[Federal Register Volume 59, Number 92 (Friday, May 13, 1994)]
[Unknown Section]
[Page 0]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 94-11678]
[[Page Unknown]]
[Federal Register: May 13, 1994]
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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service
7 CFR Parts 300 and 319
[Docket No. 93-121-2]
Importation of Fruits and Vegetables
AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, USDA.
ACTION: Proposed rule.
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SUMMARY: We are proposing to allow, under certain conditions, the cold
treatment of imported fruits upon arrival at the port of Wilmington,
NC. We have determined that in the Wilmington, NC, area, there are
climatic and biological barriers that are adequate to prevent the
introduction of certain plant pests into the United States in the event
they escape from shipments of fruit before undergoing cold treatment.
We are also proposing to delete cold treatments in the regulations and
replace them with a reference to cold treatments in the Plant
Protection and Quarantine Treatment Manual, which is incorporated by
reference.
DATES: Consideration will be given only to comments received on or
before June 13, 1994.
ADDRESSES: Please send an original and three copies of your comments to
Chief, Regulatory Analysis and Development, PPD, APHIS, USDA, room 804,
Federal Building, 6505 Belcrest Road, Hyattsville, MD 20782. Please
state that your comments refer to Docket No. 93-121-2. Comments
received may be inspected at USDA, room 1141, South Building, 14th
Street and Independence Avenue SW., Washington, DC, between 8 a.m. and
4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, except holidays. Persons wishing to
inspect comments are requested to call ahead on (202) 690-2817 to
facilitate entry into the comment reading room.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Victor Harabin, Head, Permit Unit,
Port Operations, Plant Protection and Quarantine, APHIS, USDA, room
631, Federal Building, 6505 Belcrest Road, Hyattsville, MD 20782; (301)
436-8645.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
The Fruits and Vegetables regulations, contained in 7 CFR 319.56
through 319.56-8 (referred to below as ``the regulations''), prohibit
or restrict the importation of fruits and vegetables to prevent the
introduction and dissemination of injurious insects, including fruit
flies, that are new to or not widely distributed in the United States.
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) of the U.S.
Department of Agriculture administers these regulations.
Under the regulations, APHIS allows certain fruits to be imported
into the United States if they undergo sustained refrigeration (cold
treatment) sufficient to kill certain insect pests. Cold treatment
temperature and refrigeration period requirements vary according to the
type of fruit and the pests involved.
Most imported fruit that requires cold treatment undergoes cold
treatment in transit to the United States. However, APHIS allows
imported fruit to undergo cold treatment after arrival in the United
States at certain ports designated by APHIS.
Currently, cold treatment is limited to ports in the northern
United States because APHIS has determined that insect pests escaping
from shipments of imported fruit after arrival in the United States
would be unable to survive winter weather conditions in the north. The
following ports are currently authorized by APHIS to conduct cold
treatment on imported fruit: Atlantic ports north of, and including,
Baltimore, MD; ports on the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Seaway;
Canadian border ports on the North Dakota border and east of North
Dakota; and, for air shipments, Washington DC, at Baltimore-Washington
International and Dulles International airports.
Recently, we received petitions from individuals at the ports of
Wilmington, NC, and Gulfport, MS, requesting that we amend the
regulations to allow cold treatment to be conducted at these ports. On
November 12, 1993, in response to these petitions, we published in the
Federal Register (58 FR 59953, Docket No. 93-121-1) an advance notice
of proposed rulemaking requesting public comment on whether we should
allow cold treatment at ports in the Southern United States and in
California.
We solicited comments concerning this notice for a 45-day period
ending on December 27, 1993. During that period, we received four
comments, three from State governments and one from a grower
organization. Two comments opposed allowing cold treatment at ports in
the Southern United States and California, arguing that allowing such
treatments would place California and Florida citrus crops at too great
a risk of fruit fly infestation. Another comment requested that we
perform a detailed pest-risk analysis before deciding whether to allow
cold treatment at southern and California ports. Another comment
supported allowing cold treatment at the port of Wilmington, NC.
While we are still considering whether to allow cold treatment at
other ports in the Southern United States and California, we are now
proposing to allow cold treatment of certain fruit, under certain
conditions, at the port of Wilmington, NC. We have determined that in
the Wilmington, NC, area, there are climatic and biological barriers
adequate to prevent introduction of certain plant pests into the United
States in the event they escape from shipments of fruit before
undergoing cold treatment. Also, we are proposing to impose additional
special conditions regarding cold treatment at Wilmington, NC, that
would further reduce the risk of fruit fly introduction.
