July 10, 2007

From:

Peter D. Spyke

The Orange Shop

P.O. Box 125

Citra, FL 32113

772-464-3391

pdspyke@arapahocitrus.com

www.FloridaOrangeShop.com

In Re: Citrus Canker Proposed Rule

Regulatory Analysis and Development, PPD, APHIS

Station 3A-03.8

4700 River Road

Unit 118

Riverdale, Md. 20737-1238

Docket No. APHIS-2007-0022

Dear USDA,

I am a citrus grower and gift fruit shipper in Florida, and these
comments are about the interpretations of the proposed rule as it would
apply to the Gift Fruit Shipping segment of the Florida Citrus Industry.

Last year, we made every effort possible to comply with the regulations
on movement of citrus fruit to non-citrus producing states. The
situation we and the USDA inspectors encountered was that the rule was
written to regulate commercial packinghouses, where fruit is run in
large quantities on an established schedule, and shipped by the
truckload to single destinations. When we tried to apply the same
guidelines to our Gift Fruit packing systems, however, we encountered
difficulties.

Essentially, a protocol that would work for Gift Fruit houses that run
and pack their own fruit had to be devised "on the fly". We tried our
best, and so did the inspectors for the most part. However, the office
that services my operation sent different people almost every day, so
for a month, I spent about 2 hours each day communicating with the
inspectors and devising that day's interpretation of the rule. There was
no continuity, and a lot of uncertainty on everyone's part.

I would very much like to see as part of this new rule a [specific set
of criteria]{.underline} that would apply strictly to Gift Fruit
shipments. These shipments would be defined as being made up of unique,
individual packages, where each package has a separate known street
address destination, none of which can be in a citrus-producing area.
There's no danger of confusing gift shipments with commercial shipments.

To briefly describe my particular business, we have a roadside store
that has been in operation for 71 years. We have our own groves, where
we grow fruit specifically for the Gift Fruit trade. We pick mixed loads
of fruit on flatbed trucks, 16 bins at a time (commercial packinghouses
haul fruit on semi trailers that hold 50 bins). Each load lasts us a few
days, and we run the fruit gradually throughout each day as we need it.
We deal in small volumes to keep the fruit as fresh as possible.

During most of the year, we sell primarily pre-bagged fruit on the porch
of our store to travelers who stop in to buy fruit and souvenirs. Our
business is really completely different than a commercial fruit packing
company. Depending on the time of year, we might run only a few boxes of
fruit at a time for packing. Our fruit running machine was built around
World War II, and does not have any sophisticated tracking gear. We dump
a ½ bin or so, run the fruit through the machine, turn it off, and then
one or two people will pack up the fruit into trays. After a coffee
break, we run a little more.

We strictly ship gift fruit. About 90% of the packages are ordered by
the sender for a recipient. The senders can specify any variety
combination, size of package, and even have special items included --
whatever they want, they get. We ship the fruit in boxes, baskets, and
other containers.

Our shipping season is divided into two distinct periods; every month of
the season except December, and December. During the first 21 days in
December, we ship out 80% of the gifts for the entire year. Our entire
shipping operation is built around those 21 days -- the rest of the
season we are running at well below capacity. During those 21 days, most
of the residents in the town of Citra are in The Orange Shop from
daylight to midnight packing and shipping gifts for many thousands of
people around the country. We even ship to Alaska. If we shut down the
machine for even a few minutes, somebody is not going to get their
Christmas present.

During the non-December periods, we have the ability to deal with a
certain amount of confusion and indecision since we are not stressing
our capabilities. However, during those 21 days, we need things to run
as smoothly as possible, since we are already dealing with weather,
labor, raw material supply, and other issues. Therefore, it is
imperative that whatever we decide to do under this rule, it gets done
in time for December, and that there are a minimum of knowledge gaps by
us and the inspectors by that time. And, whatever we decide to do, it
needs to be manageable in the context of Christmas Rush.

