This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER

contains regulatory documents having general

applicability and legal effect, most of which

are keyed to and codified in the Code of

Federal Regulations, which is published under

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REGISTER issue of each week.

Rules and Regulations Federal Register

32433 

Vol. 79, No. 108 

Thursday, June 5, 2014 

1To view the proposed rule, the pest risk 

analysis, and the comments we received, go to 

http://www.regulations.gov/ 

#!docketDetail;D=APHIS-2012-0078. 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Animal and Plant Health Inspection 

Service 

7 CFR Part 319 

[Docket No. APHIS–2012–0078] 

RIN 0579–AD72 

Importation of Female Squash Flowers 

From Israel Into the Continental United 

States 

AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health 

Inspection Service, USDA. 

ACTION: Final rule. 

SUMMARY: We are amending the 

regulations governing the importation of 

fruits and vegetables to allow the 

importation of female squash flowers 

from Israel into the continental United 

States. As a condition of entry, female 

squash flowers from Israel will be 

subject to a systems approach that 

includes requirements for pest 

exclusion at the production site and 

fruit fly trapping and monitoring. The 

female squash flowers must also be 

accompanied by a phytosanitary 

certificate issued by the national plant 

protection organization of Israel with an 

additional declaration that the female 

squash flowers have been inspected and 

found free of quarantine pests. This 

action will allow for the importation of 

female squash flowers from Israel into 

the continental United States while 

continuing to provide protection against 

the introduction of quarantine pests. 

DATES: Effective July 7, 2014. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. 

George Balady, Senior Regulatory Policy 

Specialist, PPQ, APHIS, 4700 River 

Road Unit 133, Riverdale, MD 20737– 

1236; (301) 851–2240. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background 

The regulations in ‘‘Subpart—Fruits 

and Vegetables’’ (7 CFR 319.56–1 

through 319.56–67, 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 May 2, 2013, we published in the 

Federal Register (78 FR 25620–25623, 

Docket No. APHIS–2012–0078) a 

proposal 1 to amend the regulations by 

allowing the importation of female 

squash flowers from Israel into the 

continental United States under a 

systems approach that would include 

requirements for pest exclusion at the 

production site and fruit fly trapping 

and monitoring. The female squash 

flowers would also have to be 

accompanied by a phytosanitary 

certificate issued by the national plant 

protection organization (NPPO) of Israel 

with an additional declaration that the 

female squash flowers have been 

inspected and found free of quarantine 

pests. 

We solicited comments concerning 

our proposal for 60 days ending July 1, 

2013. We received two comments from 

members of the public by that date. 

One commenter supported the 

proposed rule. One commenter opposed 

the proposed rule, citing no finding of 

a public benefit for importing female 

squash flowers, a potential slight 

decrease in the price of the commodity, 

and an additional cost to the U.S. 

Government for enforcing compliance 

with the regulation. 

Under the Plant Protection Act (7 

U.S.C. 7701 et seq.), the Animal and 

Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) 

has the authority to prohibit or restrict 

the importation of plants and plant 

products only when necessary to 

prevent the introduction into or 

dissemination of plant pests or noxious 

weeds within the United States. APHIS 

does not have the authority to restrict 

imports solely on the grounds of 

potential economic effects on domestic 

entities that could result from increased 

imports. 

The commenter expressed concern 

about the potential introduction of new 

pests resulting in reduced crop yields, 

fruit-fly-borne diseases, and increased 

economic and health costs associated 

with pesticide use. The commenter also 

mentioned the lack of provisions to 

compensate domestic farmers for the 

harm caused by the failure of importers 

of female squash flowers to comply with 

the proposed mitigation measures. 

APHIS has determined that the 

measures outlined in the risk 

management document that 

accompanied the proposed rule are 

sufficient to mitigate the risk of pests 

being introduced into the United States 

as a result of the importation of female 

squash flowers from Israel. The 

commenter did not provide any 

evidence that the measures would not 

be effective. The NPPO of Israel and 

APHIS will collaborate to ensure that 

growers and importers comply with the 

proposed measures, as we do in other 

import programs. 

