[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 223 (Tuesday, November 19, 2013)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 69285-69286]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-27689]



 ========================================================================
 Rules and Regulations
                                                 Federal Register
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
 This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER contains regulatory documents 
 having general applicability and legal effect, most of which are keyed 
 to and codified in the Code of Federal Regulations, which is published 
 under 50 titles pursuant to 44 U.S.C. 1510.
 
 The Code of Federal Regulations is sold by the Superintendent of Documents. 
 Prices of new books are listed in the first FEDERAL REGISTER issue of each 
 week.
 
 ========================================================================
 

  Federal Register / Vol. 78, No. 223 / Tuesday, November 19, 2013 / 
Rules and Regulations  

[[Page 69285]]



DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service

7 CFR Part 319

[Docket No. APHIS-2012-0042]
RIN 0579-AD69


Importation of Fresh Beans, Shelled or in Pods, From Jordan Into 
the Continental United States

AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, USDA.

ACTION: Final rule.

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

SUMMARY: We are amending the fruits and vegetables regulations to allow 
the importation of commercial shipments of fresh beans, shelled or in 
pods (French, green, snap, and string), from Jordan into the 
continental United States. As a condition of entry, the beans must be 
produced in accordance with a systems approach that includes 
requirements for packing, washing, and processing. The beans must also 
be accompanied by a phytosanitary certificate attesting that all 
phytosanitary requirements have been met and that the consignment was 
inspected and found free of quarantine pests. This action allows for 
the importation of fresh beans, shelled or in pods, from Jordan into 
the continental United States while continuing to provide protection 
against the introduction of plant pests.

DATES: Effective Date: December 19, 2013.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Marc Phillips, Senior Regulatory 
Coordination Specialist, Regulatory Coordination and Compliance, PPQ, 
APHIS, 4700 River Road, Unit 156, Riverdale, MD 20737-1231; (301) 851-
2114.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    The regulations in ``Subpart-Fruits and Vegetables'' (7 CFR 319.56-
1 through 319.56-61, 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.
    On May 2, 2013, we published in the Federal Register (78 FR 25623-
25626, Docket No. APHIS-2012-0042) a proposal \1\ to amend the 
regulations to allow the importation of commercial shipments of fresh 
beans, shelled or in pods (French, green, snap, and string), from 
Jordan into the continental United States. As a condition of entry, the 
beans were required to be produced in accordance with a systems 
approach that includes requirements for packing, washing, and 
processing. The beans were also required to be accompanied by a 
phytosanitary certificate attesting that all phytosanitary requirements 
had been met and that the consignment was inspected and found free of 
quarantine pests. This proposed action was intended to allow for the 
importation of fresh beans, shelled or in pods, from Jordan into the 
continental United States while continuing to provide protection 
against the introduction of plant pests.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \1\ To view the proposed rule and the pest risk analysis we 
prepared for that action, go to http://www.regulations.gov/#!docketDetail;D=APHIS-2012-0042.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    We solicited comments concerning our proposal for 60 days ending 
July 1, 2013. We did not receive any comments. Therefore, for the 
reasons given in the proposed rule, we are adopting the proposed rule 
as a final rule, without change.

    Note: In our May 2013 proposed rule, we proposed to add the 
conditions governing the importation of beans from Jordan as Sec.  
319.56-59. In this final rule, those conditions are added as Sec.  
319.56-62.

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.
    The Small Business Administration's small-entity standard for U.S. 
farms that produce fresh beans is annual receipts of not more than 
$750,000. In 2007, the average market value of sales by the 15,654 U.S. 
farms that produced snap beans for the fresh market was about $25,400, 
well below the small-entity standard.
    Jordan expects to export 200 metric tons of fresh beans to the 
continental United States annually. This quantity is equivalent to less 
than one-tenth of 1 percent of U.S fresh snap bean production. While 
most entities that may be affected by the final rule are small, the 
impact of the rule will be minor.
    Under these circumstances, the Administrator of the Animal and 
Plant Health Inspection Service has determined that this action will 
not have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small 
entities.

Executive Order 12988

    This final rule allows fresh beans, shelled or in pods, to be 
imported into the United States from Jordan. State and local laws and 
regulations regarding fresh beans imported under this rule will be 
preempted while the fruit is in foreign commerce. Fresh beans 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. 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 final rule, which were 
filed under 0579-0405, have been submitted for approval to the

[[Page 69286]]

Office of Management and Budget (OMB). When OMB notifies us of its 
decision, if approval is denied, we will publish a document in the 
Federal Register providing notice of what action we plan to take.

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.  319.56-62 is added to read as follows:


Sec.  319.56-62  Fresh beans, shelled or in pods, from Jordan.

    Fresh beans (Phaseolus vulgaris L.), shelled or in pods (French, 
green, snap, and string), may be imported into the continental United 
States from Jordan only under the conditions described in this section. 
These conditions are designed to prevent the introduction of the 
following quarantine pests: Chrysodeixis chalcites, Helicoverpa 
arm[iacute]gera, Lampides boeticus Liriomyza huidobrensis, 
Maconellicoccus hirsutus, Phoma exigua var. diversispora, and 
Spodoptera littoralis.
    (a) Packinghouse requirements. The beans must be packed in packing 
facilities that are approved and registered with Jordan's national 
plant protection organization (NPPO). Each shipping box must be marked 
with the identity of the packing facility.
    (b) Post-harvest processing. The beans must be washed in potable 
water. Each bean pod must be either cut into chevrons or pieces that do 
not exceed 2 centimeters in length, or shredded or split the length of 
the bean pod. Split or shredded bean pod pieces may not exceed 8 
centimeters in length and 8.5 millimeters in diameter.
    (c) Commercial consignments. The beans must be imported as 
commercial consignments only.
    (d) Phytosanitary certificate. Each consignment of fresh beans must 
be accompanied by a phytosanitary certificate issued by Jordan's NPPO 
attesting that the conditions of this section have been met and that 
the consignment has been inspected and found free of the pests listed 
in this section.

(Approved by the Office of Management and Budget under control 
number 0579-0405)

    Done in Washington, DC, this 13th day of November 2013.
Michael C. Gregoire,
Acting Administrator, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
[FR Doc. 2013-27689 Filed 11-18-13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-34-P