[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 73 (Monday, April 16, 2012)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 22510-22514]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-9063]
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Proposed Rules
Federal Register
________________________________________________________________________
This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER contains notices to the public of
the proposed issuance of rules and regulations. The purpose of these
notices is to give interested persons an opportunity to participate in
the rule making prior to the adoption of the final rules.
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Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 73 / Monday, April 16, 2012 /
Proposed Rules
[[Page 22510]]
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service
7 CFR Part 319
[Docket No. APHIS-2011-0028]
RIN 0579-AD61
Importation of Fresh Bananas From the Philippines Into the
Continental United States
AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, USDA.
ACTION: Proposed rule.
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SUMMARY: We are proposing to amend the regulations concerning the
importation of fruits and vegetables to allow the importation of fresh
bananas from the Philippines into the continental United States. As a
condition of entry, the bananas would have to be produced in accordance
with a systems approach that would include requirements for importation
of commercial consignments, monitoring of fruit flies to establish low-
prevalence places of production, harvesting only of hard green bananas,
and inspection for quarantine pests by the national plant protection
organization of the Philippines. The bananas would also have to be
accompanied by a phytosanitary certificate with an additional
declaration stating that they were grown, packed, and inspected and
found to be free of quarantine pests in accordance with the proposed
requirements. This action would allow the importation of bananas from
the Philippines while continuing to protect against the introduction of
plant pests into the United States.
DATES: We will consider all comments that we receive on or before June
15, 2012.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by either of the following methods:
Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to http://www.regulations.gov/#!documentDetail;D=APHIS-2011-0028-0001.
Postal Mail/Commercial Delivery: Send your comment to
Docket No. APHIS-2011-0028, 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-2011-
0028 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) 799-7039 before coming.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Meredith Jones, Regulatory
Coordination Specialist, PPQ, RPM, RCC, APHIS, 4700 River Road Unit 39,
Riverdale, MD 20737-1231; (301) 851-2289.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
The regulations in ``Subpart--Fruits and Vegetables'' (7 CFR
319.56-1 through 319.56-54, 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
Philippines has requested that the Animal and Plant Health Inspection
Service (APHIS) amend the regulations to allow bananas from the
Philippines to be imported into the continental United States.
Currently, bananas may not be imported from the Philippines.
Historically, bananas have been imported into the United States only
from Central and South America and have been moved interstate from
Hawaii to the continental United States.
As part of our evaluation of the Philippines' request, we prepared
a pest risk assessment (PRA), titled ``Importation of Bananas, Musa
spp., as Fresh, Hard Green Fruit from the Philippines to the
Continental United States, A Qualitative Pathway-Initiated Risk
Assessment'' (July 21, 2009). The PRA evaluated the risks associated
with the importation of green bananas into the United States from the
Philippines.
The PRA identified 16 pests of quarantine significance present in
the Philippines that could be introduced into the United States through
the importation of green bananas:
Fruit flies:
Bactrocera musae
B. occipitalis
B. philippinensis
Scales:
Red wax (Ceroplastes rubens)
Green (Coccus viridis)
Beetle:
Longhorned (Sybra alternans)
Mealybugs:
Gray pineapple (Dymicoccus neobrevipes)
Coffee root (Geococcus coffeae)
Hibiscus (Maconellicoccus hirsutus)
Coffee (Planococcus lilacinus)
Pacific (Planococcus minor)
Cryptic (Pseudococcus cryptus)
Mango (Rastrococcus invadens)
Philippine mango (Rastrococcus spinosus)
Fungi
Cercospaora hayi Calpouzos
Guignardia musae Racib.
The PRA rated the fruit flies as high risk; the beetle, both
scales, and all the mealybugs as medium risk; and the fungi as low
risk. Pests with low risk ratings do not typically require specific
mitigation measures. 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 the quarantine
pests with high and medium pest risk potential. To recommend specific
measures to mitigate those risks, we prepared a risk management
document (RMD). Copies of the PRA and RMD may be obtained from the
person listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT or viewed on the
Regulations.gov Web site (see ADDRESSES above for instructions for
accessing Regulations.gov).
Based on the recommendations of the RMD, we are proposing to allow
the importation of bananas from the Philippines into the continental
United States only if they are produced in accordance with a systems
approach. The systems approach we are proposing would require:
Registration, monitoring, and oversight of places of
production;
[[Page 22511]]
Trapping for the Bactrocera spp. fruit flies to establish
low-prevalence places of production;
Covering bananas with pesticide bags during the growing
season;
Harvesting only of hard green bananas;
Requirements for culling, safeguarding, and identifying
the fruit; and
Inspection by the NPPO of the Philippines for quarantine
pests.
