[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 186 (Tuesday, September 27, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 58478-58479]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-20810]



[[Page 58478]]

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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service

[Docket No. APHIS-2020-0063]


Notice of Decision To Revise Import Requirements for the 
Importation of Fresh Sand Pears From the Republic of Korea Into the 
United States

AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, USDA.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: We are notifying the public of our decision to revise 
requirements for the importation into the United States of sand pear 
(Pyrus pyrifolia var. culta) fruit from the Republic of Korea. Based on 
the findings of a pest risk analysis, which we made available to the 
public for review and comment through a previous notice, 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, non-precleared sand pear fruit from the Republic of Korea into 
all ports of the United States as an alternative to the preclearance 
program. All non-precleared sand pear fruit intended for importation 
into the United States from the Republic of Korea will be subject to 
the systems approach required for precleared fruit.

DATES: Imports may be authorized at all U.S. ports beginning September 
27, 2022.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Claudia Ferguson, Senior 
Regulatory Policy Specialist, Regulatory Coordination and Compliance, 
Imports, Regulations, and Manuals, PPQ, APHIS, 4700 River Road, Unit 
133, Riverdale, MD 20737-1231; (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) of the U.S. 
Department of Agriculture (USDA) 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 and spread 
within the United States.
    Section 319.56-4 of the regulations provides requirements for 
authorizing the importation of fruits and vegetables into the United 
States and revising existing requirements for the importation of fruits 
and vegetables. Paragraph (c) of that section provides that the name 
and origin of all fruits and vegetables authorized for importation into 
the United States, as well as the requirements for their importation, 
be listed on the internet in APHIS' Fruits and Vegetables Import 
Requirements database, or FAVIR \1\ (https://epermits.aphis.usda.gov/manual). It also provides that, if the Administrator of APHIS 
determines that any of the phytosanitary measures required for the 
importation of a particular fruit or vegetable are no longer necessary 
to reasonably mitigate the plant pest risk posed by the fruit or 
vegetable, APHIS will publish a notice in the Federal Register making 
its pest risk documentation and determination available for public 
comment.
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    \1\ On September 30, 2022, the FAVIR database will be replaced 
by the APHIS Agricultural Commodity Import Requirements (ACIR) 
database. The database can be accessed at https://acir.aphis.usda.gov/s/.
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    In accordance with that process, we published a notice \2\ in the 
Federal Register on March 15, 2021 (86 FR 14301-14302, Docket No. 
APHIS-2020-0063), in which we announced the availability, for review 
and comment, of a pest list and a commodity import evaluation document 
that evaluated the risks associated with allowing importation into all 
ports of the United States of non-precleared fresh sand pear fruit from 
the Republic of Korea.
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    \2\ To view the notice, supporting documents, and the comment we 
received, go to www.regulations.gov and enter APHIS-2020-0063 in the 
Search field.
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    We solicited comments on the notice for 60 days ending May 14, 
2021. We received one comment by that date, from a trade organization 
opposed to our proposal. The commenter stated that APHIS should not 
revise requirements for imports into all ports of the United States of 
fresh sand pear from the Republic of Korea because that country has not 
followed through on a pledge to open its markets to imports of U.S. 
pome fruit.
    We are making no changes in response to the commenter. Import 
prohibitions based on trade reciprocity are beyond the scope of APHIS' 
statutory authority under the Plant Protection Act (PPA, 7 U.S.C. 7701 
et seq.). Under the PPA, APHIS will prohibit the importation of a fruit 
or vegetable into the United States only if we determine that the 
prohibition is necessary to prevent the introduction or dissemination 
of a plant pest or noxious weed within the United States. APHIS and 
trade offices within USDA continue to pursue new or expanded export 
markets for U.S. agriculture, including the export of pome fruit to the 
Republic of Korea.
    Therefore, in accordance with the regulations in Sec.  319.56-
4(c)(3)(iii), we are announcing our decision to authorize the 
importation of fresh, non-precleared sand pear from the Republic of 
Korea into all ports of the United States subject to the following 
phytosanitary measures: \3\
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    \3\ Preclearance program exports of sand pear fruit from the 
Republic of Korea will still require a completed PPQ Form 203, which 
indicates the commodity has been inspected by APHIS at origin.
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     Sand pears must be imported as commercial consignments 
only.
     Sand pears must be grown in places of production and 
packed in packinghouses registered with the Republic of Korea national 
plant protection organization (NPPO).
     Places of production must be inspected for symptoms of 
quarantine pests and diseases. If such pests and diseases are found, 
adequate mitigations measures should be implemented.
     Sand pears must be bagged when the fruit is between 2.5 
and 3.5 centimeters in diameter. All fruit must be bagged by June 30. 
Bagging is required to prevent all arthropod pests from infesting the 
fruits.
     Each sand pear consignment must be labeled to allow trace 
back.
     Each sand pear consignment must be accompanied by a 
phytosanitary certificate issued by the Republic of Korea NPPO stating 
that the consignment has been inspected and found free of quarantine 
pests.
    These conditions will be listed in the Fruits and Vegetables Import 
Requirements database (available at https://epermits.aphis.usda.gov/manual). In addition to these specific measures, fresh sand pear from 
the Republic of Korea will be subject to the general requirements 
listed in Sec.  319.56-3 that are applicable to the importation of all 
fruits and vegetables.

Paperwork Reduction Act

    In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 
3501 et seq.), the recordkeeping and burden requirements associated 
with this action are included under the Office of Management and Budget 
control number 0579-0049.

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

[[Page 58479]]

information and services, and for other purposes. For information 
pertinent to E-Government Act compliance related to this notice, please 
contact Mr. Joseph Moxey, APHIS' Paperwork Reduction Act Coordinator, 
at (301) 851-2483.

Congressional Review Act

    Pursuant to the Congressional Review Act (5 U.S.C. 801 et seq.), 
the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs designated this action 
as not a major rule, as defined by 5 U.S.C. 804(2).
    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 21st day of September 2022.
Anthony Shea,
Administrator, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
[FR Doc. 2022-20810 Filed 9-26-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-34-P