United States 

Department of 

Agriculture

Animal and 

Plant Health 

Inspection 

Service

June 2013

Initial Regulatory Flexibility Analysis

Proposed Rule

APHIS 2013-0045

RIN 0579-AD82

Importation of Fresh Bananas from the 

Philippines into Hawaii and The United 

States Territories

Policy & Program Development

Policy Analysis & Development
i

Summary

This analysis examines impacts for U.S. small entities of a rule that will allow fresh 

banana imports from the Philippines into Hawaii and the U.S. Territories. Commercial 

production of bananas in the United States takes place in Hawaii, where most if not all of the 

banana farms are small entities. Currently, about 4.1 million metric tons (MT) of bananas are 

imported into the United States every year. In 2011, Hawaii’s banana harvest totaled about 

7,900 MT compared to U.S. imports of about 4.1 million MT.

We do not have information at this point on the quantity of bananas that the Philippines 

expects to ship to the State of Hawaii or to U.S. territories, or the quantity of bananas already 

imported into these destinations. We note that for a recent rulemaking to allow banana imports 

from the Philippines into the continental United States, that the quantity was expected to be 

relatively insignificant, equivalent to about 0.05 percent of U.S. imports from other countries, 4.1 

million MT. Consumers in Hawaii and U.S. territories would benefit from the additional source 

of fresh bananas. APHIS does not expect the proposed rule to have a significant economic 

impact on small entities. 
ii

Table of Contents

Summary.............................................................................................................................. i

Introduction......................................................................................................................... 1

Reasons Action is Being Considered.................................................................................. 1

Objectives of and Legal Basis for the Rule ........................................................................ 2

Potentially Affected Small Entities..................................................................................... 2

Projected Reporting, Recordkeeping, and Other Compliance Requirements..................... 2

Duplication, Overlap, or Conflict with Existing Rules and Regulations............................ 4

Alternatives to minimize Significant Economic Impacts of the Rule................................. 4
1

Introduction

The Regulatory Flexibility Act requires agencies to evaluate the potential effects of their 

proposed and final rules on small businesses, small organizations and small governmental 

jurisdictions. This initial regulatory flexibility analysis describes expected impacts of this 

proposed rule on small entities, as required by section 603 of the Act.

The analysis examines impacts of a rule that will allow fresh banana imports from the 

Philippines into Hawaii and U.S. territories on U.S. small entities. The rule will amend 7 CFR 

319.5, and is part of a continuing program to allow the importation of foreign agricultural 

products that APHIS has determined are without significant risk of introducing exotic plant pests 

into the United States. 

Reasons Action is Being Considered

The Philippine Bureau of Plant Industry (BPI) submitted a market access request for 

bananas to be approved for import into the U.S. This proposal would allow the importation of 

hard, green bananas from the Philippines to Hawaii and the United States Territories because we 

have identified measures that will prevent the introduction of plant pests. Generally, APHIS 

allows the importation of fresh fruits and vegetables when sound science and an analysis of the 

risks shows that it is appropriate to do so. This proposal follows a previous Final Rule published 

February 7, 2013, which allows the importation of hard, green bananas into the continental 

United States under a systems approach. Consumers in the United States will benefit from the 

additional source of fresh bananas without increasing the pest risk to domestic producers in the 

United States.
2

Objectives of and Legal Basis for the Rule

This proposal is to amend the regulations to allow the importation of commercial 

shipments of hard, green bananas from the Philippines into Hawaii and the United States 

Territories under a systems approach. The Plant Protection Act of 2000 gives the Secretary of 

Agriculture the legal authority to regulate the importation of plants and plant products to prevent 

the introduction of plant pests or noxious weeds into the United States.

Potentially Affected Small Entities

U.S. commercial production of bananas takes place in Hawaii. In 2011, that State’s 

banana harvest totaled about 7,900 MT, harvested on 240 farms.1 A banana farm is considered 

to be small according to the Small Business Administration’s standard for Other Noncitrus Fruit 

Farming (North American Industry Classification System category 111339) if its annual receipts 

are not more than $750,000. Average annual receipts for the Hawaiian producers in 2011 was 

about $ 47,125, indicating that most if not all of these farms are small entities. 

We do not currently have enough information to fully assess the impact of this proposed 

rule. The quantity of bananas expected to be imported from the Philippines specifically into 

Hawaii is unknown. However, it is likely to be a limited quantity.Prior to a recent rulemaking to 

allow banana imports from the Philippines into the continental United States, the Philippines 

expected that it would ship only about 100 containers, or about 1,814 MT per year if granted

access to the U.S. as a whole, including Hawaii and the U.S. Territories. 

Compared to the volume of current imports, this is a relatively insignificant quantity,

equivalent to only about 0.05 percent of the 4.1 million MT in bananas imported into the United 

 

1 Hawaii Farm Facts, May 2010. 

http://www.nass.usda.gov/Statistics_by_State/Hawaii/Publications/Fruits_and_Nuts/annbanFF.pdf
3

States in 2011. The United States is a minor producer but a major importer of bananas. The

international banana market is highly regional, and the United States imports bananas from 

Central America, South America and the Caribbean.2 In 2011, the United States imported 4.1 

million MT of fresh bananas, with Guatemala, Ecuador, and Costa Rica, respectively, the top 

three sources.3 Similarly, banana exports by the Philippines are principally to Asian markets, 

with Japan, Iran, China, and Korea its major customers. 

t is unlikely that a significant portion of the small quantity of bananas expected to be 

imported from the Philippines to the United States as a whole would be directed specifically to 

Hawaii. The pull of the Hawaiian market for banana imports is considerably smaller than that of 

the larger continental U.S market, and current Hawaiian banana production provides 

considerable banana supply to the Hawaiian market. . Any impact of the rule for U.S. banana 

producers in Hawaii and U.S. territories is likely to be small. To the extent that new imports of 

bananas from the Philippines to arrive in Hawaii and U.S territories, consumers would benefit 

from this additional source of fresh bananas. APHIS does not expect the proposed rule to have a 

significant economic impact on small entities. 

Projected Reporting, Recordkeeping, and Other Compliance 

Requirements

Reporting and recordkeeping requirements associated with the proposed rule are 

discussed in the rule under the heading "Paperwork Reduction Act."

 

2 http://www.unctad.org/infocomm/anglais/banana/market.htm

3 Hawaii Farm Facts, May 2010. 

http://www.nass.usda.gov/Statistics_by_State/Hawaii/Publications/Fruits_and_Nuts/annbanFF.pdf
4

Duplication, Overlap, or Conflict with Existing Rules and 

Regulations

APHIS has not identified any duplication, overlap, or conflict of the proposed rule with 

other Federal rules.

Alternatives to minimize Significant Economic Impacts of 

the Rule

Based on our review of available information, APHIS does not expect the proposed rule 

to have a significant economic impact on small entities. We have prepared this initial regulatory 

flexibility analysis because our understanding of possible economic effects of the rule on small 

entities is incomplete. In the absence of apparent significant economic impacts, we have not 

identified alternatives that would minimize such impacts.