Bananas from the Philippines would also be required to be
accompanied by a phytosanitary certificate with an additional
declaration stating that the bananas were grown, packed, and inspected
in accordance with the proposed requirements.
We are proposing to add the systems approach to the regulations in
a new Sec. 319.56-57 governing the importation of bananas from the
Philippines into the United States. The mitigation measures in the
proposed systems approach are discussed in greater detail below.
Proposed Systems Approach
General Requirements
Paragraph (a) of Sec. 319.56-57 would set out general requirements
for the NPPO of the Philippines and for growers and packers producing
bananas for export to the United States.
Paragraph (a)(1) would require the NPPO of the Philippines to
provide a workplan to APHIS that details activities that the NPPO of
the Philippines will, subject to APHIS' approval of the workplan, carry
out to meet the requirements of proposed Sec. 319.56-57. The
implementation of a systems approach typically requires a bilateral
workplan to be developed. A bilateral workplan is an agreement between
APHIS' Plant Protection and Quarantine program, officials of the NPPO
of a foreign government, and, when necessary, foreign commercial
entities that specifies in detail the phytosanitary measures that will
comply with our regulations governing the import or export of a
specific commodity. Bilateral workplans apply only to the signatory
parties and establish detailed procedures and guidance for the day-to-
day operations of specific export programs. Bilateral workplans also
establish how specific phytosanitary issues are dealt within the
exporting country and make clear who is responsible for dealing with
those issues.
Paragraph (a)(2) would require bananas to be grown at places of
production that are registered with the NPPO of the Philippines and
that meet the proposed requirements for places of production that are
discussed later in this document. We would also require that each
registered place of production renew its registration annually.
Paragraph (a)(3) would require bananas to be packed for export to
the United States in packinghouses that meet the packinghouse
requirements that are described later in this document.
Paragraph (a)(4) would require bananas from the Philippines to be
imported in commercial consignment only. Commercial consignments, as
defined in Sec. 319.56-2, are consignments that an inspector
identifies as having been imported for sale and distribution. Such
identification is based on a variety of indicators, including, but not
limited to: Quantity of produce, type of packaging, identification of
grower or packinghouse on the packaging, and documents consigning the
fruits or vegetables to a wholesaler or retailer. Produce grown
commercially is less likely to be infested with plant pests than
noncommercial consignments. Noncommercial consignments are more prone
to infestations because the commodity is often ripe to overripe and is
often grown with little or no pest control.
Monitoring and Oversight
The systems approach we are proposing includes monitoring and
oversight requirements in paragraph (b) of proposed Sec. 319.56-57 to
ensure that the required phytosanitary measures are properly
implemented throughout the process of growing and packing of bananas
for export to the United States.
Paragraph (b)(1) would require the NPPO of the Philippines to visit
and inspect registered places of production monthly, starting at least
3 months before harvest and continuing until the end of the shipping
season, to verify that the growers are complying with the requirements
and follow pest control guidelines, when necessary, to reduce
quarantine pest populations. If fruit fly trapping is conducted, the
NPPO of the Philippines would also have to verify that the growers are
complying with the fruit fly trapping requirements and would have to
certify that each place of production has effective fruit fly trapping
programs. Any personnel conducting trapping would have to be trained
and supervised by the NPPO of the Philippines. APHIS would monitor the
places of production by conducting random and scheduled inspections.
Under paragraph (b)(2), if the NPPO of the Philippines finds that a
place of production or a packinghouse is not complying with the
proposed regulations, no fruit from the place of production or
packinghouse would be eligible for export to the United States until
APHIS and the NPPO of the Philippines conduct an investigation and
appropriate remedial actions have been implemented.
Paragraph (b)(3) would require the NPPO of the Philippines to
retain all forms and documents related to export program activities in
groves and packinghouses for at least 1 year and, as requested, provide
them to APHIS for review. Such forms and documents would include (but
would not necessarily be limited to) fruit fly trapping and inspection
records.
