Importation of Fresh Bananas From the Philippines Into Hawaii and U.S. Territories

SUMMARY: We are proposing to amend the regulations concerning the importation of fruits and vegetables to allow the importation of fresh bananas from the Philippines into Guam, Hawaii, and the Northern Mariana Islands. As a condition of entry, the bananas would have to be produced in accordance with a systems approach that would include requirements for importation of commercial consignments, monitoring of fruit flies to establish low-prevalence places of production, harvesting only of hard green bananas, and inspection for quarantine pests by the national plant protection organization of the Philippines. The bananas would also have to be accompanied by a phytosanitary certificate with an additional declaration stating that they were grown, packed, inspected, and found to be free of quarantine pests in accordance with the proposed requirements. This action would allow the importation of bananas from the Philippines while continuing to protect against the introduction of plant pests into Guam, Hawaii, and the Northern Mariana Islands.

EFFECTIVE DATE: We will consider all comments that we receive on or before March 31, 2014.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by either of the following methods:

* Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to http://www.regulations.gov/#!documentDetail;D=APHIS-2013-0045-0001.

* Postal Mail/Commercial Delivery: Send your comment to Docket No. APHIS-2013-0045, 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 http://www.regulations.gov/#!docketDetail;D=APHIS-2013-0045 or in our reading room, which is located in Room 1141 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. Meredith Jones, Senior Regulatory Coordination Specialist, RPM, RCC, PPQ, APHIS, 4700 River Road Unit 133, Riverdale, MD 20737-1231; (301) 851-2289.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

The regulations in "Subpart-Fruits and Vegetables" (7 CFR 319.56-1 through 319.56-64, referred to below as the regulations) prohibit or restrict the importation of fruits and vegetables into the United States from certain parts of the world to prevent the introduction and dissemination of plant pests that are new to or not widely distributed within the United States.

The national plant protection organization (NPPO) of the Philippines has requested that the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) amend the regulations to allow bananas from the Philippines to be imported into Guam, Hawaii, and the Northern Mariana Islands. Currently, bananas may be imported from the Philippines into the continental United States as a result of a rule published in the Federal Register and effective on February 7, 2013 (78 FR 8957-8960, Docket No. APHIS-2011-0028). The rule allows the importation of bananas from the Philippines into the continental United States under a systems approach described in the regulations under SEC 319.56-58.

As part of our evaluation of the Philippines' request, we prepared a pest risk assessment (PRA), titled "Importation of Banana, Musa spp., as Fresh, Hard Green Fruit From the Philippines to Guam, Hawaii, and the Northern Mariana Islands" (January 29, 2013). The PRA evaluates the risks associated with the importation of green bananas from the Philippines into Guam, Hawaii, and the Northern Mariana Islands from the Philippines.

The PRA identified 62 pests of quarantine significance present in the Philippines that could be introduced into Guam, Hawaii and the Northern Mariana Islands through the importation of green bananas: 2 mites (Brevipalpus spp.), 5 beetles, 5 flies (3 Bactrocera spp. fruit flies, 1 house fly, and 1 black fly), 35 scales, 4 moths, 4 grasshoppers, 3 thrips, 1 snail, 1 weed, and 2 bacteria. For a full list of the pests, please see the PRA.

Based on the information contained in the PRA, APHIS has determined that measures beyond standard port-of-entry inspection are required to mitigate the risks posed by the quarantine pests with bananas from the Philippines. To recommend specific measures to mitigate those risks, we prepared a risk management document (RMD). Copies of the PRA and RMD may be obtained from the person listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT or viewed on the Regulations.gov Web site (See ADDRESSES above for instructions for accessing Regulations.gov).

Based on the recommendations of the RMD, we are proposing to allow the importation of bananas from the Philippines into Guam, Hawaii, and the Northern Mariana Islands only if they are produced in accordance with a systems approach. The systems approach we are proposing would require:

* Registration, monitoring, and oversight of places of production;

* Trapping for Bactrocera spp. fruit flies to establish low-prevalence places of production;

* Covering bananas with pesticide bags during the growing season;

* Harvesting only of hard green bananas;

* Requirements for culling, safeguarding, and identifying the fruit; and

* Inspection by the NPPO of the Philippines for quarantine pests.

