[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 161 (Friday, August 19, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 51934-51935]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-21213]


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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service

[Docket No. APHIS-2010-0032]


Determination of Pest-Free Areas in Mendoza Province, Argentina; 
Request for Comments

AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, USDA.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: We are advising the public that we have received a request 
from the Government of Argentina to recognize additional areas as pest-
free areas for South American fruit fly (Anastrepha fraterculus) and 
all other economically important species of Anastrepha. After reviewing 
the documentation submitted in support of this request, the 
Administrator of the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service has 
determined that these areas meet the criteria in our regulations for 
recognition as pest-free areas. We are making that determination, as 
well as the evaluation document we have prepared in connection with 
this action, available for review and comment.

DATES: We will consider all comments that we receive on or before 
October 18, 2011.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by either of the following methods:
     Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to http://www.regulations.gov/#!documentDetail;D=APHIS-2010-0032-0005.
     Postal Mail/Commercial Delivery: Send your comment to 
Docket No. APHIS-2010-0032, Regulatory Analysis and Development, PPD, 
APHIS, Station 3A-03.8, 4700 River Road Unit 118, Riverdale, MD 20737-
1238.
    Supporting documents and any comments we receive on this docket may 
be viewed at http://www.regulations.gov/#!docketDetail;D=APHIS-2010-
0032 or in our reading room, which is located in room 1141 of the USDA 
South Building, 14th Street and Independence Avenue, SW., Washington, 
DC. Normal reading room hours are 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through 
Friday, except holidays. To be sure someone is there to help you, 
please call (202) 690-2817 before coming.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Meredith C. Jones, Regulatory 
Coordination Specialist, Regulatory Coordination and Compliance, APHIS, 
4700 River Road Unit 156, Riverdale, MD 20737; (301) 734-7467.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Under the regulations in ``Subpart-Fruits 
and Vegetables'' (7 CFR 319.56-1 through 319.56-51, referred to below 
as the regulations), the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service 
(APHIS) of the U.S. Department of Agriculture prohibits or restricts 
the importation of fruits and vegetables into the United States from 
certain parts of the world to prevent plant pests from being introduced 
into and spread within the United States.
    Section 319.56-4 of the regulations contains a performance-based 
process for approving the importation of commodities that, based on the 
findings of a pest risk analysis, can be safely imported subject to one 
or more of the designated phytosanitary measures listed in paragraph 
(b) of that section. One of the designated phytosanitary measures is 
that the fruits or vegetables are imported from a pest-free area in the 
country of origin that meets the requirements of Sec.  319.56-5 for 
freedom from that pest and are accompanied by a phytosanitary 
certificate stating that the fruits or vegetables originated in a pest-
free area in the country of origin.\1\
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    \1\ A list of pest-free-areas currently recognized by APHIS can 
be found at http://www.aphis.usda.gov/import_export/plants/manuals/ports/downloads/DesignatedPestFreeAreas.pdf.
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    Under the regulations in Sec.  319.56-5, APHIS requires that 
determinations of pest-free areas be made in accordance with the 
criteria for establishing freedom from pests found in International 
Standards for Phytosanitary Measures (ISPM) No. 4, ``Requirements For 
the Establishment of Pest Free Areas.'' The international standard was 
established by the International Plant Protection Convention of the 
United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization and is incorporated 
by reference in our regulations in 7 CFR 300.5. In addition, APHIS must 
also approve the survey protocol used to determine and maintain pest-
free status, as well as protocols for actions to be performed upon 
detection of a pest. Pest-free areas are subject to audit by APHIS to 
verify their status.
    APHIS received a request from the Government of Argentina to 
recognize an additional area of that country as being free of Ceratitis 
capitata, Mediterranean fruit fly (Medfly). Specifically, the 
Government of Argentina asked that we recognize the Southern and 
Central Oases in the southern half of Mendoza Province as an area that 
is free of Medfly.
    In accordance with our process, we published a notice \2\ in the 
Federal Register on June 25, 2010 (75 FR 36347-36348, Docket No. APHIS-
2010-0032), in which we announced the availability, for review and 
comment, of a commodity import evaluation document (CIED) that 
evaluates the information presented by Argentina in support of its 
request to recognize additional areas as pest-free areas for 
Mediterranean fruit fly (Ceratitis capitata) in Argentina. We solicited 
comments on the notice for 60 days ending on August 24, 2010. We 
received two comments by that date, one from a State agricultural 
official and the other from an official of Argentina's national plant 
protection organization (NPPO). The first commenter acknowledged 
Argentina's history of successful Medfly control efforts, but stated 
that APHIS should not relax its fruit fly-related restrictions until it 
can confirm that no other pest fruit flies-notably Anastrepha species 
fruit flies-are present in the area. The second commenter provided 
information to support a finding that the Mendoza Province is free of 
the South American fruit fly (Anastrepha fraterculus). As a result of 
these comments, APHIS contacted the Argentine NPPO, which requested 
that, in addition to the pest-free status for Ceratitis capitata, the 
Mendoza province of Argentina also be recognized as free of A. 
fraterculus.
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    \2\ To view the notice and the comments we received, go to 
http://www.regulations.gov/fdmspublic/component/main?main=DocketDetail&d=APHIS-2010-0032.
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    In accordance with our regulations and the criteria set out in ISPM 
No. 4, we have reviewed and approved the survey protocols and other 
information provided by Argentina relative to its system to establish 
A. fraterculus freedom, phytosanitary measures to maintain freedom, and 
system for the verification of the maintenance of freedom. Because this 
action concerns the expansion of a currently recognized pest-free area 
in Argentina from which fruits and vegetables are authorized for

[[Page 51935]]

importation into the United States, our review of the information 
presented by Argentina in support of its subsequent request to 
recognize the Mendoza province of Argentina as free of A. fraterculus 
is examined in a CIED titled ``Recognition of additional Provinces as 
Anastrepha fraterculus Pest-Free Areas (PFA) for Argentina.''
    The CIED may be viewed on the Regulations.gov Web site or in our 
reading room (see ADDRESSES above for instructions for accessing 
Regulations.gov and information on the location and hours of the 
reading room). You may request paper copies of the CIED by calling or 
writing to the person listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT.
    Therefore, in accordance with Sec.  319.56-5(c), we are announcing 
the Administrator's determination that the Southern and Central Oases 
in the southern half of Mendoza Province meet the criteria of Sec.  
319.56-5(a) and (b) with respect to freedom from the South American 
fruit fly and all other economically important species of Anastrepha. 
After reviewing the comments we receive on this notice and taking into 
consideration the comments we received on our June 2010 notice 
regarding the areas' Medfly status, we will announce our decision 
regarding the status of these areas with respect to their freedom from 
Medfly and South American fruit fly. If the Administrator's 
determination remains unchanged, we will amend the list of pest-free 
areas to list Southern and Central Oases of the Mendoza Province of 
Argentina as free of Medfly and South American fruit fly.

    Done in Washington, DC, this 15th day of August 2011.
Kevin Shea,
Acting Administrator, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
[FR Doc. 2011-21213 Filed 8-18-11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-34-P