[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 15 (Tuesday, January 24, 1995)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 4529-4530]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-1741]
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Rules and Regulations
Federal Register
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Federal Register / Vol. 60, No. 15 / Tuesday, January 24, 1995 /
Rules and Regulations
[[Page 4529]]
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service
7 CFR Part 319
[Docket No. 93-147-2]
Importation of Strawberries, Currants, and Palms
AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, USDA.
ACTION: Final rule.
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SUMMARY: We are adopting as a final rule, with changes, portions of an
interim rule concerning the importation of strawberry, currant, and
palm plants. This final rule will allow the importation of both of the
Howea species of sentry palms into the United States from Australia
(including Lord Howe and Norfolk Islands) and from New Zealand, subject
to certain conditions. This action will allow the importation of the
Howea species of sentry palms without significant risk of introducing
exotic palm diseases into the United States.
We are still considering comments on the provisions of the interim
rule concerning the importation of strawberry and currant plants and as
yet have not decided whether to affirm or revise these provisions. We
will do so in a separate Federal Register document.
EFFECTIVE DATE: January 24, 1995.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Peter Grosser or Mr. Frank E.
Cooper, Senior Operations Officers, Port Operations, Plant Protection
and Quarantine, APHIS, USDA, P.O. Drawer 810, Riverdale, MD, 20738. The
telephone number for the agency contact will change when agency offices
in Hyattsville, MD, move to Riverdale, MD, during February. Telephone:
(301) 436-8295 (Hyattsville); (301) 734-8295 (Riverdale).
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
The Plant Quarantine Act (7 U.S.C. 151 et seq.) and the Federal
Plant Pest Act (7 U.S.C. 150aa et seq.) authorize the Animal and Plant
Health Inspection Service (APHIS) to prohibit or restrict the
importation into the United States of any plants, roots, bulbs, seeds,
or other plant products in order to prevent the introduction of plant
pests into the United States.
Regulations promulgated under this authority, among others, include
7 CFR 319.37 through 319.37-14, ``Subpart--Nursery Stock, Plants,
Roots, Bulbs, Seeds, and Other Plant Products'' (the regulations).
These regulations govern the importation of living plants, plant parts,
and seeds for or capable of propagation, and related articles. Other
sections of 7 CFR 319 deal with articles such as cut flowers, or fruits
and vegetables intended for consumption.
The regulations restrict or prohibit the importation of most
nursery stock, plants, roots, bulbs, seeds, and other plant products.
These articles are classified as either ``prohibited articles'' or
``restricted articles.''
A prohibited article is an article that the Deputy Administrator
for Plant Protection and Quarantine (PPQ), APHIS, has determined cannot
feasibly be inspected, treated, or handled to prevent it from
introducing plant pests new to or not widely prevalent or distributed
within and throughout the United States. Prohibited articles may not be
imported into the United States, unless imported by the United States
Department of Agriculture (USDA) for experimental or scientific
purposes under specified safeguards.
A restricted article is an article that the Deputy Administrator
for PPQ has determined can be inspected, treated, or handled to
essentially eliminate the risk of its spreading plant pests if imported
into the United States. Restricted articles may be imported into the
United States if they are imported in compliance with restrictions that
may include permit and phytosanitary certificate requirements,
inspection, treatment, or postentry quarantine.
In an interim rule effective and published in the Federal Register
on August 30, 1994 (59 FR 44608-44610, Docket No. 93-147-1), we amended
the regulations to prohibit the importation of strawberry plants from
all foreign countries except Canada and Israel, prohibit the
importation of currant plants from New Zealand, and prohibit the
importation of both species of the genus Howea (sentry palms), except
from Lord Howe Island, New South Wales, Australia.
Comments on the interim rule were required to be received on or
before October 31, 1994. By that date, we received 44 comments on the
interim rule. Twelve of the comments addressed the new restrictions on
the importation of strawberry and currant plants. We are still
considering these comments and as yet have not decided whether to
affirm or revise the interim rule provisions regarding the importation
of strawberry and currant plants. We will do so in a separate Federal
Register document.
Thirty-five of the comments concern the new restrictions on the
importation of sentry palms. These comments were submitted by members
of Congress, palm growers, importers and exporters, trade associations,
universities, State governments, and foreign governments. Thirteen of
the comments support the interim rule provisions regarding the
prohibition on the importation of both species of the genus Howea from
everywhere except Lord Howe Island. The other 22 comments object to the
prohibition. The objections and our responses are summarized below.
Prior to the publication of the interim rule, one species of sentry
palm, Howea forsteriana, could be imported into the United States as a
restricted article from anywhere in the world. The other species
though, Howea belmoreana, was classified as a prohibited article, owing
to its susceptibility to the cadang-cadang and lethal yellowing
pathogens.
A representative of a palm company on Lord Howe Island requested
that APHIS consider revising the regulations to allow the importation
of Howea belmoreana from Lord Howe Island into the United States as a
restricted article. Our review of the scientific literature did not
reveal any indication of the presence of the lethal yellowing pathogen,
the cadang-cadang pathogen, or any other damaging palm pests on Lord
Howe Island. Furthermore, New South Wales prohibits the importation of
all palms and palm products onto the Lord Howe Island from all sources.
We thus revised the regulations accordingly to allow the importation of
Howea [[Page 4530]] belmoreana from Lord Howe Island into the United
States as a restricted article.
Also, during our review of this request, we found no evidence that
the other species of sentry palm, Howea forsteriana, was immune to the
cadang-cadang or lethal yellowing pathogens. Because pathogens attack
most species within a genus, we decided to extend the import
prohibition to both species of Howea. However, we decided to allow
Howea forsteriana to be imported from Lord Howe Island as a restricted
article, due to the disease status of the island and the phytosanitary
restrictions in effect there.
