[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 75 (Tuesday, April 19, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 21854-21855]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-9465]


========================================================================
Notices
                                                Federal Register
________________________________________________________________________

This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER contains documents other than rules 
or proposed rules that are applicable to the public. Notices of hearings 
and investigations, committee meetings, agency decisions and rulings, 
delegations of authority, filing of petitions and applications and agency 
statements of organization and functions are examples of documents 
appearing in this section.

========================================================================


Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 75 / Tuesday, April 19, 2011 / 
Notices

[[Page 21854]]



DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service

[Docket No. APHIS-2010-0104]


Notice of Decision To Authorize the Importation of Fresh Rambutan 
Fruit From Malaysia and Vietnam

AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, USDA.

ACTION: Notice.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: We are advising the public of our decision to authorize the 
importation into the continental United States of fresh rambutan fruit 
(Nephelium lappaceum) from Malaysia and Vietnam. Based on the findings 
of a pest risk analysis, which we made available to the public for 
review and comment through a previous notice, we believe that the 
application of one or more designated phytosanitary measures will be 
sufficient to mitigate the risks of introducing or disseminating plant 
pests or noxious weeds via the importation of fresh rambutan fruit from 
Malaysia and Vietnam.

DATES: Effective Date: April 19, 2011.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Claudia Ferguson, Regulatory 
Policy Specialist, Regulations, Permits, and Import Manuals, PPQ, 
APHIS, 4700 River Road Unit 133, Riverdale, MD 20737-1231; (301) 734-
0754.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    Under the regulations in ``Subpart--Fruits and Vegetables'' (7 CFR 
319.56-1 through 319.56-50, referred to below as the regulations), the 
Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) of the U.S. 
Department of Agriculture prohibits or restricts the importation of 
fruits and vegetables into the United States from certain parts of the 
world to prevent plant pests from being introduced into and spread 
within the United States.
    Section 319.56-4 of the regulations contains a performance-based 
process for approving the importation of commodities that, based on the 
findings of a pest risk analysis (PRA), can be safely imported subject 
to one or more of the designated phytosanitary measures listed in 
paragraph (b) of that section. Under that process, APHIS publishes a 
notice in the Federal Register announcing the availability of the PRA 
that evaluates the risks associated with the importation of a 
particular fruit or vegetable. Following the close of the 60-day 
comment period, APHIS may authorize the importation of the fruit or 
vegetable subject to the identified designated measures if: (1) No 
comments were received on the PRA; (2) the comments on the PRA revealed 
that no changes to the PRA were necessary; or (3) changes to the PRA 
were made in response to public comments, but the changes did not 
affect the overall conclusions of the analysis and the Administrator's 
determination of risk.
    In accordance with that process, we published a notice \1\ in the 
Federal Register on December 15, 2010 (75 FR 78207-78208, Docket No. 
APHIS-2010-0104), in which we announced the availability, for review 
and comment, of a PRA that evaluates the risks associated with the 
importation into the continental United States of fresh rambutan fruit 
(Nephelium lappaceum) from Malaysia and Vietnam. We solicited comments 
on the notice for 60 days ending on February 14, 2011. We received two 
comments by that date, from a State agriculture agency and an embassy 
agricultural affairs office. One commenter concurred with the 
mitigations described in the risk management document. The other 
commenter remarked that the notice itself did not specify which of the 
five designated phytosanitary measures would be required for the 
rambutan from Malaysia and Vietnam, so that it was not clear that APHIS 
was requiring treatment with irradiation. It is true that our December 
2010 notice itself did not cite the specific mitigation measures that 
we had identified for rambutan from Malaysia and Vietnam, but those 
measures were detailed in the risk mitigation document made available 
with the notice. Those mitigation measures are also described in this 
notice. Accordingly, we have determined that no changes to the PRA are 
necessary based on the comment.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \1\ To view the notice, the PRA, and the comments we received, 
go to http://www.regulations.gov/fdmspublic/component/main?main=DocketDetail&d=APHIS-2010-0104.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Therefore, in accordance with the regulations in Sec.  319.56-
4(c)(2)(ii), we are announcing our decision to authorize the 
importation into the continental United States of fresh rambutan fruit 
from Malaysia and Vietnam subject to the following phytosanitary 
measures:
    <bullet> The rambutan may be imported into the continental United 
States in commercial consignments only.
    <bullet> For rambutan from Malaysia, each consignment must be 
inspected by the national plant protection organization (NPPO) of 
Malaysia using a sampling procedure mutually agreed upon by APHIS and 
the NPPO. A representative sample of fruit must be drawn from each lot, 
inspected, and found free from the fungus Oidium nephelii.
    <bullet> The rambutan must be irradiated in accordance with 7 CFR 
part 305 with a minimum absorbed dose of 400 Gy.
    <bullet> If the irradiation treatment is applied outside the United 
States, each consignment of fruit must be precleared by APHIS 
inspectors in the country of origin (i.e., Malaysia or Vietnam). The 
rambutan must be jointly inspected by APHIS and the NPPO of the country 
of origin and accompanied by a phytosanitary certificate (PC) attesting 
that the fruit received the required irradiation treatment. For 
rambutan from Malaysia, the PC must also include an additional 
declaration stating that the consignment was inspected and found free 
from Oidium nephelii.
    <bullet> For rambutan from Malaysia, if the irradiation treatment 
is to be applied upon arrival in the United States, each consignment of 
fruit must be inspected by the Malaysia NPPO prior to departure and 
accompanied by a PC with an additional declaration stating that the 
consignment has been inspected and found free from Oidium nephelii.
    These conditions will be listed in the Fruits and Vegetables Import 
Requirements database (available at http://www.aphis.usda.gov/favir). 
In addition to these specific measures, rambutan fruit from Malaysia 
and Vietnam will be subject to the general

[[Page 21855]]

requirements listed in Sec.  319.56-3 that are applicable to the 
importation of all fruits and vegetables. Further, for fruits and 
vegetables requiring treatment as a condition of entry, the 
phytosanitary treatments regulations in 7 CFR part 305 contain 
administrative and procedural requirements that must be observed in 
connection with the application and certification of specific 
treatments.

    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.

    Done in Washington, DC, this 13th day of April 2011.
Kevin Shea,
Acting Administrator, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
[FR Doc. 2011-9465 Filed 4-18-11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-34-P