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[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 78 (Thursday, April 23, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 22702-22703]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-09468]

[[Page 22702]]

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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service

[Docket No. APHIS-2015-0006]

Notice of Availability of a Treatment Evaluation Document; Hot 
Water Treatment of Oversized Mangoes

AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, USDA.

ACTION: Notice of availability and request for comments.

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SUMMARY: We are advising the public that we have determined that it is 
necessary to amend hot water treatment schedule T102-a in the Plant 
Protection and Quarantine Treatment Manual to extend the applicability 
of the treatment to additional mango commodities. We have prepared a 
treatment evaluation document that describes the revised treatment 
schedule and explains why we have determined that it is effective at 
neutralizing certain target pests. We are making this treatment 
evaluation document available to the public for review and comment.

DATES: We will consider all comments that we receive on or before June 
22, 2015.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by either of the following methods:
     Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to http://www.regulations.gov/#!docketDetail;D=APHIS-2015-0006.
     Postal Mail/Commercial Delivery: Send your comment to 
Docket No. APHIS-2015-0006, 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-2015-
0006 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) 799-7039 before coming.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. Inder P.S. Gadh, Senior Risk 
Manager--Treatments, PPQ, APHIS, 4700 River Road Unit 133, Riverdale, 
MD 20737-1231; (301) 851-2018.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The regulations in 7 CFR chapter III are 
intended, among other things, to prevent the introduction or 
dissemination of plant pests and noxious weeds into or within the 
United States. Under the regulations, certain plants, fruits, 
vegetables, and other articles must be treated before they may be moved 
into the United States or interstate. The phytosanitary treatments 
regulations contained in 7 CFR part 305 (referred to below as the 
regulations) set out standards for treatments required in 7 CFR parts 
301, 318, and 319 for fruits, vegetables, and other articles.
    In Sec.  305.2, paragraph (b) states that approved treatment 
schedules are set out in the Plant Protection and Quarantine (PPQ) 
Treatment Manual.\1\ Section 305.3 sets out the processes for adding, 
revising, or removing treatment schedules in the PPQ Treatment Manual. 
In that section, paragraph (b) sets out the process for adding, 
revising, or removing treatment schedules when there is an immediate 
need to make a change. The circumstances in which an immediate need 
exists are described in Sec.  305.3(b)(1). They are:
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    \1\ The PPQ Treatment Manual is available at  http://www.aphis.usda.gov/import_export/plants/manuals/index.shtml or by 
contacting the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, Plant 
Protection and Quarantine, Manuals Unit, 92 Thomas Johnson Drive, 
Suite 200, Frederick, MD 21702.
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     PPQ has determined that an approved treatment schedule is 
ineffective at neutralizing the targeted plant pest(s).
     PPQ has determined that, in order to neutralize the 
targeted plant pest(s), the treatment schedule must be administered 
using a different process than was previously used.
     PPQ has determined that a new treatment schedule is 
effective, based on efficacy data, and that ongoing trade in a 
commodity or commodities may be adversely impacted unless the new 
treatment schedule is approved for use.
     The use of a treatment schedule is no longer authorized by 
the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency or by any other Federal 
entity.
    A treatment currently listed in the PPQ Treatment Manual (T102-a) 
requires mango (Mangifera indica) to be treated with hot water 
immersion to prevent the introduction into the United States of 
Ceratitis capitata (Mediterranean fruit fly) and Anastrepha spp. fruit 
flies, including A. ludens (Mexican fruit fly). Historically, the 
treatment schedules for T102-a required the fruit to undergo different 
immersion times based on the fruit's country of origin, shape, and size 
(weight). While rounded mango varieties weighing up to 900 grams were 
authorized for importation from Mexico, Central America (north of and 
including Costa Rica), Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and the 
West Indies excluding islands of Aruba, Bonaire, Curacao, Margarita, 
Tortuga, and Trinidad and Tobago, the maximum allowable size of rounded 
mango varieties that could be treated with T102-a and imported into the 
United States from Panama, countries in South America, and the West 
Indies islands of Aruba, Bonaire, Curacao, Margarita, Tortuga, and 
Trinidad and Tobago was only 650 grams.
    In 2009, the national plant protection organization (NPPO) of Peru 
formally requested that the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service 
(APHIS) amend the PPQ Treatment Manual to allow the use of T102-a 
hot[hyphen]water immersion treatment as a phytosanitary treatment to 
mitigate fruit fly risks in mangoes weighing more than 650 grams. A 
similar interest had previously been expressed by other countries in 
South America, namely Brazil, Ecuador, and Venezuela. Based on research 
conducted by the NPPO of Peru in support of its request, APHIS has 
concluded that the T102-a treatment schedule of 110[hyphen]minute fruit 
immersion in a constant 70 [deg]F (41.6 [deg]C) hot-water bath is an 
efficacious phytosanitary treatment for eggs and larvae of C. capitata 
and Anastrepha spp. fruit flies in mangoes weighing 651 to 900 grams 
and that the treatment is effective for these over-sized mangoes 
regardless of their country of origin.
    In 2014, APHIS inspectors working in Mexico and Brazil observed 
that approximately 20 percent of the treatments using the T102-a 
treatment schedule involving ``flat'' or ``elongated'' mangoes weighing 
between 525 grams and 570 grams contained fruit that did not reach the 
target pulp temperature for mitigating the risk from fruit flies at the 
end of treatment duration. However, after conducting a literature 
review, APHIS determined that mango shape did not affect the efficacy 
of the treatment. Therefore, as an emergency measure, the treatment was 
amended so that all would have to undergo hot water immersion treatment 
with treatment duration strictly governed by weight class. Treatment 
duration times were based on the treatment duration times previously 
put in place for rounded mangoes from those countries. As an emergency 
measure, this action was done administratively and was not meant to be 
permanent.
    Based on Peru's research validating treatment efficacy on over-
sized mangoes and APHIS' conclusion that the 110-minute immersion at 70 
[deg]F treatment covers mangoes weighing up to 900 grams regardless of 
their country

