[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 84 (Wednesday, May 1, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 18474-18475]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-08767]
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Notices
Federal Register
________________________________________________________________________
This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER contains documents other than rules
or proposed rules that are applicable to the public. Notices of hearings
and investigations, committee meetings, agency decisions and rulings,
delegations of authority, filing of petitions and applications and agency
statements of organization and functions are examples of documents
appearing in this section.
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Federal Register / Vol. 84, No. 84 / Wednesday, May 1, 2019 /
Notices
[[Page 18474]]
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service
[Docket No. APHIS-2014-0005]
Notice of Availability of a Pest Risk Analysis for the
Importation of Fresh Citrus From China Into the Continental United
States
AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, USDA.
ACTION: Notice of availability.
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SUMMARY: We are advising the public that we have prepared a pest risk
analysis that evaluates the risks associated with the importation of
fresh citrus fruit (pomelo, Nanfeng honey mandarin, ponkan, sweet
orange, and Satsuma mandarin) from China into the continental United
States. Based on the analysis, we have determined that the application
of one or more phytosanitary measures will be sufficient to mitigate
the risks of introducing or disseminating plant pests or noxious weeds
via the importation of fresh citrus fruit from China. We are making the
pest risk analysis available to the public for review and comment.
DATES: We will consider all comments that we receive on or before July
1, 2019.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by either of the following methods:
Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to http://www.regulations.gov/#!docketDetail;D=APHIS-2014-0005.
Postal Mail/Commercial Delivery: Send your comment to
Docket No. APHIS-2014-0005, 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-2014-
0005 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. Claudia Ferguson, Senior
Regulatory Policy Specialist, Regulatory Coordination and Compliance,
PPQ, APHIS, 4700 River Road, Unit 133, Riverdale, MD 20737-1236; (301)
851-2352.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
Under the regulations in ``Subpart L--Fruits and Vegetables'' (7
CFR 319.56-1 through 319.56-12, referred to below as the regulations)
the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) 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 or disseminated within the United States.
In response to a request from the national plant protection
organization (NPPO) of China, on August 28, 2014, APHIS published a
proposed rule \1\ in the Federal Register (79 FR 51267-51273, Docket
No. APHIS-2014-0005) to amend the regulations to allow the importation
of five species of commercially produced citrus fruit from China into
the continental United States. These citrus fruits were: Citrus grandis
(L.) Osbeck cv. Guanximiyou, referred to in this document as pomelo;
Citrus kinokuni Hort. ex Tanaka, referred to in this document as
Nanfeng honey mandarin; Citrus poonensis Hort. ex Tanaka, referred to
in this document as ponkan; Citrus sinensis (L.) Osbeck, referred to in
this document as sweet orange; and Citrus unshiu Marcov., referred to
in this document as Satsuma mandarin. In evaluating China's request,
APHIS prepared a pest risk assessment (PRA) and a risk management
document (RMD), which we made available along with the proposed rule.
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\1\ To view the proposed rule, supporting documents, and the
comments we received, go to http://www.regulations.gov/#!docketDetail;D=APHIS-2014-0005.
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We solicited comments concerning our proposal for 60 days ending
October 27, 2014. We received a total of 29 comments by that date. They
were from citrus growers, marketing cooperatives, a State department of
agriculture, private citizens, and the National Plant Board.
Following the end of the comment period, the NPPO of China
expressed concerns regarding some elements of the rule, particularly
our proposed requirement that citrus fruit be bagged with double-
layered paper bags when the fruit are no more than 2 cm in diameter and
still on the tree. This requirement was based on APHIS' understanding
that such bagging was a standard industry practice in China for all
citrus intended for export. While this is true of pomelo fruit, the
NPPO stated that it was not true of the other four species of fruit
covered by the proposed rule and would not be operationally feasible
for producers of those species. We therefore elected not to finalize
the proposed rule.
In 2017, China again requested that we evaluate the risk associated
with the importation of pomelo, Nanfeng honey mandarin, ponkan, sweet
orange, and Satsuma mandarin from China into the continental United
States.
