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[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 79 (Wednesday, April 24, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 24155-24156]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-09735]

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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service

[Docket No. APHIS-2013-0017]

Notice of Availability of a Pest Risk Analysis for Interstate 
Movement of Sapote Fruit From Puerto Rico Into the Continental United 
States

AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, USDA.

ACTION: Notice of availability.

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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 interstate 
movement into the continental United States of fresh sapote fruit from 
Puerto Rico. Based on that analysis, 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 interstate movement of sapote fruit from Puerto 
Rico. 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 June 
24, 2013.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by either of the following methods:
     Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to http://www.regulations.gov/#!documentDetail;D=APHIS-2013-0017-0001.
     Postal Mail/Commercial Delivery: Send your comment to 
Docket No. APHIS-2013-0017, 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-2013-
0017 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: Mr. David Lamb, Regulatory Policy 
Specialist, PPQ, APHIS, 4700 River Road Unit 133, Riverdale, MD 20737-
1231; (301) 851-2103.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

[[Page 24156]]

Background

    Under the regulations in ``Subpart--Regulated Articles From Hawaii 
and the Territories'' (7 CFR 318.13-1 through 318.13-26, 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 interstate movement of fruits and vegetables into the 
continental United States from Hawaii, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin 
Islands, Guam, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands to 
prevent plant pests and noxious weeds from being introduced into and 
spread within the continental United States. (The continental United 
States is defined in Sec.  318.13-2 of the regulations as the 48 
contiguous States, Alaska, and the District of Columbia.)
    Section 318.13-4 contains a performance-based process for approving 
the interstate movement of commodities that, based on the findings of a 
pest risk analysis, can be safely moved subject to one or more of the 
designated phytosanitary measures listed in paragraph (b) of that 
section.
    APHIS received a request from tropical fruit growers in Puerto Rico 
to allow the interstate movement of fresh sapote fruit (Pouteria 
sapota) from Puerto Rico to the continental United States. We have 
completed a pest risk assessment to identify pests of quarantine 
significance that could follow the pathway of interstate movement into 
the continental United States and, based on that pest risk assessment, 
have prepared a risk management document to identify phytosanitary 
measures that could be applied to the commodity to mitigate the pest 
risk. We have concluded that sapote fruit can be safely moved from 
Puerto Rico to the continental United States using one or more of the 
six designated phytosanitary measures listed in Sec.  318.13-4(b). The 
measures under which sapote fruit may be moved from Puerto Rico to the 
continental United States are:
     Inspection in Puerto Rico; and
     Movement of the sapote fruit as commercial consignments 
only.
    Therefore, in accordance with Sec.  318.13-4(c), we are announcing 
the availability of our pest risk assessment and risk management 
document for public review and comment. The documents 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 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 when requesting copies.
    After reviewing the comments we receive, we will announce our 
decision regarding the interstate movement of sapote fruit from Puerto 
Rico to the continental United States 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 begin allowing the interstate movement of 
sapote fruit from Puerto Rico to the continental United States subject 
to the requirements specified in the risk management document.

    Authority: 7 U.S.C. 7701-7772 and 7781-7786; 7 CFR 2.22, 2.80, 
and 371.3.

    Done in Washington, DC, this 18th day of April 2013.
Kevin Shea,
Acting Administrator, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
[FR Doc. 2013-09735 Filed 4-23-13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-34-P
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