[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 154 (Tuesday, August 11, 2015)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 48002-48003]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-19698]


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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service

7 CFR Part 319

[Docket No. APHIS-2013-0059]
RIN 0579-AD85


Importation of Fresh Unshu Oranges From Japan Into the United 
States; Technical Amendment

AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, USDA.

ACTION: Final rule; technical amendment.

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SUMMARY: In a final rule published in the Federal Register on October 
27, 2014, and effective on November 26, 2014, we amended the 
regulations concerning the importation of citrus fruit to remove 
certain restrictions on the importation of Unshu oranges from Japan. 
Among other amendments, we removed a requirement for joint inspection 
of the fruit at groves and packinghouses by the Government of Japan and 
the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service. As an unintended 
consequence of removing that requirement, we effectively precluded the 
Government of Japan from being able to meet another one of the 
requirements of the regulations, which requires oranges produced on two 
islands in Japan to be fumigated with methyl bromide prior to 
exportation to the United States, if the oranges are destined for 
certain commercial citrus-producing areas of the United States. This 
document corrects that error.

DATES: Effective August 11, 2015.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. David Lamb, Senior Regulatory 
Policy Specialist, Regulatory Coordination and Compliance, PPQ, APHIS, 
4700 River Road, Unit 133, Riverdale, MD 20737-1236; (301) 851-2103.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In a final rule \1\ that was published in 
the Federal

[[Page 48003]]

Register on October 27, 2014 (79 FR 63807-63809, Docket No. APHIS-2013-
0059), and effective on November 26, 2014, we amended the regulations 
concerning the importation of citrus fruit (referred to below as the 
regulations) to remove certain restrictions on the importation of Unshu 
oranges from Japan. Among other changes, we removed a requirement from 
the regulations that required the oranges to be grown in export areas 
in Japan that are free of citrus canker (Xanthomonas citri subsp. 
citri, referred to as Xcc), with buffer zones that are similarly free 
of Xcc, based on joint inspection by the Government of Japan and the 
Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS). We also removed a 
requirement from the regulations that required the national plant 
protection organization (NPPO) of Japan and APHIS to jointly inspect 
fruit in the groves prior to and during harvest, as well as in the 
packinghouses during packinghouse operations. We removed these 
requirements in order to make our regulations concerning the 
importation of Unshu oranges from Japan consistent with our domestic 
regulations concerning the interstate movement of citrus fruit from 
areas quarantined for citrus canker, which do not require APHIS 
oversight of grove or packinghouse inspections.
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    \1\ To view the rule, supporting analyses, and comments we 
received, go to http://www.regulations.gov/#!docketDetail;D=APHIS-
2013-0059.
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    As a result of the rule, APHIS believed that its presence in Japan 
to help oversee the export program for Unshu oranges to the United 
States was no longer necessary. Accordingly, we recalled inspectors 
assigned to that program to the United States.
    However, our final rule retained provisions in the regulations that 
required Unshu oranges imported from Shikoku and Honshu Islands in 
Japan to be fumigated with methyl bromide in accordance with 7 CFR part 
305 after harvest and prior to export to the United States, if the 
oranges are to be imported into Arizona, California, Florida, Hawaii, 
Louisiana, or Texas, all of which have significant commercial citrus 
production. We also retained provisions of the regulations that 
prohibited Unshu oranges from Shikoku or Honshu Island that have not 
been fumigated with methyl bromide in accordance with 7 CFR part 305 
from being imported into Arizona, California, Florida, Hawaii, 
Louisiana, or Texas.
    Within part 305, Sec.  305.4 requires any treatment performed 
outside of the United States to be monitored and certified by inspector 
or an official authorized by APHIS, and further provides that all 
treatments are subject to monitoring and verification by APHIS.
    As a matter of APHIS policy, we currently require chemical 
treatments performed outside the United States to be monitored and 
certified by APHIS inspectors and do not authorize other officials to 
perform such functions in our absence. Accordingly, when we recalled 
APHIS inspectors assigned to the export program for Unshu oranges to 
the United States from Japan, we effectively precluded Shikoku and 
Honshu Islands from administering the methyl bromide treatment required 
by the regulations for citrus destined to Arizona, California, Florida, 
Hawaii, Louisiana, or Texas. We thus inadvertently prohibited the two 
islands from shipping Unshu oranges to those States.
    This was not our intent. Therefore, we are amending the regulations 
to allow Unshu oranges from Shikoku or Honshu Islands to be fumigated 
with methyl bromide at the port of entry into Arizona, California, 
Florida, Hawaii, Louisiana, or Texas. We are also amending the 
regulations to allow such oranges to be shipped to Arizona, California, 
Florida, Hawaii, Louisiana, or Texas without prior methyl bromide 
fumigation, provided that they are fumigated at the port of entry in 
Arizona, California, Florida, Hawaii, Louisiana, or Texas.

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. Section 319.28 is amended by revising paragraphs (b)(6) and 
(b)(8)(ii) to read as follows:


Sec.  319.28  Notice of quarantine.

* * * * *
    (b) * * *
    (6) To be eligible for importation into Arizona, California, 
Florida, Hawaii, Louisiana, or Texas, each shipment of oranges grown on 
Honshu Island or Shikoku Island, Japan, must be fumigated with methyl 
bromide in accordance with part 305 of this chapter either after 
harvest and prior to exportation to the United States, or upon arrival 
at the port of entry in Arizona, California, Florida, Hawaii, 
Louisiana, or Texas. Fumigation will not be required for shipments of 
oranges grown on Honshu Island or Shikoku Island, Japan, that are to be 
imported into States other than Arizona, California, Florida, Hawaii, 
Louisiana, or Texas.
* * * * *
    (8) * * *
    (ii)(A) Unshu oranges from Honshu Island or Shikoku Island, Japan, 
may not be imported into American Samoa, Northern Mariana Islands, 
Puerto Rico, or the U.S. Virgin Islands.
    (B) Unshu oranges from Kyushu Island, Japan (Prefectures of 
Fukuoka, Kumanmoto, Nagasaki, and Saga only) that have not been 
fumigated in accordance with part 305 of this chapter may not be 
imported into American Samoa, Arizona, California, Florida, Hawaii, 
Louisiana, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, Texas, or the 
U.S. Virgin Islands.
* * * * *

    Done in Washington, DC, this 5th day of August 2015.
Kevin Shea,
Administrator, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
[FR Doc. 2015-19698 Filed 8-10-15; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3410-34-P