Comment from Sarah Allen

While at first this proposed rule may appear to have little to no far reaching consequences, it is urged that more consideration be given. Not only do the six pests of quarantine significance found in Israel through the pest risk assessment pose serious threat to the health of Americans, the effect this importation could have on U.S. farmers needs to be investigated as well. While eggplant is by absolutely no means a popularly grown crop in the United States, it is the livelihood 50,000 families across the nation. How importing eggplant from Israel would affect these families must be considered. Also, if Israel is added to the list of foreign suppliers of eggplant to the United States, how does this affect the relationship with the states from which we already import the vegetable, namely China and India. All that said, however, the numbers speak rather clearly. With US export of eggplant resulting in only 4.47 percent of the amount imported into the states, it can be expected that US farmers will only be minimally affected should Israel be solicited (however, it should be noted that US eggplant exports have increased since 2004, while imports have declined significantly). If proper care and consideration is given to this seemingly insignificant regulation, I see no prevalent reason why Israel should not become a supplier of fresh eggplant to the United States.