Bananas from the Philippines would also be required to be accompanied by a phytosanitary certificate with an additional declaration stating that the bananas were grown, packed, and inspected in accordance with the proposed requirements.

The proposed systems approach to pest mitigation for the importation of bananas from the Philippines into Guam, Hawaii, and the Northern Mariana Islands has been used successfully to mitigate the risks associated with the importation of bananas from the Philippines into the continental United States ( SEC 319.56-58). The RMD for bananas from the Philippines evaluated the effectiveness of these measures against quarantine pests identified in the PRA and concluded that the provisions in SEC 319.56-58, along with the general requirements for the importation of fruits and vegetables in the regulations, will be sufficient to prevent the introduction of those pests into Guam, Hawaii, and the Northern Mariana Islands. Therefore, we are proposing to amend SEC 319.56-58 to allow the importation of bananas from the Philippines into the United States that would include the continental United States, Guam, Hawaii, and the Northern Mariana Islands. The mitigation measures in the systems approach are outlined in greater detail below.

The introductory text of SEC 319.56-58 currently lists the 12 quarantine pests of concern associated with the importation of bananas from the Philippines into the continental United States. As noted above, the number of quarantine pests of concern associated with the importation of those bananas into Guam, Hawaii, and the Northern Mariana Islands is 62. Given that large number, we are proposing to no longer list the pests of concern in the introductory text of the section and would instead list the pests in the operational workplan described below.

General Requirements

The importation of bananas from the Philippines into Guam, Hawaii, and the Northern Mariana Islands would be allowed under an operational workplan. A operational workplan is an agreement between APHIS' Plant Protection and Quarantine (PPQ) program, officials of the NPPO of a foreign government, and, when necessary, foreign commercial entities that specifies in detail the phytosanitary measures that will comply with our regulations governing the import or export of a specific commodity. Operational workplans apply only to the signatory parties and establish detailed procedures and guidance for the day-to-day operations of specific export programs. Operational workplans also establish how specific phytosanitary issues are dealt within the exporting country and make clear who is responsible for dealing with those issues.

Paragraph (a)(1) of SEC 319.56-58 requires the NPPO of the Philippines to provide an operational workplan to APHIS that details activities that the NPPO of the Philippines will, subject to APHIS' approval of the workplan, carry out to meet the requirements of the regulations. The bananas would have to be grown at places of production that are registered with the NPPO of the Philippines and that meet the requirements for places of production. Paragraph (a)(2) requires bananas to be grown at places of production that are registered with the NPPO of the Philippines and that meet the proposed requirements for places of production that are discussed later in this document. It also requires that each registered place of production renew its registration annually.

Paragraph (a)(3) requires the bananas to be packed for export to the United States in packinghouses that meet the packinghouse requirements that are described later in this document.

The bananas must be imported in commercial consignments only. Commercial consignments, as defined in SEC 319.56-2, are consignments that an inspector identifies as having been imported for sale and distribution. Such identification is based on a variety of indicators, including, but not limited to: Quantity of produce, type of packaging, identification of grower or packinghouse on the packaging, and documents consigning the fruits or vegetables to a wholesaler or retailer. Produce grown commercially is less likely to be infested with plant pests than noncommercial consignments. Noncommercial consignments are more prone to infestations because the commodity is often ripe to overripe and is often grown with little or no pest control.

--This is a summary of a Federal Register article originally published on the page number listed below--

Proposed rule.

CFR Part: "7 CFR Part 319"

RIN Number: "RIN 0579-AD82"

Citation: "79 FR 4410"

Document Number: "Docket No. APHIS-2013-0045"

Federal Register Page Number: "4410"

"Proposed Rules"