Importation of Hass Avocados From Peru

[Federal Register: January 4, 2010 (Volume 75, Number 1)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Page 1-13]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr04ja10-1]

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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service

7 CFR Parts 305 and 319

[Docket No. APHIS-2008-0126]
RIN 0579-AC93

Importation of Hass Avocados From Peru

AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, USDA.

ACTION: Final rule.

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SUMMARY: We are amending the fruits and vegetables regulations to
allow
the importation of Hass avocados from Peru into the continental
United
States. As a condition of entry, Hass avocados from Peru will have to
be produced in accordance with a systems approach that includes
requirements for importation in commercial consignments; registration
and monitoring of places of production and packinghouses; grove
sanitation; pest-free areas or trapping for the South American fruit
fly; pest-free areas or treatment for the Mediterranean fruit fly;
surveys for the avocado seed moth; and inspection for quarantine
pests
by the national plant protection organization of Peru. Hass avocados
from Peru will also be required to be accompanied by a phytosanitary
certificate with an additional declaration stating that the avocados
were grown, packed, and inspected and found to be free of pests in
accordance with these requirements. This action will allow the
importation of Hass avocados from Peru into the United States while
continuing to provide protection against the introduction of
quarantine
pests.

DATES: Effective Date: February 3, 2010.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Charisse Cleare, Regulatory
Coordination Specialist, Regulations, Permits, and Manuals, PPQ,
APHIS,
4700 River Road Unit 136, Riverdale, MD 20737-1236; (301) 734-0773.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

The regulations in ``Subpart--Fruits and Vegetables'' (7 CFR
319.56-1 through 319.56-49, 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.
On January 7, 2009, we published in the Federal Register (74 FR
651-664, Docket No. APHIS-2008-0126) a proposal \1\ to amend the
regulations to allow the importation of Hass avocados from Peru into
the continental United States. As a condition of entry, we proposed
to
require Hass avocados from Peru to be produced in accordance with a
systems approach that included requirements for importation in
commercial consignments; registration and monitoring of places of
production and packinghouses; grove sanitation; pest-free areas,
trapping, or treatment for fruit flies; surveys for the avocado seed
moth; and inspection for quarantine pests by the national plant
protection organization (NPPO) of Peru. We also proposed to require
Hass avocados from Peru to be accompanied by a phytosanitary
certificate with an additional declaration stating that the avocados
were grown, packed, and inspected and found to be free of pests in
accordance with the proposed requirements. We proposed to add the
systems approach to the regulations in a new Sec. 319.56-49.\2\
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\1\ To view the proposed rule and the comments we received, go
to http://www.regulations.gov/fdmspublic/component/
main?main=DocketDetail&d=APHIS-2008-0126.
\2\ In this final rule, the provisions of the systems approach
are added as Sec. 319.56-50. We discuss the comments in terms of
provisions of proposed Sec. 319.56-49 so that the reader can follow
along with the proposal.
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We solicited comments concerning our proposal for 60 days ending
March 9, 2009. We received 30 comments by that date. They were from
private citizens, producers, importers, exporters, and
representatives
of State and foreign governments. Twenty of the commenters supported
the proposed rule. The issues raised by the remaining commenters are
discussed below by topic.


Go here for the full discussion thread....