Fruit Fly Trapping To Establish Places of Production With Low Pest
Prevalence
Paragraph (c) of proposed Sec. 319.56-57 would provide for the use
of trapping to demonstrate that registered places of production have a
low prevalence of the Bactrocera spp. fruit flies. Although the PRA has
determined that the three Bactrocera spp. are potential pests of
bananas from the Philippines, bananas are known to be poor hosts to
most species of fruit flies. However, B. musae is recorded as attacking
green bananas. Trapping to demonstrate an area of low pest prevalence
would therefore be an appropriate mitigation for fruit flies.
Beginning at least 3 months before harvest begins and continuing
through the end of the harvest, trapping would have to be conducted in
registered places of production with at least 1 trap per 0.2 square
kilometers to demonstrate that the places of production have a low
prevalence of the Bactrocera spp. fruit flies. APHIS-approved traps
baited with APHIS-approved plugs would have to be used and serviced at
least once every 2 weeks.
During the trapping, when traps are serviced, if the Bactrocera
spp. fruit flies are trapped at a registered place of production at
cumulative levels above 2 flies per trap per day, pesticide bait
treatments would have to be applied in the affected place of production
in order for the place of production to remain eligible to export
bananas to the United States. The NPPO of the Philippines would have to
keep records of fruit fly detections for each trap, update the records
each time the traps are checked, and make the records available to
APHIS inspectors upon request.
Although the Bactrocera spp. fruit flies have been identified as
pests of banana in the Philippines, we do not want to impose trapping
requirements if they are not justified by the presence of fruit fly
larvae in Philippine bananas; as noted earlier, bananas are poor hosts
of fruit flies in general, especially when harvested green. Under the
heading
[[Page 22512]]
``NPPO of the Philippines Inspection'' later in this document, we
describe requirements for cutting bananas to inspect for internal
feeders such as fruit fly larvae. We are proposing to provide that the
fruit fly trapping requirements described in proposed paragraph (c)
would no longer apply if, after 2 years from the effective date of a
final rule following this proposed rule, such inspections do not find
any larvae of the Bactrocera spp. fruit flies. In general, we consider
2 years' worth of data on how fruit flies affect a commodity to be
sufficient to make determinations on how to regulate for these pests.
The date on which trapping would no longer be required would be
included in the regulations. If no fruit fly larvae are found, we would
publish a notice in the Federal Register to confirm that fruit fly
trapping would no longer be required. If fruit fly larvae are found, we
would amend the regulations to address the demonstrated risk.
Bagging Requirements
Paragraph (d) would provide that plastic bags impregnated with
pesticides must cover the bananas during the growing period. If a
pesticide bag falls off or is torn, that fruit would no longer be
eligible for export to the United States. This growing requirement
would prevent quarantine pests from attacking bananas.
Harvesting Requirements
Paragraph (e) of Sec. 319.56-57 sets out requirements for
harvesting bananas. Under paragraph (e)(1), bananas would have to be
harvested at a hard green stage. Harvesting bananas at a hard green
stage (i.e., bananas with no yellow or green color break) is a standard
industry practice for banana production in Central and South America,
Hawaii, and most of the world because ripe bananas are more likely to
be infested by fruit flies. Inspectors at the port of entry would
determine that:
Bananas shipped by air are still green upon arrival in the
United States;
Bananas shipped by sea are either green upon arrival in
the United States or yellow but firm.
Under paragraph (e)(2), harvested bananas would have to be placed
in field cartons or containers that are marked with the official
registration number of the place of production. The fruit would have to
be safeguarded from exposure to fruit flies from harvest to export,
including being packaged so as to prevent access by fruit flies and
other injurious insect pests. These requirements would ensure that
APHIS and the NPPO of the Philippines could identify the place of
production where the bananas were produced if inspectors find
quarantine pests in the fruit either before export or at the port of
entry. Places of production with quarantine pests would be removed from
the program.
Post-Harvesting Processing
Paragraph (f) of proposed Sec. 319.56-57 would provide that all
damaged fruit would have to be culled at the packinghouse. Fruit with
broken or bruised skin is more susceptible to infestation by pests than
undamaged fruit. In addition, the fruit would have to be washed with a
high pressure water spray and with soap and water. This requirement
would remove mealy bugs and other quarantine pests from the fruit prior
to export.
Packinghouse Requirements
We are proposing several requirements for packinghouse activities,
which would be contained in paragraph (g) of proposed Sec. 319.56-57.
Paragraph (g)(1) would provide that the packinghouse would have to have
double doors at the entrance to the facility and at the interior
entrance to the area where the bananas are packed. This proposed
requirement is designed to exclude fruit flies from the packinghouse.
