Importation of Fresh Avocado Fruit From Continental Ecuador Into the Continental United States; Reopening of Comment Period
| Published date | 16 April 2021 |
| Citation | 86 FR 20037 |
| Record Number | 2021-07747 |
| Section | Proposed rules |
| Court | Animal And Plant Health Inspection Service |
This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER
contains notices to the public of the proposed
issuance of rules and regulations. The
purpose of these notices is to give interested
persons an opportunity to participate in the
rule making prior to the adoption of the final
rules.
Proposed Rules Federal Register
20037
Vol. 86, No. 72
Friday, April 16, 2021
1
To view the proposed rule, supporting
documents, and comments we received, please
follow the directions above for the Federal
eRulemaking Portal under
ADDRESSES
.
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Animal and Plant Health Inspection
Service
7 CFR Part 319
[Docket No. APHIS–2016–0099]
RIN 0579–AE45
Importation of Fresh Avocado Fruit
From Continental Ecuador Into the
Continental United States; Reopening
of Comment Period
AGENCY
: Animal and Plant Health
Inspection Service, USDA.
ACTION
: Proposed rule; reopening of
comment period.
SUMMARY
: We are reopening the
comment period for a proposed rule to
allow the importation of commercial
avocados from continental Ecuador into
the continental United States after
taking a new pest into consideration and
including additional phytosanitary
measures. We are also notifying the
public of the availability of a revised
pest risk assessment and revised risk
management document associated with
this notice. This action will allow
interested persons additional time to
prepare and submit comments.
DATES
: The comment period for the
proposed rule published on June 15,
2018 (83 FR 27918–27922) is reopened.
We will consider all comments that we
receive on or before May 17, 2021.
ADDRESSES
: You may submit comments
by either of the following methods:
•Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to
www.regulations.gov. Enter APHIS–
2016–0099 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–2016–0099, 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 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, Regulatory
Coordination and Compliance, PPQ,
APHIS, 4700 River Road Unit 133,
Riverdale, MD 20737–1231; (301) 851–
2352.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION
: On June
15, 2018, the Animal and Plant Health
Inspection Service (APHIS) published in
the Federal Register (83 FR 27918–
27922, Docket No. APHIS–2016–0099) a
proposed rule
1
to authorize the
importation of commercial fresh
avocado from continental Ecuador into
the continental United States.
The proposed rule was based on a
pest risk assessment (PRA) that found
four quarantine pests to be candidates
for pest risk management. The
quarantine pests were the fruit flies
Anastrepha fraterculus (Wiedemann),
Anastrepha serpentina (Wiedemann),
Anastrepha striata (Schiner), and
Ceratitis capitata (Wiedemann). All
avocado varieties except the Hass
variety are hosts for these quarantine
pests. Consequently, APHIS proposed to
allow the importation of avocados from
Ecuador into the United States under a
systems approach that included
phytosanitary measures to safeguard
against these pests for all varieties of
avocado except the Hass variety.
During the public comment period,
we received information from a
commenter that led us to add the
avocado seed pest Stenoma catenifer to
a revised PRA. The revised PRA
determined that Stenoma catenifer was
a candidate for pest risk management for
all varieties of avocado imported from
continental Ecuador. In light of this
change, we revised the risk management
document (RMD) to include pest risk
management measures for Stenoma
catenifer for all avocado varieties. We
are making the more recent version of
the PRA available for public review and
comment, as well as the revised version
of the RMD that reflects this change.
Based on the findings of the revised
PRA, we are proposing that commercial
fresh avocado fruit may be imported
into the continental United States from
continental Ecuador subject to the
conditions outlined in the June 2018
proposed rule, as well as additional
conditions designed to safeguard against
Stenoma catenifer. These additional
conditions are:
•Avocados must be grown in pest
free places of production for the
avocado seed pest Stenoma catenifer
that are established and maintained in
accordance with international
standards. APHIS must approve the
survey protocol used by the National
Plant Protection Organization (NPPO) of
Ecuador to determine and maintain pest
free status.
•If the avocados are grown in a
municipality free of Stenoma catenifer,
the municipality must be surveyed
every 6 months (twice a year) for the
pest. Representative areas of the
municipality where there are avocado
trees, including production sites and
urban areas, must be sampled.
•If the avocados are grown in a
municipality not completely free of
Stenoma catenifer, the NPPO of Ecuador
can certify individual places of
production as pest free. The surveys for
pest free places of production must
include representative areas from all
parts of each registered place of
production and a buffer zone of 1
kilometer. The places of production and
buffer zone must be surveyed monthly
for Stenoma catenifer from 2 months
before harvest until harvest is
completed.
•If one or more Stenoma catenifer
are detected during a survey or during
any other monitoring or inspection
activity, the place of production will be
prohibited from exporting avocados to
the continental United States until
APHIS and the NPPO of Ecuador jointly
agree that the risk has been mitigated.
•The NPPO of Ecuador must keep
records of Stenoma catenifer detections
for each place of production, and update
the records each time the places of
production are surveyed. The records
must be maintained for at least 1 year
and provided for APHIS’ review, if
requested.
These conditions are described in
further detail in the revised RMD. The
VerDate Sep<11>2014 16:09 Apr 15, 2021 Jkt 253001 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 4702 Sfmt 4702 E:\FR\FM\16APP1.SGM 16APP1
jbell on DSKJLSW7X2PROD with PROPOSALS
20038
Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 72 / Friday, April 16, 2021 / Proposed Rules
2
To view the final rule, please follow the
directions above for the Federal eRulemaking Portal
under
ADDRESSES
, and enter APHIS–2010–0082 in
the search field.
