematode (Heterodera glycines), rice 
root nematodes (Hirschmanniella imamuri), root knot nematode 
(Meloidogyne spp.), and lesion nematodes (Pratylenchus thornei and 
other unidentified Pratylenchus species).
    We can only require safeguarding measures against organisms that 
are not known to be present in the United States and that we have 
determined present a risk to U.S. plants or plant products. Therefore, 
because H. glycines and P. thornei are already established in many 
parts of the United States, additional safeguarding measures are not 
required. Furthermore, we found no information about exotic races of H. 
glycines and P. thornei that occur in the Republic of Korea and are 
reported on shepherd's purse. If new information becomes available 
about particular Heterodera spp. and Pratylenchus spp., we will 
reevaluate the risks associated with this commodity and assign any new 
mitigation measures that we determine are necessary.
    H. imamuri is not reported in the United States, but has been 
reported in certain areas of the Republic of Korea; however, we have no 
evidence that it is associated with shepherd's purse. By necessity, 
pest assessments focus on those organisms for which biological 
information is available. If new information becomes available about 
particular Meloidogyne spp. or other nematode pests that occur in the 
Republic of Korea and are associated with shepherd's purse, we will 
reevaluate the risks associated with this commodity and assign any new 
mitigation measures that we determine are necessary.
    Therefore, for the reasons given in the proposed rule and in this 
document, we are adopting the proposed rule as a final rule, without 
change.

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 shipping season for shepherd's purse from 
the Republic of Korea is in progress. Making this rule effective 
immediately will allow interested producers and others in the marketing 
chain to benefit during this year's shipping season. 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 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.
    In accordance with the Regulatory Flexibility Act, we have analyzed 
the potential economic effects of this action on small entities. The 
analysis is summarized below. Copies of the full analysis are available 
on the Regulations.gov Web site (see footnote 1 in this document for a 
link to Regulations.gov) or by contacting the person listed under FOR 
FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT.
    APHIS has determined that fresh shepherd's purse with roots can be 
safely imported from Korea into the United States under certain 
conditions. U.S. entities that could be affected by the final rule are 
domestic producers of shepherd's purse, and wholesalers that import 
fresh shepherd's purse. Based on our review of available information, 
APHIS does not expect the rule to have a significant economic impact on 
small entities. In the absence of significant economic impacts, we have 
not identified alternatives that would minimize such impacts.

Executive Order 12988

    This final rule allows shepherd's purse with roots to be imported 
into the United States from the Republic of Korea. State and local laws 
and regulations regarding shepherd's purse with roots imported under 
this rule will be preempted while the plant is in foreign commerce. 
Fresh plant products are generally imported for immediate distribution 
and sale to the consuming public, and 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.

[[Page 44457]]

Paperwork Reduction Act

    In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (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) under OMB control number 0579-0366.

E-Government Act Compliance

    The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service is committed to 
compliance with the E-Government Act to promote the use of the Internet 
and other information technologies, to provide increased opportunities 
for citizen access to Government information and services, and for 
other purposes. For information pertinent to E-Government Act 
compliance related to this rule, please contact Mrs. Celeste Sickles, 
APHIS' Information Collection Coordinator, at (301) 851-2908.

List of Subjects in 7 CFR Part 319

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

    Accordingly, we are amending 7 CFR part 319 as follows:

PART 319--FOREIGN QUARANTINE NOTICES

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

    Authority: 7 U.S.C. 450, 7701-7772, and 7781-7786; 21 U.S.C. 136 
and 136a; 7 CFR 2.22, 2.80, and 371.3.

0
2. A new Sec.  319.56-51 is added to read as follows:


Sec.  319.56-51  Shepherd's purse with roots from the Republic of 
Korea.

    Shepherd's purse (Capsella bursa-pastoris (L.) Medick) with roots 
from the Republic of Korea may be imported only under the following 
conditions:
    (a) The shepherd's purse with roots must be grown in a pest-free 
place of production that is registered with the national plant 
protection organization (NPPO) of the Republic of Korea. Fields must be 
certified free of the quarantine nematodes Hemicycliophora koreana, 
Paratylenchus pandus, Rotylenchus orientalis, and Rotylenchus pini by 
sampling and microscopic inspection of the samples by the NPPO of the 
Republic of Korea. The sampling and inspection protocol must be 
preapproved by APHIS.
    (b) The shepherd's purse with roots must be free from soil.
    (c) The shepherd's purse with roots must be imported in commercial 
shipments only.
    (d) Each consignment of shepherd's purse with roots must be 
accompanied by a phytosanitary certificate of inspection issued by the 
NPPO of the Republic of Korea stating that the shipment has been 
inspected and found free of quarantine pests with an additional 
declaration stating that the shepherd's purse with roots has been 
produced and inspected in accordance with the requirements of 7 CFR 
319.56-51.

(Approved by the Office of Management and Budget under control 
number 0579-0366)

    Done in Washington, DC this 20th day of July 2011.
Kevin Shea,
Acting Administrator, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
[FR Doc. 2011-18851 Filed 7-25-11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-34-P