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[Federal Register: August 25, 2010 (Volume 75, Number 164)]
[Notices]               
[Page 52302-52303]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr25au10-24]                         

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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.

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[[Page 52302]]

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service

[Docket No. APHIS-2010-0074]

 
Notice of Availability of Pest Risk Analyses for the Importation 
of Fresh Celery, Arugula, and Spinach From Colombia

AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, USDA.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: We are advising the public that we have prepared three pest 
risk analyses that evaluate, respectively, the risks associated with 
the importation into the continental United States of fresh celery, 
arugula, and spinach from Colombia. Based on these analyses, 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 
celery, arugula, and spinach from Colombia. We are making these pest 
risk analyses available to the public for review and comment.

DATES: We will consider all comments that we receive on or before 
October 25, 2010.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by either of the following methods:
     Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to (http://www.regulations.gov/fdmspublic/component/main?main=DocketDetail&d=APHIS-2010-0074) to submit or view comments 
and to view supporting and related materials available electronically.
     Postal Mail/Commercial Delivery: Please send one copy of 
your comment to Docket No. APHIS-2010-0074, Regulatory Analysis and 
Development, PPD, APHIS, Station 3A-03.8, 4700 River Road Unit 118, 
Riverdale, MD 20737-1238. Please state that your comment refers to 
Docket No. APHIS-2010-0074.
    Reading Room: You may read any comments that we receive on this 
docket in our reading room. The reading room is located in room 1141 of 
the USDA South Building, 14th Street and Independence Avenue SW., 
Washington, DC. Normal reading room hours are 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., 
Monday through Friday, except holidays. To be sure someone is there to 
help you, please call (202) 690-2817 before coming.
    Other Information: Additional information about APHIS and its 
programs is available on the Internet at (http://www.aphis.usda.gov).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Dorothy C. Wayson, Senior 
Regulatory Coordination Specialist, RPM, PHP, PPQ, APHIS, 4700 River 
Road Unit 141, Riverdale, MD 20737-1236; (301) 734-0772.

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 contains a performance-based process for approving 
the importation of commodities that, based on the findings of a pest-
risk analysis, can be safely imported subject to one or more of the 
designated phytosanitary measures listed in paragraph (b) of that 
section. These measures are:
     The fruits or vegetables are subject to inspection upon 
arrival in the United States and comply with all applicable provisions 
of Sec.  319.56-3;
     The fruits or vegetables are imported from a pest-free 
area in the country of origin that meets the requirements of Sec.  
319.56-5 for freedom from that pest and are accompanied by a 
phytosanitary certificate stating that the fruits or vegetables 
originated in a pest-free area in the country of origin;
     The fruits or vegetables are treated in accordance with 7 
CFR part 305;
     The fruits or vegetables are inspected in the country of 
origin by an inspector or an official of the national plant protection 
organization of the exporting country, and have been found free of one 
or more specific quarantine pests identified by the risk assessment as 
likely to follow the import pathway; and/or
     The fruits or vegetables are a commercial consignment.
    APHIS received a request from the Government of Colombia to allow 
the importation of fresh celery, arugula, and spinach from Colombia 
into the continental United States. We have completed a pest risk 
assessment for each of those commodities to identify pests of 
quarantine significance that could follow the pathway of importation 
into the United States and, based on those pest risk assessments, have 
prepared three risk management documents to identify phytosanitary 
measures that could be applied to fresh celery, arugula, and spinach 
from Colombia to mitigate the pest risk. We have concluded that fresh 
celery, arugula, and spinach can be safely imported into the 
continental United States from Colombia using one or more of the five 
designated phytosanitary measures listed in Sec.  319.56-4(b). 
Therefore, in accordance with Sec.  319.56-4(c), we are announcing the 
availability of our pest risk analyses for public review and comment. 
The pest risk analyses may be viewed on the Regulations.gov Web site or 
in our reading room (see ADDRESSES above for a link to Regulations.gov 
and information on the location and hours of the reading room). You may 
request paper copies of the pest risk analyses by calling or writing to 
the person listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT. Please refer 
to the subject of the pest risk analysis you wish to review when 
requesting copies.
    After reviewing any comments we receive, we will announce our 
decision regarding the import status of fresh celery, arugula, and 
spinach from Colombia in a subsequent notice. If the overall 
conclusions of the analyses and the Administrator's determination of 
risk remain unchanged following our consideration of the comments, then 
we will begin issuing permits for importation of fresh celery, arugula, 
and spinach from Colombia into the continental United States subject to 
the requirements specified in the risk management documents.

[[Page 52303]]

    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 18\th\ day of August 2010.

Kevin Shea
Acting Administrator, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
[FR Doc. 2010-21136 Filed 8-24-10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-34-S
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