Therefore, for the reasons given in the 

proposed rule and in this document, we 

are adopting the proposed rule as a final 

rule, without change. 

Executive Order 12866 and Regulatory 

Flexibility Act 

This final rule has been determined to 

be not significant for the purposes of 

Executive Order 12866 and, therefore, 

has not been reviewed by the Office of 

Management and Budget. 

In accordance with 5 U.S.C. 604, we 

have performed a final regulatory 

flexibility analysis, which is 

summarized below, regarding the 

economic effects of this rule on small 

entities. Copies of the full analysis are 

available on the Regulations.gov Web 

site (see footnote 1 in this document for 

a link to Regulations.gov) or by 

contacting the person listed under FOR

FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT. 

This final rule will amend the 

regulations to allow, under certain 

conditions, the importation of female 

squash flowers (Cucurbita pepo L.) from 

Israel into the continental United States. 

Squash flowers have gained in 

popularity as an elegant way to garnish 

dishes, desserts, and salads, and as an 

ingredient in other dishes. Marketing of 

commercially grown edible flowers is 

typically directed to clientele at upscale 

restaurants. 

Farms that solely produce squash 

flowers are rare. The blossoms are 


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32434 Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 108 / Thursday, June 5, 2014 / Rules and Regulations 

typically a by-product of squash fruit 

production. Squash is commercially 

produced throughout the United States, 

but principally in Michigan, California, 

Florida, and Georgia. 

The Small Business Administration’s 

small-entity standard for U.S farms that 

produce squash is annual receipts of not 

more than $750,000. In 2007, the 

average market value of sales by the 

11,821 U.S farms that produced squash 

was about $17,222, well below the 

small-entity standard. We infer that by 

far most farms producing squash, 

including farms producing squash 

flowers, are small entities. 

Israel is expecting to export 10 metric 

tons of fresh female squash flowers 

annually to the United States. We do not 

know the quantity or value of female 

squash flower production in the United 

States, or the quantity or value of female 

squash flowers imported from other 

countries. Without basic production and 

trade information, we are unable to 

evaluate potential impacts of this final 

rule. 

Executive Order 12988 

This final rule allows fresh female 

squash flowers to be imported into the 

United States from Israel. State and 

local laws and regulations regarding 

female squash flowers imported under 

this rule will be preempted while the 

fruit is in foreign commerce. Fresh 

vegetables are generally imported for 

immediate distribution and sale to the 

consuming public, and remain in 

foreign commerce until sold to the 

ultimate consumer. The question of 

when foreign commerce ceases in other 

cases must be addressed on a case-bycase basis. No retroactive effect will be 

given to this rule, and this rule will not 

require administrative proceedings 

before parties may file suit in court 

challenging this rule. 

Paperwork Reduction Act 

In accordance with section 3507(d) of 

the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 

(44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.), the information 

collection or recordkeeping 

requirements included in this final rule, 

which were filed under 0579–0406, 

have been submitted for approval to the 

Office of Management and Budget 

(OMB). When OMB notifies us of its 

decision, if approval is denied, we will 

publish a document in the Federal 

Register providing notice of what action 

we plan to take. 

E-Government Act Compliance 

The Animal and Plant Health 

Inspection Service is committed to 

compliance with the E-Government Act 

to promote the use of the Internet and 

other information technologies, to 

provide increased opportunities for 

citizen access to Government 

information and services, and for other 

purposes. For information pertinent to 

E-Government Act compliance related 

to this rule, please contact Mrs. Celeste 

Sickles, APHIS’ Information Collection 

Coordinator, at (301) 851–2908. 

