G/SPS/N/USA/2627  
 
6 February 2014  
(14-0684)  Page: 1/2  
Committee on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures  Original: English  
 
  NOTIFICATION 
1. Notifying Member: UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 
If applicable, name of local government involved:   
2. Agency responsible: Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) 
3. Products covered (provide tariff item  number(s) as specified in national 
schedules deposited with the WTO; IC S numbers should be provided in 
addition, where applicable): Bananas 
4. Regions or countries likely to be affected , to the extent relevant or practicable: 
[ ] All trading partners   
[X] Specific regions or countries: Philippines  
5. Title of the notified document: Proposed Rule: Importation of Fresh Bananas From 
the Philippines into Hawaii and US Territories (Docket No. APHIS-2013-0045)  
Language(s): English  Number of pages: 5 
http://www.regulations.gov/#!docu mentDetail;D=APH IS-2013-0045-0001  
6. Description of content: The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) is 
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 prot ection 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 in to Guam, Hawaii, and the Northern Mariana 
Islands. 
Federal Register Vol. 79, No. 18, Tuesday, 28 January 2014, Pages 4410-4414. 
7. Objective and rationale: [ ] food safety, [ ] animal health, [X] plant protection, 
[ ] protect humans from animal/plant pest or disease, [ ] protect territory from 
other damage from pests.   
8. Is there a relevant international st andard? If so, identify the standard:  
[ ] Codex Alimentarius Commission (e.g.  title or serial number of Codex 
standard or related text)   
[ ] World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) (e.g. Terrestrial or Aquatic 
Animal Health Code, chapter number)    G/SPS/N/USA/2627 
 
- 2 - 
 
  [X] International Plant Protection Convention (e.g. ISPM number)    
[ ] None Does this proposed regulation conform to the relevant international standard?   
[X] Yes   [ ] No 
If no, describe, whenever possible, how and why it deviates from the 
international standard:   
9. Other relevant documents and language (s) in which these are available:     
10. Proposed date of adoption (dd/mm/yy) : Not applicable 
Proposed date of publication (dd/mm/yy) : Not applicable 
11. Proposed date of entry into force: [ ] Six months from date of publication , 
and/or  (dd/mm/yy) : Not applicable 
[X] Trade facilitating measure   
12. Final date for comments: [ ] Sixty days from the date of circulation of the 
notification and/or (dd/mm/yy) : 31 March 2014 
Agency or authority designated to hand le comments: [ ] National Notification 
Authority, [ ] National Enquiry Point.  Address, fax number and e-mail address 
(if available) of other body:  
You may submit comments by either of the following methods: 
Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to 
http://www.regulations.gov/#!docu mentDetail;D=APH IS-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 . 
For further information contact: Ms Meredith Jones, Senior Regulatory Coordination 
Specialist, RPM, RCC, PPQ, APHIS, 4700 River Road Unit 133, Riverdale, MD 20737-1231; +(1 301) 851 2289. 
13. Texts available from: [X] National Notification Authority, [ ] National Enquiry 
Point. Address, fax number and e-mail address (if available) of other body:   
United States SPS National Notification Auth ority, USDA Foreign Agricultural Service, 
International Regulations and Standards Division (IRSD), Stop 1014, Washington D.C. 
20250; Tel: +(1 202) 720 1301; Fax: +(1 202) 720 0433; E-mail: us.spsenquirypoint@fas.usda.gov