[[Page 22703]]

of origin, APHIS has determined that restrictions associated with shape 
or country of origin are no longer relevant. Therefore, in accordance 
with Sec.  305.3(b)(2), we are providing notice that we have determined 
that it is necessary to amend treatment schedule T102-a to specify the 
following weight-based dip times:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                    Then the dip time
           If the weight is (grams):                  (minutes) is:
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Up to 375......................................                       65
376 to 500.....................................                       75
501 to 700.....................................                       90
701 to 900.....................................                      110
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Valid if the fruit is not hydro-cooled within 30 minutes of removal from
  the hot-water immersion tank. Alternatively, 10 minutes may be added
  to the treatment duration to allow immediate hydro-cooling.

    In order to have minimum adverse impact on the ongoing trade of 
this commodity from mango exporting countries, we are making these 
changes effective immediately upon publication of this notice.
    The reasons for these revisions to the treatment manual are 
described in detail in the treatment evaluation document (TED) we have 
prepared to support this action. The TED may be viewed on the 
Regulations.gov Web site or in our reading room (see ADDRESSES above 
for instructions for accessing Regulations.gov and information on the 
location and hours of the reading room). You may also request paper 
copies of the TED by calling or writing to the person listed under FOR 
FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT. Please refer to the subject of the TED 
when requesting copies.
    After reviewing the comments we receive, we will announce our 
decision regarding the revised treatment schedule described in the TED 
in a subsequent notice, in accordance with paragraph (b)(3) of Sec.  
305.3. If we do not receive any comments, or the comments we receive do 
not change our determination that the proposed changes are effective, 
we will affirm these changes to the PPQ Treatment Manual and make 
available a new version of the PPQ Treatment Manual reflecting these 
changes. If we receive comments that cause us to determine that 
additional changes need to be made to treatment schedule T102-a, we 
will make available a new version of the PPQ Treatment Manual that 
reflects the changes.

    Authority: 7 U.S.C. 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 17th day of April 2015.
Kevin Shea,
Administrator, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
[FR Doc. 2015-09468 Filed 4-22-15; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3410-34-P
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