Notice of Proposed Revision To Import Requirements for the Importation of Fresh Sand Pears From the Republic of Korea Into the United States
| Published date | 15 March 2021 |
| Citation | 86 FR 14301 |
| Record Number | 2021-05273 |
| Section | Notices |
| Court | Agriculture Department,Animal And Plant Health Inspection Service |
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contains documents other than rules or
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section.
Notices Federal Register
14301
Vol. 86, No. 48
Monday, March 15, 2021
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Animal and Plant Health Inspection
Service
[Docket No. APHIS–2020–0011]
Addition of the Democratic Republic of
Timor-Leste to the List of Regions
Affected With African Swine Fever
AGENCY
: Animal and Plant Health
Inspection Service, USDA.
ACTION
: Notice.
SUMMARY
: We are advising the public
that we have added the Democratic
Republic of Timor-Leste to the list of
regions that the Animal and Plant
Health Inspection Service considers to
be affected with African swine fever
(ASF). We have taken this action
because of confirmation of ASF in the
Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste.
DATES
: The Democratic Republic of
Timor-Leste was added to the APHIS
list of regions considered affected with
ASF on September 30, 2019.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT
: Dr.
John Grabau, Regionalization Evaluation
Services, Veterinary Services, APHIS,
920 Main Campus Drive, Suite 200,
Raleigh, NC 27606; (919) 855–7738;
email: AskRegionalization@usda.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION
: The
regulations in 9 CFR part 94 (referred to
below as the regulations) govern the
importation of specified animals and
animal products to prevent the
introduction into the United States of
various animal diseases, including
African swine fever (ASF). ASF is a
highly contagious disease of wild and
domestic swine that can spread rapidly
in swine populations with extremely
high rates of morbidity and mortality. A
list of regions where ASF exists or is
reasonably believed to exist is
maintained on the Animal and Plant
Health Inspection Service (APHIS)
website at https://www.aphis.usda.gov/
aphis/ourfocus/animalhealth/animal-
and-animal-product-import-
information/animal-health-status-of-
regions/. This list is referenced in
§ 94.8(a)(2) of the regulations.
Section 94.8(a)(3) of the regulations
states that APHIS will add a region to
the list referenced in § 94.8(a)(2) upon
determining ASF exists in the region,
based on reports APHIS receives of
outbreaks of the disease from veterinary
officials of the exporting country, from
the World Organization for Animal
Health (OIE), or from other sources the
Administrator determines to be reliable,
or upon determining that there is reason
to believe the disease exists in the
region. Section 94.8(a)(1) of the
regulations specifies the criteria on
which the Administrator bases the
reason to believe ASF exists in a region.
Section 94.8(b) prohibits the
importation of pork and pork products
from regions listed in accordance with
§ 94.8, except if processed and treated in
accordance with the provisions
specified in that section or consigned to
an APHIS-approved establishment for
further processing. Section 96.2 restricts
the importation of swine casings that
originated in or were processed in a
region where ASF exists, as listed under
§ 94.8(a).
On September 27, 2019, the veterinary
authorities of the Democratic Republic
of Timor-Leste reported to the OIE the
occurrence of ASF in that country.
Therefore, in response to this outbreak,
on September 30, 2019, APHIS added
the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste
to the list of regions where ASF exists
or is reasonably believed to exist. This
notice serves as an official record and
public notification of that action.
As a result, pork and pork products
from the Democratic Republic of Timor-
Leste, including casings, are subject to
APHIS import restrictions designed to
mitigate the risk of ASF introduction
into the United States.
Congressional Review Act
Pursuant to the Congressional Review
Act (5 U.S.C. 801 et seq.), the Office of
Information and Regulatory Affairs
designated this action as not a major
rule, as defined by 5 U.S.C. 804(2).
Authority: 7 U.S.C. 1633, 7701–7772,
7781–7786, and 8301–8317; 21 U.S.C. 136
and 136a; 31 U.S.C. 9701; 7 CFR 2.22, 2.80,
and 371.4.
Done in Washington, DC, this 9th day of
March 2021.
Mark Davidson,
Acting Administrator, Animal and Plant
Health Inspection Service.
[FR Doc. 2021–05275 Filed 3–12–21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410–34–P
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Animal and Plant Health Inspection
Service
[Docket No. APHIS–2020–0063]
Notice of Proposed Revision To Import
Requirements for the Importation of
Fresh Sand Pears From the Republic
of Korea Into the United States
AGENCY
: Animal and Plant Health
Inspection Service, USDA.
ACTION
: Notice.