In addition to meeting the requirements in Sec. 319.56-2d of the
regulations regarding cold treatment, the port of Wilmington, NC, cold
treatment facilities would be required to operate under the following
additional special conditions:
1. Bulk shipments (those shipments which are stowed and unloaded by
the case or bin) of fruit arriving for cold treatment must be packaged
in fly-proof packaging that prevents the escape of adult, larval, or
pupal fruit flies.
2. Bulk and containerized shipments of fruit arriving at the port
of Wilmington, NC, for cold treatment must be cold-treated within the
port, that is, the area over which the Bureau of Customs is assigned
the authority to accept entries of merchandise, to collect duties, and
to enforce the various provisions of the customs and navigation laws in
force.
3. Advance reservations for cold treatment space at the port of
Wilmington, NC, must be made prior to the departure of a shipment from
its port of origin.
We believe these requirements would reduce the risk of fruit fly
introduction into the United States in the event infested shipments of
fruit entered the port of Wilmington, NC.
Draft Risk Assessment Regarding Cold Treatment
This proposal to allow cold treatment of fruit under certain
conditions at the port of Wilmington, NC, is based, in part, on a draft
document, prepared by APHIS, assessing the pest risks associated with
allowing cold treatment of tropical fruit fly host materials at certain
United States ports. Some of the risk mitigation measures discussed in
the draft are included in this proposal as requirements for the port of
Wilmington, NC. Copies of this draft document may be obtained from Mr.
Victor Harabin at the address listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION
CONTACT.
Plant Protection and Quarantine (PPQ) Treatment Manual
We would revise the PPQ Treatment Manual, which has been
incorporated by reference into the Code of Federal Regulations at 7 CFR
300.1, to reflect the addition of Wilmington, NC, to the list of ports
where cold treatment of imported fruits can be conducted, under certain
conditions, upon arrival.
Miscellaneous
We are also proposing to replace the four cold treatment schedules
currently listed in Sec. 319.56-2d(a) with a single reference to the
Plant Protection and Quarantine (PPQ) Treatment Manual, which is
incorporated by reference at 7 CFR 300.1. The cold treatments listed in
the PPQ treatment manual are applicable for any fruit required to be
cold treated under Sec. 319.56-2d of the regulations.
Also as a nonsubstantive editorial change, we are proposing to
remove and reserve the regulations under Sec. 319.56-2q, regarding
conditions governing the entry into the United States of pummelo from
Israel, and to add pummelo from Israel to the list, under Sec. 319.56-
2x, of fruits and vegetables requiring treatment as a condition of
entry into the United States. This change would simplify the
regulations by placing pummelo from Israel on a list of commodities
with similar entry requirements, but would not revise current
requirements concerning the entry into the United States of pummelo
from Israel.
We are also proposing to make other nonsubstantive changes to the
regulations for the sake of clarity.
Executive Order 12866 and Regulatory Flexibility Act
This proposed 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.
We are proposing to allow, under certain conditions, cold treatment
of imported fruit upon arrival at the port of Wilmington, NC. As a
result of this proposal, a number of different fruits could be imported
into Wilmington, NC. Specifically, officials of the North Carolina
State Ports Authority in Wilmington, NC, anticipate that apples,
grapes, and pears from Argentina, Brazil, and South Africa would be
imported and cold treated at the port of Wilmington, NC.
Approximately 20 million pounds of each fruit could be imported
annually into Wilmington, NC, as a result of this rule, though we
anticipate the amount would be much smaller. While some of the fruit
arriving at Wilmington, NC, would be imported in addition to the
present volume of annual imports into the United States, some merely
would be shipments diverted from other ports also approved to conduct
cold treatment on arrival. In the following analysis of the potential
impact of this action on domestic producers of apples, grapes and
pears, in order to demonstrate the greatest possible economic impact,
we have assumed that the maximum amount of fruit would be imported into
Wilmington, NC, for cold treatment, and further, that those commodities
would be imported in addition to the present volume of annual imports
into the United States.
Also in the following analysis, we have used published price
flexibilities to estimate the potential economic effects of allowing
apples, grapes, and pears to be cold treated at Wilmington, NC;
flexibilities are used to estimate relationships between changes in
supply and subsequent changes in price.
Apples
In 1987, 36,718 farms in the United States, of which 1,186 were in
North Carolina, harvested apples. Although it is not known how many of
these farms could be classified as small entities (annual gross
receipts of $0.5 million or less, according to Small Business
Administration (SBA) size standards), it is likely that most would. In
1992, domestic farms produced almost 5.78 billion pounds of apples for
the fresh market, with an estimated value of $1.13 billion.
If the volume of apples imported into Wilmington, NC, for cold
treatment were to reach 20 million pounds, it would constitute about
7.5 percent of current total imports into the United States, about 0.35
percent of current domestic production and about 0.33 percent of the
current total apple supply in the United States (domestic and imports).
