### United States

Department of Agriculture Anim al and Plant Health Inspection Service August 2013 **Final Regulatory Flexibility Analysis**

**Final Rule**  **APHIS 2012 -**  **0078 RIN 0579**  **- AD72**  **Importation of female squash flowers (**  **Cucu r**  **bita pepo L**

**.) from Israel** 

Policy & Program Development Policy Analysis & Developmenti



### Summary This final rule will amend the regulations to allow, under certain conditions, the importation of female squash flowers ( Cucu r bita pepo L.) from Israel into the continental United States. Squash flowers have gained in popularity as an elegant way

to garnish dishes, desserts , and salads , and as an ingredient in other dishes

. Marketing of commerciall y grown edible flowers is ty

picall y directed to clientele at upsc ale restaurants. Farms that solel y produce squash flowers are rare. The blossoms are t ypically a b y product of squash fruit production. Squash is commerciall y produced throughout the United States, but principally

in Michigan, California, Florida, and Ge orgia. The Small Business Administration’s small

- entity standard for U.S farms that produce squash is annual receipts of not more than $750,000. In2007, the average market value of sales by the 11,821 U.S farms that produced squash was about $17,222, w ell below the small

- entity standard. We infer that by far most farms producing squash, including farms producing squash flowers, are small entities. Is rael is expecting to export 10 metric tons of fresh female squash flowers annually to the United States. We do not know the quantity or value of female squash flower production in the United States, or the quantity or value of female squash flowers imported from other countries. Without basic production and trade information, we are unable to evaluate pote ntial impacts of this final rule.ii



### Table of Contents Summary

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

................................ ................................ ................................ ......................... 3 Need for and Objectives of the Rule

................................ ................................ ................... 2 Significant Issues raised by Public Comment in response to the Initial Regulatory Flexibility

Anal ys is

................................ ................................ ................................ ............. 3 Comments filed by

the Small Business Ad ministration in response to the Proposed Rule 4 Potentially

Affected Small Entities

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

..................... 5 Steps taken by

APHI S to minimize Significant Economic I mpacts on Small Entities

...... 6iii



### Introduction The Regulatory

Flexibility

Act requires agencies to evaluate the potential effects of their final and proposed rules on smal l businesses, small organizations and small governmental jurisdictions. This final regulatory flexibility

analy sis describes expected impacts of this rule on small entities, as required by s ection 60 4 of the Act. APHI S received a request from I srael to au thorize the importation of fresh female squash flowers ( Cucurbita pepo L .) into the continental United States. Inresponse to I srael’s request, APHI S developed a risk assessment identify ing mitigation measures that will prevent the introduction of plant p ests in commercial shipments. Under this risk assessment, female squash blossoms will enter the United States under a s ys tems approach. The sy stems approach includes measures such as growing in registered production areas, ph yt osanitary certification, in spection at the port entry , and labeling of containers transporting blossoms. Female squash flowers have gained in popularity as an elegant way

to garnish dishes, desserts, and salads, and as an ingredient in other dishes. Squash blossoms are marketed as individually

- wrapped male or female flowers. Marketing of commercially grown edible flowers is ty picall y directed to clientele at upscale restaurants. Harvesting and sale of squash blossoms is time

- sensitive; they

must me picked before growth of the squ ash fruit, and they have a maximum shelf life of two day s. 1

1 The Packer online news. http://www.thepacker.com/Spring

- interest

- blossoms

- in

- squash

- flowers

- babies

- 140306443.html2

Squash flowers are a b y - product of squash production. Production of squash plants solely for the purpose of harvesting the flowers is rare. 2 Israel expects to export 10 metric tons ( MT ) of fema le squash flowers to the continental United States per ye ar. Lack of production and trade data specific to female squash flowers prevents an informed examination of expected market effects of the final rule. U.S. squash production will not be affected b y this final rule. However, as context, we provide information on U.S. squash production levels, 2009

- 20 11 , in table 1. In 2011 , the United States produced 337,337 MT, up from 327,448 MT in 2009

. Florida was the largest supplier over the three

- year peri od shown in table 1, with an average production of 60,000 MT followed b y Michigan (59,000 MT), California (56,000 MT), and Georgia (30,000 MT). The percentage share of U.S. production by these four States averaged 64 percent.

2 Institute of Food and Agricultural Services

- University of Florida.3

Table 1. Squash p roduction in Michigan, California, Florid a, Georgia, and nationally , 2009

- 2011
State Aver age 2009- 2011 2009 2010 2011 Fl or id a 51, 891 49, 532 78, 245 59, 889 Mi ch ig an 61, 915 59, 874 55, 157 58, 982 Cal ifo rni a 55, 248 60, 781 52, 435 56, 155 Ge orgi a 48, 081 21, 772 21, 228 30, 360 To tal U. S pr oduc ti on 327, 448 305, 177 337, 337 323, 321 To tal P roducti on of l ist ed State s 217, 135 191, 960 207, 065 205, 387 Per ce ntage share o f lis te d Sta te s 66% 63% 61% 64% P ro duc ti on (M et ri c To ns)

Sourc e: N ASS Stati sti cs of V eg et abl es an d Me lo ns, http://www.nass.usda.gov/Publ ic ati ons/Ag_ Stati sti cs/ 2011/ Cha pte r04. pdf 