SUMMARY
: We are advising the public
that we have prepared a pest risk
analysis relative to the importation into
the United States of sand pear (Pyrus
pyrifolia var. culta) fruit from the
Republic of Korea. Currently, sand pear
fruit may be imported into the United
States from the Republic of Korea under
an Animal and Plant Health Inspection
Service preclearance program or as non-
precleared fruit into the port of
Honolulu, HI. Based on the findings of
our analysis, we are proposing to
authorize imports of non-precleared
sand pear fruit from the Republic of
Korea into all U.S. ports as an
alternative to the preclearance program.
All sand pear fruit intended for
importation into the United States from
the Republic of Korea would be subject
to a systems approach currently
required for precleared fruit. We are
making the pest risk analysis available
to the public for review and comment.
DATES
: We will consider all comments
that we receive on or before May 14,
2021.
ADDRESSES
: You may submit comments
by either of the following methods:
•Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to
www.regulations.gov. Enter APHIS–
2020–0063 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–2020–0063, Regulatory Analysis
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14302
Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 48 / Monday, March 15, 2021 / Notices
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, Imports,
Regulations, and Manuals, PPQ, APHIS,
4700 River Road, Unit 133, Riverdale,
MD 20737–1231; (301) 851–2352.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION
: 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 new 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 in the
APHIS Fruits and Vegetables Import
Requirements database (FAVIR) (https://
epermits.aphis.usda.gov/manual/). It
also provides that, if the Administrator
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 analysis and determination
available for public comment.
Pyrus pyrifolia var. culta (sand pear)
fruit from the Republic of Korea is
currently listed in FAVIR as a fruit
authorized for importation into the
continental United States under an
APHIS-managed preclearance program;
non-precleared fruit is authorized for
importation only into the port of
Honolulu, HI. In addition, all sand pear
fruit produced in the Republic of Korea
for export to the United States must be
grown, processed, and shipped under a
systems approach detailed in an
operational workplan.
The Republic of Korea requested that
APHIS conduct a risk evaluation to
allow exports of non-precleared sand
pear fruit into all U.S. ports, in addition
to the exports already allowed under the
APHIS preclearance program. In
response, we reviewed the current pest
list for sand pear fruit from the Republic
of Korea and added a new quarantine
pest of concern, Resseliella yagoi, to the
existing list.
Using the updated pest list, we
drafted a commodity import evaluation
document (CIED) to identify
phytosanitary measures that could be
applied to the importation of sand pear
fruit from the Republic of Korea to
mitigate the risk posed by quarantine
pests of concern. We included in the
CIED our finding that the current
systems approach to mitigate pest risk
in precleared sand pear fruit would also
be sufficient to allow the importation of
non-precleared fruit from the Republic
of Korea into all U.S. ports. Under the
change we propose, the oversight of
production practices, fruit inspections,
and phytosanitary certification of non-
precleared sand pear fruit would be
conducted by the Republic of Korea
national plant protection organization
(NPPO) rather than by APHIS
preclearance personnel.
The following systems approach
measures would be required for all sand
pear fruit imported into the United
States from the Republic of Korea:
•Sand pears must be imported as
commercial consignments only.
•Sand pears must be grown in places
of production and packed in
packinghouses registered with the
Republic of Korea NPPO.
•Places of production must be
inspected for symptoms of quarantine
pests and diseases. If such pests and
diseases are found, adequate mitigations
measures should be implemented.
•Sand pears must be bagged when
the fruit is between 2.5 and 3.5
centimeters in diameter. All fruit must
be bagged by June 30. Bagging is
required to prevent all arthropod pests
from infesting the fruits.
•Each sand pear consignment must
be labeled to allow trace back.
•Each sand pear consignment must
be accompanied by a phytosanitary
certificate issued by the Republic of
Korea NPPO stating that the
consignment has been inspected and
found free of quarantine pests.
For preclearance program exports of
sand pear:
•Each precleared consignment must
be accompanied by a Plant Protection
and Quarantine Form 203, which
indicates the commodity has been
inspected by APHIS at origin.
For non-preclearance exports of sand
pear:
•Each non-precleared consignment is
subject to inspection at the U.S. ports-
of-entry.
Therefore, in accordance with
§ 319.56–4(c)(3), we are announcing the
availability of our pest list and CIED for
public review and comment. Those
documents, as well as a description of
the economic considerations associated
with the importation of fresh sand pear
fruit from the Republic of Korea, 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 revise the
requirements for the importation of sand
pear fruit from the Republic of Korea 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, we will
revise the requirements for the
importation of sand pear fruit from the
Republic of Korea in accordance with
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 9th day of
March 2021.
Mark Davidson,
Acting Administrator, Animal and Plant
Health Inspection Service.
[FR Doc. 2021–05273 Filed 3–12–21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410–34–P
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Rural Utilities Service
[Docket #: RUS–21–ELECTRIC–0004]
NextEra Energy Resources: Notice of
Intent To Prepare an Environmental
Impact Statement and Hold Public
Scoping Meeting
AGENCY
: Rural Utilities Service, USDA.
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