So, the purpose of my comments here is to ask if there is a possibility
that we can sit down and work out the specific guidelines for the Gift
Fruit industry prior to the beginning of the season. Attempts to apply
the commercial guidelines to gift fruit shippers will only lead to
prolonged confusion on everyone's part, and will simply not work.

The basic problem that we need to solve is that the rule is written for
commercial packinghouses, not for Gift Fruit Shippers. In the Federal
Register document, there is a statement that there are approximately 142
registered packinghouses in Florida, but there were only 50 large
commercial operations. The problem is that the regulations are written
for the 50 commercial houses -- not the other 92 small shippers. I
believe that there should be a more organized, tailored approach for
applying the framework that achieves the desired goals to those small
shippers -- the system described in the Federal Register is not
appropriate.

To help illustrate what I mean, I've listed below a few of the special
circumstances that arise when trying to apply the proposed rule to Gift
Fruit Shipments. I have excerpted the basic requirements of the rule
from the document and made comments below them as indicated:

For example, the boxes would have to be marked:

"Limited Permit: USDA-APHIS-PPQ.

Not for distribution in AZ, CA, HI, LA, TX, American Samoa, Guam,
Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and Virgin Islands of the United
States."

Comment: Last year, we reached agreement that the Limited Permit
language on Gift Fruit (which is probably someone's Christmas presents)
only had to say: "Not for distribution in AZ, CA, HI, LA, TX, American
Samoa, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and Virgin Islands
of the United States" as long as the shipping manifest to the freight
consolidators contained the full LP language. Somehow, marking someone's
Christmas present with words such as "Limited Permit" and "Quarantine"
just doesn't sound nice.

Remember that each package is addressed to someone on a mailing label.
[None of them]{.underline} can be addressed to [any of the citrus
producing areas]{.underline}. So, there are only two possible ways for
fruit from one of our packages to find it's way to a citrus producing
state: 1) The US Postal Service misdelivers the package, or 2) A
recipient takes it themselves.

Regarding the first instance -- misdelivery -- it really doesn't happen.
Last year, we received complaints on about 57 packages out of 13,000
that we shipped. Most of them were a bad orange or two. We got
complaints, though, because they got the package. Not one single package
was [misdelivered]{.underline}. We certify our addresses and zip codes,
and take great pains to make sure the recipients' addresses are correct.

Why? Because if that box of fruit doesn't arrive on time and in good
condition, we hear about it \-- in no uncertain terms. These are gifts,
not just boxes of citrus. Our customers are demanding, and we are
capable of operating at a level that can meet that demand environment.
Therefore, I know that we can operate in a way that prevents our fruit
from infecting California or Texas with canker by keeping our boxes out.

[Occasionally]{.underline}, of course, the address will be bad. In that
event, the package doesn't go anywhere \-- the Post Office returns the
package to us. So, misdelivery doesn't happen. It either arrives at the
location where it was shipped, or it's returned to us. Plus, the USPS is
drilled to not let citrus into citrus-producing states, and our boxes
have "Florida Citrus" printed on each one.

If a box were to get sent to a citrus state by mistake, we
[know]{.underline} that it was not addressed that way, so the issue
would be with the Post Office. Essentially, the USPS is really part of
the phytosanitary regulatory system that ensures compliance by Gift
Fruit Shippers -- a [safeguard layer that does not exist with commercial
shippers]{.underline}.

You have backup in our case -- The United States Post Office. They
deliver all of our packages to the doorstep of the gift recipients. They
know to not deliver citrus to citrus-producing states. We are not going
to try and sneak it in because if the Post Office catches a package and
doesn't deliver it, somebody is not going to get their Christmas
present. We would be setting ourselves up if we tried to circumvent the
prohibition.