Paragraph (g)(2) would require that bananas for export be packed
into new, clean boxes, crates, or other packing material. We would also
require bananas intended for export to the United States to be labeled
with the name and location of the packinghouse marked on the boxes, and
segregated from bananas intended for other markets. These requirements
would ensure that APHIS and the NPPO of the Philippines could identify
the packinghouse at which the fruit was packed if inspectors find
quarantine pests in the fruit either before export or at the port of
entry.
Paragraph (g)(3) would require that shipping documents accompanying
consignments of bananas from the Philippines that are exported to the
United States include the official registration number of the place of
production at which the bananas were grown and must identify the
packinghouse in which the fruit was processed and packed. This
identification must be maintained until the fruit is released for entry
into the United States.
Paragraph (g)(4) would require that the packinghouse operations for
export of bananas be monitored by the NPPO of the Philippines. This
requirement would ensure that the packinghouses remain compliant with
the regulations.
NPPO of the Philippines Inspection
To ensure that the mitigations required in the systems approach are
effective at producing fruit free of the targeted quarantine pests, we
would require the NPPO of the Philippines to inspect the fruit after
harvest. Paragraph (h)(1) of proposed Sec. 319.56-57 would require
inspectors from the NPPO of the Philippines to certify that bananas
were harvested at the hard green stage.
Under paragraph (h)(2), the NPPO of the Philippines would be
required to inspect a biometric sample of the fruit from each place of
production at a rate to be determined by APHIS. The inspectors would
have to visually inspect fruit from each place of production for all
the quarantine pests. The inspectors would also have to cut fruit to
inspect for quarantine pests that are internal feeders, which include
larvae of the three Bactrocera fruit fly species (B. musae, B.
occipitalis, B. philippinensis) and the beetle Sybra alternans. We have
determined that inspection can serve as an effective mitigation for the
risk associated with these pests in bananas exported from the
Philippines.
If any Bactrocera spp. fruit flies are detected in this inspection,
the place of production where the infested bananas were grown would
immediately be suspended from the export program until an investigation
has been conducted by APHIS and the NPPO of the Philippines and
appropriate mitigations have been implemented. If other quarantine
pests are detected in this inspection, the consignment will be rejected
from the export program.
Phytosanitary Certificate
To certify that the bananas from the Philippines have been grown
and packed in accordance with the requirements of proposed Sec.
319.56-57, proposed paragraph (i) would require each consignment of
bananas imported from the Philippines into the United States to be
accompanied by a phytosanitary certificate issued by the NPPO of the
Philippines with an additional declaration stating that the bananas in
the consignment were grown, packed, and inspected in accordance with
the systems approach in proposed Sec. 319.56-57.
Executive Order 12866 and Regulatory Flexibility Act
This proposed 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
[[Page 22513]]
potential economic effects of this action on small entities. The
analysis is summarized below. Copies of the full analysis are available
by contacting the person listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT
or on the Regulations.gov Web site (see ADDRESSES above for
instructions for accessing Regulations.gov).
The United States is a minor producer but a major importer of
bananas. Banana imports from the Philippines would compete against
existing U.S. banana imports from other countries. The volume of
bananas expected to be imported from the Philippines is not more than
100 containers per year at most, or approximately 1,814 metric tons
annually. This quantity is equivalent to about 0.05 percent of U.S.
imports. Compared to the volume of current imports, the quantity of
bananas expected to be imported from the Philippines is negligible.
Moreover, bananas from the Philippines will be allowed only into the
continental United States, not into Hawaii. For these reasons, any
impact of the rule for U.S. banana producers in Hawaii would be small.
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 would allow bananas to be imported into the
United States from the Philippines. If this proposed rule is adopted,
State and local laws and regulations regarding bananas imported under
this rule would be preempted while the fruit is in foreign commerce.
Fresh fruits are generally imported for immediate distribution and sale
to the consuming public and would 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. If this
proposed rule is adopted, 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.
Paperwork Reduction Act
In accordance with section 3507(d) of the Paperwork Reduction Act
of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.), the information collection or
recordkeeping requirements included in this proposed rule have been
submitted for approval to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB).
Please send written comments to the Office of Information and
Regulatory Affairs, OMB, Attention: Desk Officer for APHIS, Washington,
DC 20503. Please state that your comments refer to Docket No. APHIS-
2011-0028. Please send a copy of your comments to: (1) Docket No.
