### United States Department of Agriculture
Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service January 2011 Initial Regulatory Flexibility Analysis
Proposed Rule 10

- 113

- 1 RIN 0579

- [XXXX] Importation of p itaya fruit from Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Panama into the c ontinental United States

Policy & Program Development Policy Analysis & Developmenti 

### Summary
This proposed rule would allow the importation of fresh pitaya fruit into the continental
United States from the Central American countries of Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Panama , using one or more of the designated phytosanitary measures listed in 7 CFR 319.56

- 4(b). E ntities potentially affected by the proposed
rule are U.S. pitaya fruit growers , of which most, if not all, are small entities

. Pitaya fruit is produced in Hawaii, California, and Florida, but the quantities domestically produced, numbers of U.S. producers, quantities imported, and other fac tors needed to assess likely economic effects of this rule are not known. The quantity of pitaya fruit that would be imported from Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Panama is also unknown. Nicaragua estimates exporting 1,200 metri c tons (60 forty

- foot containers) of pitaya fruit to the continental U.S. annually, and it is thought that the other countries may ship similar
or less amounts. Lack of information about the quantity of pitaya fruit that would be imported from this
group o f countries, and about the quantities produced and already imported by the United States, prevents a clear understanding of what the economic effects of the proposed rule may be. We welcome information that the public may offer regarding the possible econ omic effects of this
rule for U.S. small entities.

### Table of Contents Summary

................................ ................................ ................................ .............................. i
Introduction

................................ ................................ ................................ ......................... 3 Initial Regulatory Flexibility Analysis

................................ ................................ ................ 3 Reasons Action is Being Considered

................................ ................................ .............. 3 Objective of and Legal Basis for th e Rule

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

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

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

........................ 3 Alternatives to minimize Significant Economic Impacts of the Rule

............................. 3

### Introduction
APHIS received request s from the National Plant Protection Organizations of Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Panama to export pitaya fruit to the continental United States. Pitaya fruit (also commonly referred to as pitahaya or dragon fruit) is a form of cacti fruit native to Central America. The popularity of pitaya fruit in the United States has been steadily rising due to increase d interest in exotic fruits and their health
ben efits. H ealth benefits of pitaya fruit include lowering blood glucose levels in type 2 diabetes, high antioxidant amounts, high vitamin C levels, and dietary fiber. 1 

### Initial Regulatory Flexibility Analysis
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. Section 603 of the Act requires agencies to prepare and make available for public comment an initial regulat ory flexibility analysis that describes expected impacts of a proposed
rule on small entities. Reasons Action is Being Considered The proposed rule is in response to request s made by Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Pa nama for APHIS to amend the regulations to allow
fresh pitaya fruit from these countries to be imported into the continental United States.

1 http://dragonfruitpitaya.com/Objective of and Legal Basis for the Rule The objective of the rule is to allow fresh pitaya fruit to be imported in to the continental
United States from Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and
Panama

. APHIS has determined that fresh pitaya fruit can be safely imported from these
countries under certain conditions. The legal basis for this action is the Plant Protection Act (7
U.S.C. 7701

- 7772 ) , which authorizes the Secretary of Agriculture to prohibit or restrict the importation of any plant product if the Secretary determines that the prohibition or restriction is necessary to prevent the introduction of a plant pest or noxious weed into the United States. The proposed rule is part of a continuing program to allow the importation of foreign agricultural products that APHIS has determined are without significant risk of introducing pests o r diseases
into the United States. Potentially Affected Smal l Entities Farms producing pitaya fruit are classified within the North American Industry Classification System under Other Noncitrus Fruit Farming (NAICS 111 339). For this industry
classificatio n, a business is considered to be a small entity if its annual receipts are not more than $750,000. 2 The average 2007 market value of crops sold by farms classified within Fruit and Tree Nut Farming (which includes Other Noncitrus Fruit Farming) was less than $188,000. 3

APHIS has been unsuccessful in acquiring information on the U.S. market for pitaya fruit. At this point, we do not know the quantit y of pitaya fruit domestic ally produced, numbers of U.S. producers, the quantity i mported, or other factors needed to assess likely economic We infer that the majority of farms producing pitaya fruit are small entities.

2 U.S. Small Business Administration, Table of Small Business Size Standards. http://www.sba.gov/idc/groups/public/documents/sba_homepage/serv_sstd_tablepdf.pdf 3 2007 Census of Agriculture , Table 62

. Selected Characteristics of Farms by North American Industry Classification System: 2007 , http://www.agcensus.usda.gov/Publications/2007/Full_Report/usv1.pdfeffects of this rule. P itaya fruit is produced in Hawaii, California, and Florida . Hawaii’s pitaya production is mainly consumed within tha t S tate.
T he quantity of pitaya fruit that would be imported from Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Panama is unknown. Nicaragua estimates exporting 1 , 200 metric tons (60 forty

- foot containers) of pitaya fruit to the continental U.S. annually. The other countries may ship similar or less amounts. 4

Projected Reporting, Recordkeeping, and Other Compliance Requirement s Lack of information about the quantit y of pitaya
fruit that would be imported from this group of countries, and about the quantities produced and already imported by the United States , prevents a clear understanding of what the economic effects of the proposed rule may be.

Reporting and recordkeeping re quirements associated with the proposed rule are
discussed in th e rule under the heading "Paperwork Reduction Act." 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 APHIS has no basis for assuming that the proposed rule would result in significant economic impacts for a substantial number of small entities. We have therefore not identified
alternatives that would minimize suc h impacts.

4 USDA

- APHIS

- PPQ Importation of Fresh Pitaya Fruit, Hylocereus spp. a nd several other genera and species, from Central America into the Continental United States: A Multi

- Genus, Regional, Pathway

- Initiated Pest Risk Assessment