In regards to the second possibility -- that somebody would take the
fruit with them to a citrus producing state - to make sure that a
recipient did not do that, we (voluntarily) pre-printed the "Not for
Distribution...." language directly on [each shipping label just below
the field that identified the person that sent the package]{.underline}
so that the recipient couldn't miss the warning. They all look on the
label to see who sent it to them. I think that works just fine, and your
inspectors even thought it was a great idea.

I would like to request that we be allowed to use this same kind of
method next year, rather than stamping the box with the legal-sounding
"Limited Permit" language. Specifically, we do not want to have to label
people's presents with words such as "Quarantine", "Limited Permit",
etc. Legalese just doesn't feel right in what we're trying to provide.

How about something like "Please don't take any of your fruit to
citrus-producing areas in the U.S., which are AZ, CA, HI, LA, TX,
American Samoa, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and the
U.S. Virgin Islands". I think that people would respond in a much more
positive manner if we ask them nicely than if they are threatened with
onerous language. After all, the only intent is to keep them from doing
it, so why not ask politely? These are not Wal-Mart Distribution Center
Produce Managers we're talking about -- it's somebody's grandmother.
Gift fruit is not like commercial shipments, and in my opinion should
not be treated the same way.

Further comments:

• Lots

The sampling procedure for commercial fruit was developed by the
Melbourne office to achieve a statistically significant assurance that
symptomatic fruit is caught in the packinghouse. Our "lots" aren't
anything like a commercial house, so the statistical significance would
not apply -- applying the same procedure cannot be defended based on
statistics. Why not define a sampling procedure that provides the same
statistically-defensible level of certainty for gift houses? It will be
[nothing like]{.underline} the system for commercial houses. Here are
some considerations:

We run oranges, grapefruit, and tangerines in succession in small
quantities because our gifts usually contain more than one variety. We
pack the fruit into cardboard trays, each holding ¼ bushel, and stack
them on pallets. Some of the trays that will be on top of the boxes are
decorated with pretty wraps and tissue.

Then, we pack each package individually based on the desired variety mix
indicated on the order by inserting trays containing the various
varieties into each box. Some people like mixed oranges, grapefruit, and
tangerines, whereas others like all of one variety. Therefore, a single
box may contain fruit from up to 4 different "lots" as implied in the
definition. After we put the trays in the box, we glue the tops of the
boxes shut, apply the mailing label, and then load them on a truck. Each
package is unique, and is addressed to a single, known destination.

Once we have sealed the boxes, to undo anything for inspection or other
reason, we would have to unload the boxes off the truck, strip the
pallet wrap, select a box, rip it open, take out the fruit, let the
inspector check it, re-pack in a new box, re-run the mailing labels on
the computer (they don't come off the box), then re-load it on the
truck. Were this to happen during Christmas Rush, where a [single
truckload]{.underline} of our gift fruit packages might represent a two
days of work when we're struggling to get them all out in time for
Christmas, 10% of our company's annual gross revenue, and Christmas
presents for 2,000 people, the prospect is frightening to say the least.

So, we would need to come up with a suitable definition of "lot" for
Gift Fruit shippers, along with the sampling procedures and the reaction
if a piece of fruit is found with canker. Remember that the only time
you can find a piece of fruit with canker in our packinghouse is
[before]{.underline} it is packed; afterwards, the box is glued shut and
labeled. Opening glued boxes would not be a good idea -- they are not
packed ahead of time for later labeling, the gluer and labeler is the
same person. Random sampling of [packed]{.underline} boxes is not an
option, and many of our "lots" during the latter part of the season may
not even have 1,000 pieces of fruit in the whole thing. Likewise, during
Christmas when we run varieties in alternation, one cannot even tell
which packages on the trucks would contain fruit from any certain "lot".
Unlike commercial packinghouses, where lots are used to pay growers,
there's no reason for us to separate the packed packages. Plus, again,
they're mostly mixed varieties, which would imply at least two "lots"
per package.