APHIS-2011-0028, Regulatory Analysis and Development, PPD, APHIS,
Station 3A-03.8, 4700 River Road Unit 118, Riverdale, MD 20737-1238,
and (2) Clearance Officer, OCIO, USDA, room 404-W, 14th Street and
Independence Avenue SW., Washington, DC 20250. A comment to OMB is best
assured of having its full effect if OMB receives it within 30 days of
publication of this proposed rule.
Allowing the importation of fresh bananas from the Philippines into
the continental United States will require the completion of the
following information: A bilateral workplan, registration of production
sites, monitoring and oversight of production sites, maintenance of
records, forms, and documents, marking of production sites with
registration numbers, and a phytosanitary certificate.
We are soliciting comments from the public (as well as affected
agencies) concerning our proposed information collection and
recordkeeping requirements. These comments will help us:
(1) Evaluate whether the proposed information collection is
necessary for the proper performance of our agency s functions,
including whether the information will have practical utility;
(2) Evaluate the accuracy of our estimate of the burden of the
proposed information collection, including the validity of the
methodology and assumptions used;
(3) Enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to
be collected; and
(4) Minimize the burden of the information collection on those who
are to respond (such as through the use of appropriate automated,
electronic, mechanical, or other technological collection techniques or
other forms of information technology; e.g., permitting electronic
submission of responses).
Estimate of Burden: Public reporting burden for this collection of
information is estimated to average 0.76892 hours per response.
Respondents: Foreign government, importers and growers of bananas
from the Philippines.
Estimated Annual Number of Respondents: 46.
Estimated Annual Number of Responses per Respondent: 5,456.
Estimated Annual Number of Responses: 251.
Estimated total annual burden on respondents: 193 hours. (Due to
averaging, the total annual burden hours may not equal the product of
the annual number of responses multiplied by the reporting burden per
response.)
Copies of this information collection can be obtained from Mrs.
Celeste Sickles, APHIS' Information Collection Coordinator, at (301)
851-2908.
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 proposed 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 propose to amend 7 CFR part 319 as follows:
PART 319--FOREIGN QUARANTINE NOTICES
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.
2. A new Sec. 319.56-57 is added to read as follows:
Sec. 319.56-57 Bananas from the Philippines.
Bananas (Musa spp., which include M. acuminate cultivars and M.
acuminate x M. balbisiana hybrids) may be imported into the continental
United States from the Philippines only under the conditions described
in this section. These conditions are designed to prevent the
introduction of the following quarantine pests: Bactrocera musae
(Tryon), Bactrocera occipitalis (Bezzi), and Bactrocera philippinensis
(Drew and Hancock) fruit flies; Ceroplastes rubens (Maskell), the red
wax scale; Coccus viridis (Green), the green scale; Sybra alternans
(Wiedemann), a longhorned beetle; Dymicoccus neobrevipes (Beardsley),
the gray pineapple mealybug; Geococcus coffeae (Green), the coffee root
mealybug; Maconellicoccus hirsutus (Green), the hibiscus mealybug;
Planococcus lilacinus (Cockerell), the coffee mealybug; Planococcus
minor
[[Page 22514]]
(Maskell), the pacific mealybug; Pseudococcus cryptus (Hempel), the
cryptic mealybug; Rastrococcus invadens (Williams), the mango mealybug;
and Rastrococcus spinosus (Robinson), the Philippine mango mealybug.
(a) General requirements. (1) The national plant protection
organization (NPPO) of the Philippines must provide an operational
workplan to APHIS that details the activities that the NPPO of the
Philippines will, subject to APHIS' approval of the workplan, carry out
to meet the requirements of this section.
(2) Bananas must be grown at places of production that are
registered with the NPPO of the Philippines and that meet the
requirements of this section. Registration must be renewed annually.
(3) Bananas must be packed for export to the United States in
packinghouses that meet the requirements of this section.
(4) Bananas from the Philippines may be imported in commercial
consignments only.
(b) Monitoring and oversight. (1) The NPPO of the Philippines must
visit and inspect registered places of production monthly, starting at
least 3 months before harvest begins and continuing through the end of
the shipping season, to verify that the growers are complying with the
requirements of this section and follow pest control guidelines, when
necessary, to reduce quarantine pest populations. When trapping is
required under paragraph (c) of this section, the NPPO of the
Philippines must also verify that the growers are complying with the
requirements in that paragraph and must certify that each place of
production has an effective fruit fly trapping program. Any personnel
conducting trapping under paragraph (c) of this section must be trained
and supervised by the NPPO of the Philippines. APHIS may monitor the
places of production as necessary to ensure compliance.