NPPO of Ecuador would also have to
enter into an operational work plan with
APHIS that details the daily procedures
the NPPO will take to meet these and all
conditions.
Comments on the proposed rule were
required to be received on or before
August 14, 2018. We are reopening the
comment period on Docket No. APHIS–
2016–0099 for an additional 30 days.
This action will allow interested
persons additional time to review the
revised PRA and RMD, and prepare and
submit comments.
Finally, we note that the proposed
rule was issued prior to the October 15,
2018, effective date of a final rule
2
that
revised the regulations in 7 CFR 319.56–
4 by broadening an existing
performance standard to provide for
approval of all new fruits and vegetables
for importation into the United States
using a notice-based process. That final
rule also specified that region- or
commodity-specific phytosanitary
requirements for fruits and vegetables
would no longer be found in the
regulations, but instead in APHIS’ Fruits
and Vegetables Import Requirements
database (FAVIR). With those changes to
the regulations, we will be unable to
issue the final regulations as
contemplated in our June 2018
proposed rule. Instead, following this
reopened comment period, if we finalize
this action, it will be through the
issuance of a notification.
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
April 2021.
Mark Davidson,
Acting Administrator, Animal and Plant
Health Inspection Service.
[FR Doc. 2021–07747 Filed 4–15–21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410–34–P
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Agricultural Marketing Service
7 CFR Part 985
[Doc. No. AMS–SC–20–0087; SC21–985–1
PR]
Marketing Order Regulating the
Handling of Spearmint Oil Produced in
the Far West; Salable Quantities and
Allotment Percentages for the 2021–
2022 Marketing Year
AGENCY
: Agricultural Marketing Service,
USDA.
ACTION
: Proposed rule.
SUMMARY
: This proposed rule invites
comments on a recommendation from
the Far West Spearmint Oil
Administrative Committee (Committee)
to establish salable quantities and
allotment percentages for Class 1
(Scotch) and Class 3 (Native) spearmint
oil produced in Washington, Idaho,
Oregon, and designated parts of Nevada
and Utah (the Far West) for the 2021–
2022 marketing year.
DATES
: Comments must be received by
June 15, 2021.
ADDRESSES
: Interested persons are
invited to submit written comments
concerning this proposed rule.
Comments must be sent to the Docket
Clerk, Marketing Order and Agreement
Division, Specialty Crops Program,
AMS, USDA, 1400 Independence
Avenue SW, STOP 0237, Washington,
DC 20250–0237; or internet: https://
www.regulations.gov. Comments should
reference the document number and the
date and page number of this issue of
the Federal Register and will be made
available for public inspection in the
Office of the Docket Clerk during regular
business hours or can be viewed at:
https://www.regulations.gov. All
comments submitted in response to this
proposal will be included in the record
and will be made available to the
public. Please be advised that the
identity of the individuals or entities
submitting the comments will be made
public on the internet at the address
provided above.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT
:
Joshua R. Wilde, Marketing Specialist,
or Gary Olson, Regional Director,
Northwest Marketing Field Office,
Marketing Order and Agreement
Division, Specialty Crops Program,
AMS, USDA; Telephone: (503) 326–
2724, or email: Joshua.R.Wilde@
usda.gov or GaryD.Olson@usda.gov.
Small businesses may request
information on complying with this
regulation by contacting Richard Lower,
Marketing Order and Agreement
Division, Specialty Crops Program,
AMS, USDA, 1400 Independence
Avenue SW, STOP 0237, Washington,
DC 20250–0237; Telephone: (202) 720–
2491, or email: Richard.Lower@
usda.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION
: This
action, pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 553,
proposes an amendment to regulations
issued to carry out a marketing order as
defined in 7 CFR 900.2(j). This proposed
rule is issued under Marketing Order
No. 985, as amended (7 CFR part 985),
regulating the handling of spearmint oil
produced in the Far West. Part 985
(referred to as the ‘‘Order’’) is effective
under the Agricultural Marketing
Agreement Act of 1937, as amended (7
U.S.C. 601–674), hereinafter referred to
as the ‘‘Act.’’ The Committee locally
administers the Order and is comprised
of spearmint oil producers operating
within the area of production, and a
public member.
The Department of Agriculture
(USDA) is issuing this proposed rule in
conformance with Executive Orders
13563 and 13175. This action falls
within a category of regulatory actions
that the Office of Management and
Budget (OMB) exempted from Executive
Order 12866 review.
This proposed rule has been reviewed
under Executive Order 12988, Civil
Justice Reform. This rule is not intended
to have retroactive effect. Under the
Order now in effect, salable quantities
and allotment percentages may be
established for classes of spearmint oil
produced in the Far West. This
proposed rule would establish
quantities and allotment percentages for
Scotch and Native spearmint oil for the
2021–2022 marketing year, which
begins on June 1, 2021.
The Act provides that administrative
proceedings must be exhausted before
parties may file suit in court. Under
section 608c(15)(A) of the Act, any
handler subject to a marketing order
may file with USDA a petition stating
that the marketing order, any provision
of the marketing order, or any obligation
imposed in connection with the
marketing order is not in accordance
with law and request a modification of
the marketing order or to be exempted
therefrom. Such a handler is afforded
the opportunity for a hearing on the
petition. After the hearing, USDA would
rule on the petition. The Act provides
that the district court of the United
States (U.S.) in any district in which the
handler is an inhabitant, or has his or
her principal place of business, has
jurisdiction to review USDA’s ruling on
the petition, provided an action is filed
VerDate Sep<11>2014 16:09 Apr 15, 2021 Jkt 253001 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 4702 Sfmt 4702 E:\FR\FM\16APP1.SGM 16APP1
jbell on DSKJLSW7X2PROD with PROPOSALS
