[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 227 (Monday, November 25, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 92887-92888]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-27563]
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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service
[Docket No. APHIS-2020-0032]
Deregulation of Light Brown Apple Moth for the Importation of
Fruit From New Zealand Into the United States
AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, USDA.
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: We are advising the public that we have prepared a commodity
import evaluation document (CIED) relative to deregulating light brown
apple moth (LBAM) requirements for fruit imported from New Zealand into
the United States. Currently, fruit imported from New Zealand into the
United States must be accompanied by a phytosanitary certificate with
an additional declaration stating that the fruit is free of LBAM. Based
on the findings of the CIED, we are proposing to remove the requirement
for the additional declaration. Accordingly, we propose to revise the
U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection
Service Agricultural Commodity Import Requirements database regarding
LBAM requirements for fruit imported from New Zealand into the United
States. These proposed changes would harmonize our domestic and import
requirements. We are making the CIED available to the public for review
and comment.
DATES: We will consider all comments that we receive on or before
January 24, 2025.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by either of the following methods:
Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to https://www.regulations.gov and enter APHIS-2020-0032 in the Search field.
Postal Mail/Commercial Delivery: Send your comment to
Docket No. APHIS-2020-0032, Regulatory Analysis and Development, PPD,
APHIS, Station 2C-10.16, 4700 River Road, Unit 25, Riverdale, MD 20737-
1238.
Supporting documents and any comments we receive on this docket may
be viewed at https://www.regulations.gov by entering APHIS-2020-0032 in
the Search field, 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. Julie Orr, Regulatory Policy
Specialist, IRM, PPQ, APHIS, USDA, 4700 River Road, Unit 133,
Riverdale, MD 20737-1236; (301) 851-4022; [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 online; they are listed on the U.S. Department
of Agriculture's APHIS Agricultural Commodity Import Requirements
(ACIR) database (https://acir.aphis.usda.gov/s/).\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\ On September 30, 2022, the APHIS Fruits and Vegetables
Import Requirements (FAVIR) database was replaced by the ACIR
database.
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The light brown apple moth (LBAM), Epiphyas postvittana
(Tortricidae), is a native pest of Australia and is now widely
distributed in New Zealand, the United Kingdom, Ireland, and New
Caledonia. LBAM is a pest of concern in the United States and elsewhere
because it can damage a wide range of fruits, vegetables, and other
valuable plants. It was reported in Hawaii in the late 1800s and
detected in Alameda County, California in 2007. In response to the 2007
detection, APHIS conducted delimiting surveys and issued a series of
Federal Orders to establish quarantines and host lists and to regulate
the movement of LBAM hosts from affected areas.
However, since 2007, APHIS has developed pest risk assessments
(PRAs) for a number of LBAM hosts and established that standard
commercial production practices are sufficient to remove any risk from
the spread of LBAM in commercially produced commodities. As a result,
APHIS has determined that due to both the absence of significant damage
in commercial agriculture and the availability of effective treatments,
Federal involvement to regulate LBAM as a pest of quarantine
significance for these
[[Page 92888]]
commodities appears to be no longer necessary.\2\
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\2\ The Federal Order removing domestic quarantines and other
restrictions imposed by previous orders may be viewed at https://www.aphis.usda.gov/plant_health/downloads/da-2021-29-lbam-deregulation.pdf.
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Currently, fruit from New Zealand imported into the United States
must be accompanied by a phytosanitary certificate with an additional
declaration that the fruit is free of LBAM. However, under
International Standards for Phytosanitary Measures 20,\3\ APHIS cannot
regulate an imported commodity for a specific pest more stringently
than it regulates the commodity domestically unless this discrepancy is
technically justified. However, based on the findings of PRAs cited in
the commodity import evaluation document (CIED), APHIS has concluded
that there is no technical basis for such a discrepancy, and
consignments of commercially produced fresh fruit from New Zealand may
safely be imported to the United States without significant risk of
introducing LBAM. We propose, then, to no longer require the additional
declaration of LBAM freedom for the following commodities imported from
New Zealand into the United States:
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\3\ The document may be viewed at https://www.fao.org/3/a-y5721e.pdf.
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New Zealand:
Apple--Malus domestica
Apricot--Prunus armeniaca
Avocado--Persea americana
Blackberry--Rubus sp.
Blueberry--Vaccinium angustifolium, Vaccinium ashei, Vaccinium
corymbosum, Vaccinium virgatum
Cherry--Prunus avium
Currant--Ribes spp.
Feijoa--Acca sellowiana
Grapes--Vitis vinifera
Kiwi--Actinidia spp. (A. deliciosa, A. arguta, A. chinensis, A.
kolomikta, A. melanandra, A. polygama, A. rubricaulis var. coriacea
Loquat--Eriobotrya japonica (Into Guam and CNMI)
Nectarine--Prunus persica nucipersica
Peach--Prunus persica var. persica
Pear--Pyrus communis
Plum--Prunus domestica ssp. domestica
Raspberry--Rubus sp.
Sand Pear--Pyrus pyrifolia var. culta
Strawberry--Fragaria x ananassa
Phytosanitary Certificate: If the consignment is not precleared,
the consignment must be accompanied by a phytosanitary certificate
issued by the National Plant Protection Organization (NPPO) of New
Zealand.
Citrus spp.
Persimmon Diospyros kaki
Phytosanitary Certificate: Citrus (or Persimmon) consignments must
be accompanied by a phytosanitary certificate issued by the NPPO of New
Zealand with an additional declaration stating the fruit is free of
Cnephasia jactatana, Coscinoptycha improbana, Ctenopseustis obliquana,
Pezothrips kellyanus, and Planotortrix excessana.
In accordance with Sec. 319.56-4(c)(3), we are announcing the
availability of our CIED for public review and comment. This document,
as well as a description of the economic considerations associated with
removing the LBAM declaration requirement for fruit imported from New
Zealand into the United States, 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 whether to remove the declaration requirement for
LBAM freedom for the importation of fruit from New Zealand 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 remove the requirement for
the importation of fruit from New Zealand as described in this notice.
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 19th day of November 2024.
Michael Watson,
Administrator, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
[FR Doc. 2024-27563 Filed 11-22-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-34-P