(2) If the NPPO of the Philippines finds that a place of production
or packinghouse is not complying with the requirements of this section,
no fruit from the place of production or packinghouse will be eligible
for export to the United States until APHIS and the NPPO of the
Philippines conduct an investigation and appropriate remedial actions
have been implemented.
(3) The NPPO of the Philippines must retain all forms and documents
related to export program activities in places of production and
packinghouses for at least 1 year and, as requested, provide them to
APHIS for review.
(c) Fruit fly trapping to establish places of production with low
pest prevalence. Beginning at least 3 months before harvest begins and
continuing through the end of the harvest, trapping must be conducted
in registered places of production with at least 1 trap per 0.2 square
kilometers to demonstrate that the places of production have a low
prevalence of Bactrocera spp. fruit flies. APHIS-approved traps baited
with APHIS-approved plugs must be used and serviced at least once every
2 weeks. During the trapping, when traps are serviced, if fruit flies
are trapped at a particular place of production at cumulative levels
above 2 flies per trap per day, pesticide bait treatments must be
applied in the affected place of production in order for the place of
production to remain eligible to export bananas to the United States.
The NPPO of the Philippines must keep records of fruit fly detections
for each trap, update the records each time the traps are checked, and
make the records available to APHIS inspectors upon request. If no
Bactrocera spp. larvae have been found in the inspections required in
paragraph (h) of this section by [Insert date 2 years after the
effective date of final rule], the activities described in this
paragraph are no longer required.
(d) Bagging requirements. Plastic bags impregnated with pesticides
must cover the bananas. During the growing period, if a pesticide bag
falls off or is torn, the fruit in that bag may not be exported to the
United States.
(e) Harvesting requirements. (1) Bananas must be harvested at a
hard green stage and inspected at the port of entry to determine that:
(i) Bananas shipped by air are still green upon arrival in the
United States;
(ii) Bananas shipped by sea are either green upon arrival in the
United States or yellow but firm.
(2) Harvested bananas must be placed in field cartons or containers
that are marked to show the official registration number of the
production site. The identification of the place of production must be
maintained from the time when the fruit leaves the place of production
until the fruit is released for entry into the United States.
(f) Post-harvest processing. After harvest, all damaged or diseased
fruit must be culled at the packinghouse. Fruit must be washed with a
high pressure water spray, and washed with soap and water.
(g) Packinghouse requirements. (1) Packinghouses must prevent the
entry of pests with a double-door entry system designed to exclude
quarantine pests of concern.
(2) Bananas for export must be packed into new, clean boxes, crates
or other packing materials. Bananas intended for export to the United
States must be labeled with the name and location for the packinghouse,
and segregated from bananas intended for other markets.
(3) The shipping documents accompanying the consignment of bananas
from the Philippines that are exported to the United States must
include the official registration number of the place of production at
which the bananas were grown and must identify the packinghouse in
which the fruit was processed and packed. This identification must be
maintained until the fruit is release for entry into the United States.
(4) The packinghouse operations for export of bananas must be
monitored by the NPPO of the Philippines.
(h) NPPO of the Philippines inspection. (1) Following any post-
harvest processing, inspectors from the NPPO of the Philippines must
certify that bananas were harvested at the hard green stage.
(2) Inspectors from the NPPO of the Philippines must inspect a
biometric sample of the fruit from each place of production at a rate
to be determined by APHIS. The inspectors must visually inspect for
quarantine pests listed in the introductory text of this section and
must cut fruit to inspect for quarantine pests that are internal
feeders. If Bactrocera spp. fruit flies are found upon inspection, the
export program will be suspended until an investigation has been
conducted by APHIS and the NPPO of the Philippines and appropriate
mitigations have been implemented. If other quarantine pests are
detected in this inspection, the consignment will be destroyed and the
registered place of production will be rejected from the export
program.
(i) Phytosanitary certificate. Each consignment of fruit must be
accompanied by a phytosanitary certificate issued by the NPPO of the
Philippines that contains an additional declaration stating that the
bananas in the consignment were grown, packed, and inspected in
accordance with the systems approach in 7 CFR 319.56-55.
Done in Washington, DC, this 9th day of April 2012.
Kevin Shea,
Acting Administrator, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
[FR Doc. 2012-9063 Filed 4-13-12; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-34-P