### Need for and Objectives of the Rule The final rule is in response to a request made b y the government of Israel for APHIS to amend the regulations to allow for the commercial shipment into the United States of fresh female squash flowers, Cucurbita pepo L. A sy stems approach will be used to mitigate the risks posed by certain plant pests. The objective of this final rule is to allow female squash flo wers to be imported into the United States from Israel. 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 an y plant product if the Sec retary determines that the prohibition or restriction is necessary to prevent the introduction of a plant pest or noxious weed into the United States. The final rule is part of a continuing program to allow the importation , under certain conditions, of fo reign agricultural products that APHI S has determined are without significant risk of introducing pests or diseases into the United States.4



### Significant Issues **raised by**  **Public Comment in response to**  **the Initial Regulatory Flexibility Analysis** No significant issues were raised in response to the Initial Regulatory Flexibility Analy sis. However, o ne comment er stated that there would be no public benefit from importing female squash flowers other than, at best, a slight decrease in price; the risk to domesti c agriculture could be enormous ; there would be additional cost s to the United States Government for enforcing compliance ; and the rule contains no provision for importers to pay a bond that would compensate domestic farmers for harm caused by failure to a bide by the import requirements

. In response to this comment er’s concern s, APHI S agrees that there could be a slight decrease in pric e because of an additional supply of female squash flowers, providing a net benefit to the econom y . We disagree with the commenter’s concern that the rule may cause enormous risk to domestic farmers. APHIS has determined that under the prescribed sy stems approach the stated mitigations will adequatel y reduce the risk of quarantine pests entering the United States. T his fin al rule will not result in additional compliance enforcement costs for the U .S. Government

. Agricultural quarantine and inspection (AQI) services provided by APHI S and Customs and Border Protection of the Department of Homeland Security are principall y fu nded through user fees, not taxpay er dollars. AQI budgetary planning takes into account expanding demand for AQI services. Lastl y, APHIS has no expectation that importers and other parties will not abide by

the phy tosanitary requirements of the rule.5



### C **omments filed by the Small Business Administration in**  **response to the Proposed Rule**  No comments were filed by the Small Business Administration. 

### Potentially **Affected Small Entities**  Squash flower production is classified within the North American Industry Classification Sy stem under other Vegetables (except Potato) and Melon Farming (NAICS 111219). The Small Business Administration classifies a business in this industry as small if its annual receipts are not more than $750,000. 3 The latest data on the number of farms that produce squash are found in the 2007 Census of Agriculture. In 2007, the average market value of squash sold by farms was about $17,222. 4 We infer that the majority of farms producing squash and squash flowers are small entities. Tabl e 2 shows that between 2002 and 2007, the number of farms producing squash increased from 11,035 to 11,821, while the area from which squash was harvested decreased from 71,236 acres to 54,454 acres. In 2007, Michigan, California, Florida, and Georgia had 14 percent of the nation’s squash farms and 46 percent of squash acreage.

3 Sm all Business Administration Table of Small Business Size Standards http://www.sba.gov/sites/default/files/files/Size_Standards_Table.pdf 4 2007 U.S Census of Agriculture and NASS Statistics of Vegetables and Melons http://www.nass.usda.gov/Publications/Ag_Statistics/2011/Chapter04.pdf6

Table 2. U.S squash: Number of farms and area harvested in leading States, 2002 and 2007

State Number of fa rms in 2007 Number of

Farms i n 2 002 2007 2002

U. S 11, 821 11, 035 54, 454 71, 236 Cal ifor ni a 706 830 5, 535 10, 302 Flor id a 188 406 7, 349 9, 692 Mi ch ig an 582 802 7, 513 7, 341 Ge orgi a 184 238 4, 502 9, 013 Wi sc onsi n 547 625 1, 003 1, 243 Mi nessota 476 387 931 908 New Jer se y 297 588 3, 453 3, 760 New Yo rk 742 1098 3, 896 4, 226 Nor th Carol in a 503 351 2, 864 2, 864 Ar izona * 1253 49 689 324 Othe rs 7, 596 5, 710 17, 408 21, 887

Share o f U. S: Top State 0. 06 0. 10 0. 14 0. 14 Top thre e state s 0. 17 0. 25 0. 37 0. 41 Top five state s 0. 26 0. 36 0. 53 0. 57 Hi ghe st produc ti on State s (fr om tabl e 1) 0. 14 0. 21 0. 46 0. 51

Source: Ce ns us o f Agr iculture, 2007 an d 2002. *Ow ne d by the Na va jo Re servation, theref ore, they ar e not included in the tota l of n umber of

fa rms . Ac res Number

Pe rcen t



### Projected Reporting, Recordkeeping, and **Other Complian**  **ce Requirement**  **s** Reporting and recordkeeping requirements associated with the final rule are discussed in the rule under the heading "Paperwork Reduction Act." There will be no compliance costs specific to this rule for U.S. small entities.7



### Steps taken **by APHIS to minimize Significant Economic Impact**  **s on Small Entities**  Based on our review of available information, APHI S does not expect the rule to have a significant economic impact on small entities. We have prepared this final regulatory flexibility
anal ys is because our understanding of possible economic effects of the rule on small entities is incomplete. In the absence of apparent significant economic impacts, we have not identified alternatives that would minimize such impacts.