[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 90 (Thursday, May 9, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 20322-20323]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-09512]


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 Notices
                                                 Federal Register
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 This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER contains documents other than rules 
 or proposed rules that are applicable to the public. Notices of hearings 
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 delegations of authority, filing of petitions and applications and agency 
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  Federal Register / Vol. 84, No. 90 / Thursday, May 9, 2019 / 
Notices  

[[Page 20322]]



DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service

[Docket No. APHIS-2018-0025]


Notice of Availability of a Pest Risk Analysis for the 
Importation of Fresh Pepper Fruit From Colombia 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 importation of fresh 
pepper fruit from Colombia into the continental United States. Based on 
the analysis, we have determined that the application of one or more 
designated phytosanitary measures will be sufficient to mitigate the 
risks of introducing or disseminating plant pests or noxious weeds via 
the importation of fresh pepper fruit from Colombia. 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 
8, 2019.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by either of the following methods:
     Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to http://www.regulations.gov/#!docketDetail;D=APHIS-2018-0025.
     Postal Mail/Commercial Delivery: Send your comment to 
Docket No. APHIS-2018-0025, 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-2018-
0025 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: Mr. Nicholas Van Gorden, Regulatory 
Policy Specialist, Regulatory Coordination and Compliance, PPQ, APHIS, 
4700 River Road, Unit 133, Riverdale, MD 20737-1231; (301) 851-2326.

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.
    Section 319.56-4 contains a performance-based process for approving 
the importation of fruits and vegetables that, based on the findings of 
a pest risk analysis, can be safely imported subject to one or more of 
the five designated phytosanitary measures listed in paragraph (b) of 
that section.
    APHIS received a request from the national plant protection 
organization (NPPO) of Colombia to allow fresh pepper (Capsicum spp., 
specifically the domesticated species Capsicum annuum L., C. baccatum 
L., C. chinense Jacq., C. frutescens L., and C. pubescens Ruiz & Pav.) 
fruit with stems into the continental United States. As part of our 
evaluation of Colombia's request, we have prepared a pest risk 
assessment (PRA) to identify pests of quarantine significance that 
could follow the pathway of importation of fresh pepper fruit into the 
continental United States from Colombia. Based on the PRA, a risk 
management document (RMD) was prepared to identify phytosanitary 
measures that could be applied to the fresh pepper fruit to mitigate 
the pest risk.
    We have concluded that fresh pepper fruit can be safely imported 
from Colombia into the continental United States using one or more of 
the five designated phytosanitary measures listed in Sec.  
[thinsp]319.56-4(b). The NPPO of Colombia would have to enter into an 
operational workplan with APHIS that spells out the daily procedures 
the NPPO will take to implement the measures identified in the RMD. 
These measures are summarized below and would also be listed in APHIS' 
Fruits and Vegetables Import Requirements database, available at 
https://epermits.aphis.usda.gov/manual:
     The peppers must be grown in approved places of production 
registered with the NPPO of Colombia.
     Pepper places of production must consist of pest-
exclusionary structures.
     The places of production must contain traps for the 
detection of Mediterranean fruit fly (Ceratitis capitata (Wiedemann)) 
and South American fruit fly (Anastrepha fraterculus (Wiedemann)) both 
within and around the structures.
     The places of production must be inspected prior to 
harvest for Neoleucinodes elegantalis (Guen[eacute]e), a fruit boring 
moth; Copitarsia decolora (Guen[eacute]e), a moth; and Puccinia 
pampeana Speg., a pathogenic fungus that causes pepper and green pepper 
rust.
     If any of these pests, or other quarantine pests, are 
found to be generally infesting or infecting the places of production, 
the NPPO of Colombia must immediately prohibit that production site 
from exporting peppers to the continental United States and notify 
APHIS of the action. The prohibition will remain in effect until the 
Colombian NPPO and APHIS agree that the risk has been mitigated.
     The Colombian NPPO must maintain records of trap 
placement, checking of traps, and any quarantine pest captures. The 
Colombian NPPO must maintain an APHIS-approved quality control program 
to monitor or audit the trapping program. The trapping records must be 
maintained for APHIS review.
     The peppers must be packed within 24 hours of harvest in a 
pest-exclusionary packinghouse.
     The peppers must be safeguarded by an insect-proof mesh 
screen or plastic tarpaulin while in transit to the packinghouse and 
while awaiting packing. The peppers must be packed in insect-proof 
cartons or containers, or covered with insect-proof mesh or plastic 
tarpaulin, for transit into the

[[Page 20323]]

continental United States. These safeguards must remain intact until 
arrival in the continental United States or the consignment will be 
denied entry into the continental United States.
     During the time the packinghouse is in use for exporting 
peppers to the continental United States, the packinghouse may only 
accept peppers from registered approved places of production.
     Each consignment of peppers must be accompanied by a 
phytosanitary certificate of inspection issued by the Colombian NPPO 
stating that the fruit in the consignment has been produced in 
accordance with 7 CFR 319.56-4. Consignments must be packed in cartons 
that are labeled with the identity of the place of production.
     Consignments of fresh pepper fruit from Colombia are 
subject to inspection at the port of entry in the continental United 
States.
     Consignments are not for importation or distribution into 
or within Hawaii, Puerto Rico, or any U.S. Territory.
    In addition to these specific measures, fresh pepper fruit from 
Colombia would be subject to the general requirements listed in Sec.  
319.56-3 that are applicable to the importation of all fruits and 
vegetables.
    Therefore, in accordance with Sec.  319.56-4(c), 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 pepper fruit 
from Colombia, 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 the PRA and RMD 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 pepper fruit from 
Colombia in a subsequent notice. If the overall conclusions of our 
analysis and the Administrator's determination of risk remain unchanged 
following our consideration of the comments, then we will authorize the 
importation of fresh pepper fruit from Colombia 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, this 3rd day of May 2019.
Kevin Shea,
Administrator, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
[FR Doc. 2019-09512 Filed 5-8-19; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3410-34-P