List of Subjects in 7 CFR Part 319 

Coffee, Cotton, Fruits, Imports, Logs, 

Nursery stock, Plant diseases and pests, 

Quarantine, Reporting and 

recordkeeping requirements, Rice, 

Vegetables. 

Accordingly, we are amending 7 CFR 

part 319 as follows: 

PART 319—FOREIGN QUARANTINE 

NOTICES 

■ 1. The authority citation for part 319 

continues to read as follows: 

Authority: 7 U.S.C. 450, 7701–7772, and 

7781–7786; 21 U.S.C. 136 and 136a; 7 CFR 

2.22, 2.80, and 371.3. 

■ 2. Section 319.56–68 is added to read 

as follows: 

§ 319.56–68 Female squash flowers from 

Israel. 

Female squash flowers (Cucurbita 

pepo L.) may be imported into the 

continental United States from Israel 

only in accordance with this section and 

other applicable provisions of this 

subpart. These conditions are designed 

to prevent the introduction of the 

following quarantine pests: Ceratitis 

capitata, Dacus ciliatus, Helicoverpa 

armigera, and Scirtothrips dorsalis. 

(a) Production site requirements. (1) 

Production sites in which the female 

squash flowers are produced must be 

registered with the national plant 

protection organization (NPPO) of Israel. 

Initial approval of production sites must 

be completed jointly by the NPPO of 

Israel and APHIS. 

(2) The NPPO of Israel must visit and 

inspect the production sites. APHIS may 

monitor the production sites if 

necessary. 

(3) Production sites must be inside 

pest-exclusionary structures (PES). The 

PES must have self-closing double 

doors. All openings, including vents, to 

the outside of the PES must be covered 

by screening with mesh openings of not 

more than 1.6 mm. 

(b) Mitigation measures for fruit flies 

(C. capitata and D. ciliatus). (1) The 

NPPO of Israel must set and maintain 

fruit fly traps with an APHIS-approved 

bait at a rate of one trap per hectare, 

with a minimum of one trap in each PES 

and one outside the entrance of each 

PES. The NPPO of Israel must check the 

traps every 7 days and maintain records 

of trap placement, trap maintenance, 

and captures of any fruit flies of 

concern. The NPPO must maintain 

trapping records and make the records 

available to APHIS upon request. 

(2) Capture of a single fruit fly of 

concern inside a production site will 

immediately result in cancellation of 

exports to the United States from that 

production site. The detection of a fruit 

fly of concern in a consignment at the 

port of entry that is traced back to a 

production site will also result in 

immediate cancellation of exports to the 

United States from that production site. 

In both cases, exports from the 

production site in question may not 

resume until APHIS and the NPPO of 

Israel have mutually determined that 

the risk has been properly mitigated. 

(c) Packinghouse requirements. While 

in use for exporting female squash 

flowers to the United States, the 

packinghouses may only accept flowers 

from registered production sites. 

(d) Post-harvest procedures. Before 

being removed from the PES, harvested 

female squash flowers must be placed in 

field cartons or containers that are 

marked to show the official registration 

number of the production site. The 

place of production where the flowers 

were grown must remain identifiable 

from the time when the blossoms leave 

the production site, to the 

packinghouse, and through the export 

process. 

(e) Commercial consignments. The 

female squash flowers may be imported 

in commercial consignments only. 

(f) Phytosanitary certificate. Each 

consignment must be accompanied by a 

phytosanitary certificate issued by the 

NPPO of Israel with an additional 

declaration stating that the consignment 

has been inspected and found free of 

Ceratitis capitata, Dacus ciliatus, 

Helicoverpa armigera, and Scirtothrips 

dorsalis. 

(Approved by the Office of Management and 

Budget under control number 0579–0406) 

Done in Washington, DC, this 29th day of 

May 2014. 

Kevin Shea, 

Administrator, Animal and Plant Health 

Inspection Service. 

[FR Doc. 2014–13007 Filed 6–4–14; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–34–P 


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