Assuming that a 0.33 percent increase in the supply of apples would
lead to a decrease of about 0.20 percent in the domestic price of
apples (using a price flexibility for apples of -0.590, based on all
Eastern States' sales of North Carolina apples), we estimate that this
increase in supply would result in a price decrease of about $0.038 per
hundredweight (cwt), or $0.00038 per pound, from an original price of
$0.195 per pound. As a result of the price decrease, there could be a
decrease in total revenue to U.S. apple producers of about $2.20
million, which is roughly 0.20 percent of the original total revenue of
$1.13 billion. We anticipate, therefore, that allowing apples to be
cold treated at Wilmington, NC, would not have a significant economic
impact on domestic producers.
Grapes
In 1987, 23,236 farms in the United States, of which 286 were in
North Carolina, harvested apples. In 1992 domestic farms produced about
1.54 billion pounds of grapes for the fresh market, with an estimated
value of $327 million. Although it is not known how many of these farms
could be classified as small entities (annual gross receipts of $0.5
million or less, according to SBA size standards), it is likely that
most would.
If the volume of grapes to be imported were to reach 20 million
pounds, it would constitute about 2.9 percent of current total imports
to the United States, about 1.3 percent of current domestic production
and about 0.89 percent of the current total grape supply in the United
States (domestic and imports).
Assuming that a 0.89 percent increase in the supply of grapes would
lead to a decrease of about 0.88 percent in the domestic price of
grapes (using a price flexibility for California grapes of -0.981), we
estimate that this increase in supply would result in a price decrease
of about $3.73 per ton, or $0.0019 per pound, from an original price of
$425.62 per ton. As a result of the price decrease, there could be a
decrease in total revenue to U.S. grape producers of about $2.9
million, which is roughly 0.88 percent of the original total revenue of
$327 million. We anticipate, therefore, that allowing grapes to be cold
treated at Wilmington, NC, would not have a significant economic impact
on domestic producers.
Pears
In 1987, 10,092 farms in the United States, 88 of which were in
North Carolina, harvested apples. In 1992, domestic farms produced
about 890 million pounds of pears for the fresh market, with an
estimated value of $168 million. Although it is not known how many of
these farms could be classified as small entities (annual gross
receipts of $0.5 million or less, according to SBA size standards), it
is likely that most would.
If the volume of pears to be imported were to reach 20 million
pounds, it would constitute about 15.4 percent of current total imports
to the United States, about 2.2 percent of current domestic production
and about 2.0 percent of the current total pear supply in the United
States (domestic and imports).
Assuming that a 2.0 percent increase in the supply of pears would
lead to a decrease of about 1.2 percent in the domestic price of grapes
(using a price flexibility for California pears of -0.609), we estimate
that this increase in supply would result in a price decrease of about
$4.51 per ton, or $0.0023 per pound, from an original price of $377.61
per ton. As a result of the price decrease, there could be a decrease
in total revenue to U.S. pear producers of about $2.0 million, which is
roughly 1.19 percent of the original total revenue of $168 million. We
anticipate, therefore, that allowing pears to be cold treated at
Wilmington, NC, would not have a significant economic impact on
domestic producers.
Therefore, in light of the preceding analyses (which estimate
greatest possible, and thus highly unlikely, economic effects), as well
as our expectation that most imports of fruit to Wilmington, NC, for
cold treatment would occur during the off-season for domestic
production, we anticipate that this proposal would not have a
significant economic impact on domestic producers of apples, grapes,
and pears.
Furthermore, we anticipate that allowing cold treatment at the port
of Wilmington, NC, could have beneficial economic effects. Importers
who routinely transport fruit to the Southeastern United States could
benefit from this action due to lower transportation costs. Freight
companies and shipping companies in North Carolina, as well as the
local economy, might also benefit. Also, consumers are likely to gain
from the increased selection of products and any price decreases,
albeit small, that occur with increases in supply.
Under these circumstances, the Administrator of the Animal and
Plant Health Inspection Service has determined that this action would
not have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small
entities.
Executive Order 12778
This proposed rule would allow cold treatment of certain fruits to
be conducted at the port of Wilmington, NC. If this proposed rule is
adopted, State and local laws and regulations regarding the importation
of fruits under this rule would be preempted while the fruits are in
foreign commerce. Fresh fruits are generally imported for immediate
distribution and sale to the consuming public, and would remain in
foreign commerce until sold to the ultimate consumer. The question of
when foreign commerce ceases in other cases must be addressed on a
case-by-case basis. If this proposed rule is adopted, no retroactive
effect will be given to this rule, and this rule will not require
administrative proceedings before parties may file suit in court
challenging this rule.
Paperwork Reduction Act
This proposed rule contains no information collection or
recordkeeping requirements under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1980
(44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.).
