[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 155 (Thursday, August 11, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Page 49726]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-20412]


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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service

[Docket No. APHIS-2010-0023]


Notice of Availability of a Pest Risk Analysis for the 
Importation of Fresh Cape Gooseberry Fruit With Husks From Chile

AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, USDA.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: We are advising the public that we have prepared a pest risk 
analysis that evaluates the risks associated with the importation into 
the continental United States of fresh Cape gooseberry fruit (Physalis 
peruviana L.) with husks from Chile. Based on this analysis, we 
concluded 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 
Cape gooseberry fruit from Chile. We are making the pest risk analysis 
available to the public for review and comment.

DATES: We will consider all comments that we receive on or before 
October 11, 2011.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by either of the following methods:
    <bullet> Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to http://www.regulations.gov/#!documentDetail;D=APHIS-2010-0023-0001.
    <bullet> Postal Mail/Commercial Delivery: Send your comment to 
Docket No. APHIS-2010-0023, Regulatory Analysis and Development, PPD, 
APHIS, Station 3A-03.8, 4700 River Road, Unit 118, Riverdale, MD 20737-
1238.
    Supporting documents and any comments we receive on this docket may 
be viewed at http://www.regulations.gov/#!docketDetail;D=APHIS-2010-
0023 or in our reading room, which 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.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Claudia Ferguson, Regulatory 
Policy Specialist, Regulations, Permits, and 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 319.56-51, 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.
    APHIS received a request from the national plant protection 
organization (NPPO) of the Republic of Chile to allow the importation 
of fresh Cape gooseberry fruit (Physalis peruviana L.), with husks, to 
be imported from Chile into the continental United States. We have 
completed a pest risk assessment for this commodity to identify pests 
of quarantine significance that could follow the pathway of importation 
into the United States and, based on this list, have prepared a risk 
management document to identify phytosanitary measures that could be 
applied to fresh Cape goosberry fruit with husks from Chile to mitigate 
the pest risk. We have concluded that fresh Cape gooseberry fruit with 
husks can be safely imported into the continental United States from 
Chile using one or more of the five designated phytosanitary measures 
listed in Sec.  319.56-4(b). For Cape gooseberry fruit with husks from 
Chile, these measures are:
    <bullet> Cape gooseberry fruit will be subject to inspection upon 
arrival in the United States.
    <bullet> Each consignment of Cape gooseberry fruit must be 
accompanied by a phytosanitary certificate issued by NPPO of Chile 
stating: ``The Cape gooseberry in the consignment has been inspected 
and is free of pests.''
    <bullet> Cape gooseberry fruit must be imported into the United 
States in commercial consignments only.
    Therefore, in accordance with Sec.  319.56-4(c), we are announcing 
the availability of our pest risk analysis for public review and 
comment. The pest risk analysis 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 analysis 
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 Cape gooseberry fruit 
with husks from Chile in a subsequent notice. If the overall 
conclusions of the analysis and the Administrator's determination of 
risk remain unchanged following our consideration of the comments, then 
we will authorize the importation of fresh Cape gooseberry fruit with 
husks from Chile into the continental United States subject to the 
requirements specified in the risk management document.

    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 5th day of August 2011.
Gregory L. Parham,
Administrator, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
[FR Doc. 2011-20412 Filed 8-10-11; 8:45 am]
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