In response to China's request, we prepared a new PRA to identify
the pests of quarantine significance that could follow the pathway of
the importation of fresh pomelo, Nanfeng honey mandarin, ponkan, sweet
orange, and Satsuma mandarin from China into the continental United
States. We did this because an initial review of scientific literature
suggested additional pests of citrus had been discovered in China since
the time the 2014 PRA was prepared. This, in turn, led us to broaden
our literature review for the new PRA to incorporate additional sources
of information about plant pests in China. As a result, the new PRA has
a significantly longer pest list than the 2014 PRA, and identifies two
additional quarantine pests, both Lepidoptera, that could follow the
pathway on fresh pomelo, Nanfeng honey mandarin, ponkan, sweet orange,
and Satsuma mandarin from China imported into the continental United
States. Based on this new PRA, a new RMD was prepared to identify
phytosanitary measures that could be applied to the fresh pomelo,
Nanfeng honey mandarin, ponkan, sweet orange, and Satsuma mandarin to
mitigate the pest risk.
[[Page 18475]]
Section 319.56-4 contains a performance-based process for approving
the importation of certain fruits and vegetables that, based on the
findings of a pest risk analysis, can safely be imported into the
United States subject to one or more of the five designated
phytosanitary measures listed in paragraph (b) of that section. Based
on the new RMD that we have prepared, we have concluded that fresh
pomelo, Nanfeng honey mandarin, ponkan, sweet orange, and Satsuma
mandarin can safely be imported from China into the continental United
States using one or more of the five designated phytosanitary measures
listed in Sec. 319.56-4(b). The NPPO of China would have to enter into
an operational workplan with APHIS that sets forth the daily procedures
that the NPPO of China will take to implement the measures identified
in the RMD. These measures are summarized below:
Importation in commercial consignments only.
Registration of places of production and packinghouses
with the NPPO of China.
Certification by the NPPO of propagative material used at
places of production as being free of quarantine pests.
Periodic inspections of places of production throughout
the shipping season.
Grove sanitation.
Pest-free places of production for Bactrocera minax and B.
tsuneonis.
Pest-free places of production for B. correcta, B.
cucurbitae, B. dorsalis, B. orientalis, B. pedestris, and B. tau; or
determination that places of production are located in areas of low
pest prevalence for these species of fruit fly based on trapping, and
in-transit cold treatment as an additional phytosanitary safeguard.
Maintaining the identity and origin of the lot of fruit
throughout the export process to the United States.
Safeguarding of harvested fruit.
Post-harvest visual inspection of fruit by the NPPO or
officials authorized by the NPPO according to a biometric sample.
Cutting a portion of the fruit in the sample to inspect
for quarantine pests.
Washing, brushing, and treatment with a surface
disinfectant.
Issuance of a phytosanitary certificate with an additional
declaration.
Port of entry inspections.
Importation under a permit issued by APHIS.
Possible remedial measures in the event of detection of
quarantine pests at registered places of production or packinghouses,
or in/on consignments of citrus fruit from China at ports of entry into
the United States.
We are also proposing to exempt pomelos that are grown in areas
that are free of B. minax and B. tsuneonis and that are of low pest
prevalence (identified by the NPPO as having low levels for the
specified pests and subject to effective surveillance, control, or
eradication measures) for B. correcta, B. cucurbitae, B. dorsalis, B.
orientalis, B. pedestris, and B. tau from cold treatment for fruit
flies, if the pomelos are bagged with double-layered paper bags no more
than 2 months before harvest.
Each of the pest mitigation measures that would be required, along
with evidence of their efficacy in removing pests of concern from the
pathway, are described in detail in the RMD.
Therefore, in accordance with Sec. 319.56-4(c)(3)(ii), we are
announcing the availability of our PRA and RMD for public review and
comment. Those documents, as well as a description of the economic
considerations associated with the importation of fresh citrus fruit
from China, may be viewed on the Regulations.gov website or in our
reading room (see ADDRESSES above for a link to Regulations.gov and
information on the location and hours of the reading room). You may
request paper copies of these documents by calling or writing to the
person listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT. Please refer to
the subject of the analysis you wish to review when requesting copies.
After reviewing any comments we receive, we will announce our
decision regarding the import status of fresh citrus fruit from China
in a subsequent notice. If the overall conclusions of our analysis and
determination of risk remain unchanged following our consideration of
the comments, then we will authorize the importation of fresh citrus
fruit from China into the continental United States subject to the
requirements specified in the RMD.
Authority: 7 U.S.C. 1633, 7701-7772, and 7781-7786; 21 U.S.C.
136 and 136a; 7 CFR 2.22, 2.80, and 371.3.
Done in Washington, DC, on April 25, 2019.
Kevin Shea,
Administrator, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
[FR Doc. 2019-08767 Filed 4-30-19; 8:45 am]
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