There are clearly ways to work this out. We just need to do it in a
rational way. Leaving it to inspectors to make it up as they go is a
very bad idea.

Here are a group of requirements that would run into the same kind of
situation:

• Notice of estimated lot size and run times;

• Need for notice when APHIS inspectors are not present on a regular
basis;

• Need for notice when there are significant changes in the amount of
fruit being packed;

• Provisions for handling and storage of fruit, including provisions
that prohibit the movement of any part of a lot from a packinghouse
until APHIS inspection is complete;

• Provisions for holding fruit when packing is done at a time when an
APHIS inspector is

not present; and

• Hours of coverage for APHIS packinghouse inspections.

Regarding the issues above, we pack to order on shipping day. During
December 1-23, we pack every day and night. At other times during the
year, we might only pack one day a week.

During the non-December period, we accumulate orders in the computer,
and on the day we pack, we print the labels. We don't know what we have
to pack until it's time to pack, and we'll even pack orders that come in
while we're packing. In the days of the Internet, customers want that
fruit right now! We run until we have enough fruit, then stop and go
back to bagging. If we need more packing fruit, we stop bagging and tray
some more of the variety we need.

We do our best to coordinate with the inspectors, but it's a 2-hour
drive for them to get to our packinghouse, so there are times when it's
difficult for them to be there when we're packing. We don't run fruit a
day ahead -- we run it and pack it at the same time to keep it fresh.
Once it's packed, the boxes are glued shut. You can't accumulate them
for when the inspectors arrive.

Some manageable system will be necessary to ease the burden on the
inspectors, too, because by and large every single one of them is trying
to do a good job and are conscientious. Unless some arrangements are
made, however, we and they are going to struggle unnecessarily.

What happens of the inspector has to leave early to pick up a sick child
from school? We have to run no matter what to get those gifts out the
door. In our case, failure to deliver is not a business issue -- it's
personal. So, we do need to address the eventuality that packages are
packed without an inspector present, but the measures specified in the
full rule don't work for us.

Again, unloading a truck filled with wrapped pallets of gifts, in all
sized containers, and opening boxes after they're packed is not as
simple as in a commercial house. Since the packages are not the same
size, and each truck holds a different number every time, applying
commercial standards would be impossible, and it would not even be
statistically valid.

I must reiterate that we are perfectly willing to use all reasonable
means to comply with the intent of the program -- no exposure to
citrus-producing areas. We just need to figure out how to do that in our
situation.

In regards to containers, the Rule mentions the following:

In order to be moved interstate, the regulated fruit would have to be
packaged in boxes or other containers that are approved by APHIS and
that are used exclusively for regulated fruit to be moved interstate.

We don't ship anything in the kinds of boxes that the commercial houses
use. We pack Gift Fruit in all kinds of containers. Many of them are
specific only to a single shipper (such as copyrighted boxes that sing a
song about Honeybells). How are we going to handle the issue of
containers? It may be as simple as a broad statement to exempt Gift
Fruit, but if so we should tend to that detail before somebody looks in
the book and doesn't find an "Orange Shop Special Picnic Basket".

Rather than hash out any more at this point, perhaps the best way to
proceed is to ask if we can meet with someone who has authority to make
decisions in regards to the program and develop a Gift Fruit protocol.
Hopefully you can see that it will have to be different from commercial
packinghouses. Therefore, I would like to make that request on behalf of
my business, and I suspect that others in the trade would agree.

In closing, let me make a few observations about why it's worth the
trouble to help us figure this out:

1.  We are the face of the citrus industry -- including California,
    Texas, and Arizona. Gift boxes of fruit present the entire industry
    in a favorable light. It's a deep tradition, and really is the best
    advertising and promotion every grower in the country can ask for.
    Really outstanding Florida gifts of fruit will definitely help sell
    California oranges as well, so we are not a threat to them in any
    way.

