[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 199 (Monday, October 17, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 62783-62784]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-22518]


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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service

[Docket No. APHIS-2021-0078]


Notice of Proposed Revision to Requirements for the Importation 
of Grapes From Chile Into the 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 
assessment (PRA) and a commodity import evaluation document (CIED) 
relative to the importation into the United States of fresh table 
grapes from regions of Chile where European grapevine moth (Lobesia 
botrana, EGVM) is either absent or at very low prevalence. Chile grapes 
are currently subject to methyl bromide fumigation for EGVM and Chilean 
false red mite (Brevipalpus chilensis). Based on the PRA and the 
findings of the CIED, we are also proposing to authorize the 
importation of grapes from Chile under a systems approach or 
irradiation for EGVM and B. chilensis; current mitigation measures for 
Ceratitis capitata, or Medfly, would remain unchanged. We are making 
the PRA and CIED available to the public for review and comment.

DATES: We will consider all comments that we receive on or before 
December 16, 2022.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by either of the following methods:
     Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to www.regulations.gov. 
Enter APHIS-2021-0078 in the Search field. Select the Documents tab, 
then select the Comment button in the list of documents.
     Postal Mail/Commercial Delivery: Send your comment to 
Docket No. APHIS-2021-0078, 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 www.regulations.gov or in our reading room, which is 
located in room 1620 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, RCC, IRM, PPQ, APHIS, 4700 River Road, 
Unit 133, Riverdale, MD 20737-1236; (301) 851-2353; 
[email protected].

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 of the regulations provides the requirements for 
authorizing the importation of fruits and vegetables into the United 
States, as well as 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 importation 
into the United States, as well as the requirements for their 
importation, are listed on the internet at https://epermits.aphis.usda.gov/manual; this address provides access to the 
Agricultural Commodity Import Requirements database, or ACIR.\1\ 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\ This address had previously provided access to the Fruit and 
Vegetable Import Requirements database, or FAVIR. However, on 
September 30, 2022, the FAVIR database was replaced by the ACIR 
database.
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    Chile table grapes (Vitis vinifera L.) are currently listed in ACIR 
as authorized for importation into the United States subject to methyl 
bromide fumigation. This requirement was first adopted in 1960 as a 
risk mitigation measure against the Chilean false red mite (Brevipalpus 
chilensis), subsequently revised to apply only if quarantine pests were 
intercepted, and, following frequent pest interceptions, reinstated in 
1996 for all shipments. Chile table grapes from areas of Chile under 
quarantine for Medfly (Ceratitis capitata) are subject to additional 
pest mitigation measures, which we are not proposing to change.\2\
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    \2\ We would, however, clarify that irradiation is an approved 
phytosanitary treatment for Medfly. This is specified in our PPQ 
Treatment Manual, but not currently reflected in ACIR.
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    On August 27, 2008, we published in the Federal Register (73 FR 
50577-50582, Docket No. APHIS-2007-0152) a proposed rule \3\ to allow 
the importation of fresh table grapes from Chile into the continental 
United States under a systems approach. Following an outbreak of 
European grapevine moth (Lobesia botrana, EGVM) in Chile that same 
year, and subsequent public comments on the proposed rule regarding the 
outbreak, APHIS elected not to finalize the proposed rule, as the 
proposed systems approach did not include EGVM-specific measures. Since 
that time, we have continued to require that table grapes imported from 
Chile receive methyl bromide fumigation, which also mitigates the risk 
of EGVM.
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    \3\ To view the proposed rule, go to https://www.regulations.gov/document/APHIS-2007-0152-0001.
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    The national plant protection organization (NPPO) of Chile has 
requested that APHIS revise the import requirements for grapes from 
Chile to the United States to allow the export of table grapes from 
areas of Chile where EGVM is either absent or at very low prevalence 
(the Arica and Parinacota, Tarapac[aacute], Antofagasta, Atacama, 
Coquimbo, and Valpara[iacute]so regions of Chile) under a systems 
approach or irradiation.

[[Page 62784]]

    In response to this request, APHIS prepared a new pest risk 
assessment (PRA) that evaluates the risks associated with importation 
of commercially produced fresh grapes (Vitis vinifera L.) for 
consumption from Chile into the entire United States. Based on the PRA, 
a commodity import evaluation document (CIED) was prepared to identify 
phytosanitary measures that could be applied to grapes from Chile to 
mitigate pest risk. The CIED recommends that commercially produced 
shipments of fresh table grapes originating from the Arica and 
Parinacota, Tarapac[aacute], Antofagasta, Atacama, Coquimbo, and 
Valpara[iacute]so regions of Chile could be imported into the United 
States under a systems approach or irradiation without the risk of 
introducing quarantine pests.
    Therefore, in accordance with Sec.  319.56-4(c), we are announcing 
the availability of our PRA and CIED for public review and comment. 
Those documents, as well as a description of the economic 
considerations associated with revising the conditions for the 
importation of table grapes from Chile, 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 CIED 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 whether to revise the requirements for the 
importation of table grapes from Chile 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 revise the requirements for the importation 
of table grapes from Chile as specified in the CIED.
    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 12th day of October 2022.
Anthony Shea,
Administrator, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
[FR Doc. 2022-22518 Filed 10-14-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-34-P