List of Subjects
7 CFR Part 300
Incorporation by reference, Plant diseases and pests, Quarantine.
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, title 7, chapter III, of the Code of Federal
Regulations would be amended as follows:
PART 300--INCORPORATION BY REFERENCE
1. The authority citation for part 300 would be revised to read as
follows:
Authority: 7 U.S.C. 150ee, 161, 162; 7 CFR 2.17, 2.51, and
371.2(c). 2. In Sec. 300.1, paragraph (a) would be revised to read
as follows:
Sec. 300.1 Materials incorporated by reference.
(a) The Plant Protection and Quarantine Treatment Manual, which was
revised and reprinted November 30, 1992, and includes all revisions
through ________, has been approved for incorporation by reference in 7
CFR chapter III by the Director of the Office of the Federal Register
in accordance with 5 U.S.C. 552(a) and 1 CFR part 51.
* * * * *
PART 319--FOREIGN QUARANTINE NOTICES
3. The authority citation for part 319 would continue 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).
4. In Sec. 319.56-2d, paragraph (a) would be revised to read as
follows:
Sec. 319.56-2d Administrative instructions for cold treatments of
certain imported fruits.
(a) Treatments authorized. Fresh fruits imported in accordance with
this subpart and required under this subpart to receive cold treatment
as a condition of entry must be cold treated in accordance with the
Plant Protection and Quarantine (PPQ) Treatment Manual, which is
incorporated by reference at Sec. 300.1 of this chapter. The cold
treatments listed in the PPQ Treatment Manual are authorized for any
fruit required to be cold treated under this subpart.
* * * * *
Sec. 319.56-2d [Amended]
5. In Sec. 319.56-2d, paragraph (b)(1), the second sentence would
be amended by removing the phrase ``port of New York or such other
northern ports as he may hereafter designate.'' and adding the phrase
``following ports: the port of Wilmington, NC; Atlantic ports north of,
and including, Baltimore, MD; ports on the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence
Seaway; Canadian border ports on the North Dakota border and east of
North Dakota; and, for air shipments, Washington DC, at Baltimore-
Washington International and Dulles International airports.'' in its
place.
6. In Sec. 319.56-2d, headings would be added at the beginning of
paragraphs (b)(5)(i) through (b)(5)(iii), and a new paragraph
(b)(5)(iv) would be added to read as follows:
Sec. 319.56-2d Administrative instructions for cold treatments of
certain imported fruits.
* * * * *
(b) * * *
(5) Cold treatment after arrival. (i) Delivery. * * *
(ii) Precooling and refrigeration. * * *
(iii) Customs. * * *
(iv) Special requirements for the port of Wilmington, NC. Shipments
of fruit arriving at the port of Wilmington, NC, for cold treatment, in
addition to meeting all of the requirements in paragraphs (b)(5)(i)
through (b)(5)(iii) of this section, must meet the following special
conditions:
(A) Bulk shipments (those shipments which are stowed and unloaded
by the case or bin) of fruit must arrive packaged in fly-proof
packaging that prevents the escape of adult, larval, or pupal fruit
flies.
(B) Bulk and containerized shipments of fruits and vegetables must
be cold-treated within the port of Wilmington, NC, that is, the area
over which the Bureau of Customs is assigned the authority to accept
entries of merchandise, to collect duties, and to enforce the various
provisions of the customs and navigation laws in force.
(C) Advance reservations for cold treatment space at the port of
Wilmington, NC, must be made prior to the departure of a shipment from
its port of origin.
* * * * *
Sec. 319.56-2u [Removed and Reserved]
7. Section 319.56-2u is removed and reserved.
Sec. 319.56-2v [Amended]
8. In Sec. 319.56-2v, paragraph (b), the third sentence would be
amended by removing the phrase ``North Atlantic ports north of and
including Baltimore, MD,'' and adding the phrase ``ports listed in
Sec. 319.56-2d(b)(1) of this subpart,'' in its place.
9. Section 319.56-2x would be amended as follows:
a. In paragraph (a), the table would be amended for the Israel
entry by adding a new commodity to read as set forth below.
b. In paragraph (b), the first sentence would be amended by adding
the phrase ``or the port of Wilmington, NC,'' immediately before the
word ``if''.
Sec. 319.56-2x Administrative instructions: conditions governing the
entry of certain fruits and vegetables for which treatment is required.
(a) * * *
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Country/locality Common name Botanical name Plant part(s)
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*****
Israel
*****
Pummelo.......... Citrus grandis.. Fruit
*****
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Done in Washington, DC, this 9th day of May 1994.
Lonnie J. King,
Acting Administrator, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
[FR Doc. 94-11678 Filed 05-12-94; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-34-P