All of the 22 comments objecting to the interim rule requested that
we reconsider the prohibition with respect to Howea species grown in
Australia, Norfolk Island (a self-governing territory of Australia),
and New Zealand. The comments point out that Australia, Norfolk Island,
and New Zealand are free of the cadang-cadang and lethal yellowing
pathogens. Also, they maintained that the plant protection agencies of
Australia, Norfolk Island, and New Zealand impose phytosanitary
restrictions in regard to palm imports comparable to those imposed on
Lord Howe Island by New South Wales.
We have confirmed this information and now believe that both
species of Howea can be imported from Australia (including Norfolk
Island) and New Zealand with a negligible degree of risk of introducing
exotic palm pests into the United States. Therefore, this final rule
will allow both species of Howea to be imported into the United States
from Australia (including Lord Howe and Norfolk Islands) and New
Zealand, as restricted articles. In the future, we will welcome for
review information regarding the relevant disease status and
phytosanitary programs of additional countries that wish to export
Howea species into the United States.
Miscellaneous
We are correcting the misspelling of Howea forsteriana in the
interim rule.
Effective Date
This is a substantive rule that relieves restrictions and, pursuant
to the provisions of 5 U.S.C. 553, may be made effective less than 30
days after publication in the Federal Register. Immediate
implementation of this rule is necessary to provide relief to those
persons who are adversely affected by restrictions we no longer find
warranted. Since August 30, 1994, growers in Australia (including
Norfolk Island) have had to divert to other destinations shipments of
Howea forsteriana palms originally destined for the United States; U.S.
entities counting on these shipments have had to find other sources for
Howea forsteriana palms. Making this rule effective upon publication
will grant immediate relief to these entities. Therefore, the
Administrator of the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service has
determined that this rule should be effective upon publication in the
Federal Register.
Executive Order 12866 and Regulatory Flexibility Act
This rule has been reviewed under Executive Order 12866. The rule
has been determined to be not significant for purposes of Executive
Order 12866 and, therefore, has not been reviewed by the Office of
Management and Budget.
In accordance with 5 U.S.C. 601 et seq., we have performed a Final
Regulatory Flexibility Analysis, set forth below, regarding the
economic impact of this rule on small entities.
In an August 30, 1994, interim rule, we prohibited the importation
of both species of Howea (sentry palm) from everywhere but Lord Howe
Island, New South Wales, Australia. As a result of comments received on
the rule and a subsequent reappraisal of phytosanitary risks, we have
decided to finalize this rule with revisions prohibiting the
importation of both species of Howea from everywhere except Australia
(including Lord Howe and Norfolk Islands) and New Zealand.
Although USDA does not collect information on trade in Howea,
domestic and foreign industry sources indicate the Howea forsteriana
seeds and seedlings have growing import markets in the United States,
particularly in Hawaii, California, and Florida. (Neither the interim
rule nor this final rule affect trade in seeds of Howea.) Some sources
estimate annual revenues generated by Howea forsteriana trade in the
United States to be as high as $15 million.
Growers in mainland Australia and on Lord Howe and Norfolk Islands
have been the major suppliers of Howea forsteriana seed and seedlings.
Since the publication of the interim rule prohibiting the importation
of Howea plants from everywhere but Lord Howe Island, growers in
mainland Australia and on Norfolk Island have had to divert shipments
of Howea forsteriana seedlings originally destined for the United
States. Also, U.S. entities trading with these growers have had to find
other sources for the seedlings.
This final rule will grant relief to these foreign growers and to
U.S. entities trading with them by again allowing the importation of
Howea forsteriana plants from all of Australia, including Norfolk
Island. Furthermore, this rule will provide market opportunities for
foreign growers and U.S. entities trading with them by allowing Howea
belmoreana plants to be imported into the United States from Australia
(including Norfolk Island) and New Zealand, subject to certain
conditions.
Executive Order 12778
This rule has been reviewed under Executive Order 12778, Civil
Justice Reform. This rule: (1) Preempts all State and local laws and
regulations that are inconsistent with this rule; (2) has no
retroactive effect; and (3) does not require administrative proceedings
before parties may file suit in court challenging this rule.
Paperwork Reduction Act
In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1980 (44 U.S.C.
3501 et seq.), the information collection or recordkeeping requirements
included in this rule have been approved by the Office of Management
and Budget (OMB), and there are no new requirements. The assigned OMB
control number is 0579-0049.
List of Subjects in 7 CFR Part 319
Bees, Coffee, Cotton, Fruits, Honey, Imports, Incorporation by
reference, Nursery Stock, Plant diseases and pests, Quarantine,
Reporting and recordkeeping requirements, Rice, Vegetables.
Accordingly, 7 CFR part 319 is amended as follows:
PART 319--FOREIGN QUARANTINE NOTICES
1. The authority citation for part 319 continues to read as
follows:
Authority: 7 U.S.C. 150dd, 150ee, 150ff, 151-167, 450; 21 U.S.C.
136 and 136a; 7 CFR 2.17, 2.51, and 371.2(c).
Sec. 319.37-5 Special foreign inspection and certification
requirements.
2. In Sec. 319.37-5, paragraph (n), the phrase ``Lord Howe Island,
New South Wales, Australia,'' is removed and the phrase ``Australia or
New Zealand'' is added in its place; and, the phrase ``(must be Lord
Howe Island)'' is removed.
Done in Washington, DC, this 18th day of January 1995.
Lonnie J. King,
Acting Administrator, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
[FR Doc. 95-1741 Filed 1-23-95; 8:45 am]
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