2.  The likelihood of infecting a citrus-producing state with citrus
    canker from a box of gift fruit is [too small to calculate
    statistically]{.underline}. Consider that:

> A. We are highly motivated to make sure that the fruit will be treated
> with SOPP because we don't want them to rot! And, I guarantee that we
> grade them hard. Rachel Starling, our packinghouse manager, has been
> grading fruit for 30 years at The Orange Shop, and she is darned
> particular about the fruit that goes into a box. She has been trained,
> and knows what canker looks like. Plus, if she's in doubt, she throws
> out the fruit.
>
> B. Every package is individually addressed, and the final delivery of
> all packages is by the US Postal Service. They're the best, or we
> wouldn't use them. We have other options, but the USPS has
> consistently been the most error-free delivery system in the country.
> They are a fail-safe to make sure that our packages don't go to the
> wrong place. That's [way]{.underline} more assurance than a carton of
> commercial fruit at the Wal-Mart Distribution Center in Birmingham,
> Alabama.
>
> C. People don't usually give our fruit away, or take it with them on a
> trip. It's too good. They stick it in the fridge and hoard it.

D.  We ship a minute percentage of the Florida crop. That percentage
    factor alone when factored into the PRA probably reduces the risk to
    below measurable levels.

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3.  We still take orders for packages that need to be delivered to
    citrus-producing states, but since we can't pack them, we work with
    Texas and California Gift Fruit Shippers to drop ship for us. So,
    we're selling some of their fruit for them -- those guys like us and
    don't want us to stop doing that for them.

4.  Argentina has no interest in getting into the Gift Fruit business in
    the US. I grow lemons in Florida, and you can't sell lemons as gift
    fruit to save your life -- I've tried!

5.  We don't ship to Europe any more. As an industry, we stopped doing
    that last year. Most people were glad -- the complaint percentage
    was murder.

So, we're worth saving, and the risk of spreading canker with gift fruit
is basically non-existent. There is a strong position that simply
preventing us from shipping [individually-addressed gift
fruit]{.underline} to a citrus-producing state would be all that is
necessary to eliminate the risk of infection completely. If you factor
in the above considerations and run a PRA for only Gift Fruit, the
possibility of spread by surface bacteria would be unmeasurably small.
One could therefore argue that the necessary safeguards are inherent in
our product distribution systems, and that detailed inspections aren't
even necessary at all. The only need would be to verify that we are
treating the fruit properly with a disinfectant.

However, I do realize that politics and appearances are important, and
also that there needs to be some way of assuring that the Gift Fruit
shippers take proper precautions. Since the chances of our infecting a
citrus-producing area with canker is basically non-existent, I would
request that any requirements for gift fruit shippers be modified from
those deemed necessary for commercial packers to provide a system that
is simple, straightforward, and clearly understood by everyone involved.
Preferably, the components would include:

1\. Verification of proper treatment with disinfectant.

2\. Spot checks of fruit packed in trays, prior to the time the trays
are inserted in the shipping boxes.

3\. No requirement that we would have to unload trucks of packed fruit
or re-open sealed boxes.

4\. Flexibility regarding the presence of inspectors.

5\. Friendly language that serves the same purpose of the Limited Permit
statement.

6\. Establishment of a program prior to December, then no modification
until January.

I think we can do that, if the USDA is willing to work with the Gift
Fruit Shippers in a reasonable way. One must face the fact that, given
the realities listed above and our experiences last season, no matter
how we proceed there [will in fact]{.underline} be a separate protocol
for Gift Fruit Shippers whether it's recognized as such or not. Trying
to make up a program that resembles the commercial requirements is
simply not a good idea -- we can do better. We might as well face that
certainty, and be organized, methodical, and fair about it. Therefore,
once again, I would like to request that as soon as possible we should
meet to determine a protocol that is appropriate, while providing
necessary assurances.

Many thanks for your kind attention.

Sincerely,

Peter D. Spyke

Owner

The Orange Shop