### Analysis in Support of Certification that the Rule will not

have a Significant Economic Impact on a Substantial

Number of Small Entities Proposed Rule Amend 7 CFR Part 319 , Revision of Clementines from

Spain Regulations
APHIS 2010 - 0036

U.S. D epartment of Agriculture Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service

December 20101



### Introduction This analy sis provides the basis, as required by the Regulatory

Flexibility

Act, for certification by

the APHIS Administrator that the proposed rule, if promu lgated, will not have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities. The rule proposes to amend the regulations governing the importation of clementines from Spain by

removing from the regulations the number of clementines per con signment intended for export to the United States that are required to be sampled b y i nspectors of APHIS. In place of this number, we propose to state in the regulations that the number to be sampled will be determined b y APH IS and included in the workplan agreement between APHI S and the Government of Spain. This action would allow APHI S to determine a sample number based on the risk level of Mediterranean fruit fly without having to amend the regulations. By removing from the regulations the number of c lementines per consignment from Spain to be sampled, APHI S would have the flexibility to respond to changing risk levels while continuing to provide protection against the introduction of quarantine pests. A consignment of clementines consists of one or more lots containing no more than a
c ombined total of 200,000 boxes of clementines that are presented to an inspector for pre - treatment inspection. Under the current regulation, the percentage of sampled clementines ranges from 0.02 percent to 0.1 percent per consignment inspected. Even if inspection amounts were increased two or three times when there is a higher pest risk (or reduced when there is a lower pest risk) , the percentage of clementines sampled would remain negligible. While this rul e would help reduce the risk of pest introduction , we are unable to quantify the economic impact of decreasing the probabilit y of introducing Medfl y into the United States.2

Medfly introductions can be very costl y to producers and to the Federal and State governments. The mean cost of eradicating six Medfly outbreaks in 2007 was $13.54 million. 

### Potential Impact on Small Entities The 2007 Census of Agriculture classifies orange varieties other than Valencia oranges as “other orange” varieties. They in clude navels, tangerines, tangelos, temples, Satsuma and other mandarin varieties, such as clementines. In 2007, there were 9,659 “other orange” operations, with California and Florida growers accounting for 89 percent of all U.S. operations, and the grov e acreages in California and Florida accounting for 98 percent of the U.S. total. The Small Business Administration small

- entity standard for citrus (except orange) groves is $750,000 or less in annual receipts. 1 Average annual sales per “other orange” g rower are estimated to have been about $124,000 in 2009. 2 Clearly , “other orange” growers, including producers of clementines, are predominantly small entities. According to the 2007 Census of Agriculture, there were 12,017 small family citrus farms, incl uding 1,453 limited resource citrus farms (table 1). 3 Small family citrus farms comprise about 77 percent of all citrus farms.

1 NAICS 111320. http://www.sba.gov/idc/groups/public/documents/sba_homepage/serv_sstd_tablepdf.pdf 2 Average sales per entity is base d on the number of “other orange” grow ers recorded in the 2007 Census of Agriculture, i.e., 9,659 operations, and the total value of fresh and processed non

- Valencia oranges reported in the 2009 USDA

- NASS Citrus fruits 2009 Summary, i.e., $1.2 billion. htt p://usda.mannlib.cornell.edu/usda/current/CitrFrui/CitrFrui

- 09

- 24

- 2009.pdf 3 USDA ERS. Structure and Finances of U.S. Family Farms: Family Farm Report, 2007 edition, EIB

- 24 Any farm where the operator and persons related to the operator own a majority of the business is considered a family farm. Sm all family farms have annual gross sales of less than $250,000. This category of farms is further divided into retirement farms (operators reporting they are retired), residential/ lifestyle farms (operators re porting a major occupation other than farming), and farming

- occupation farms (operators reporting farming as their major occupation). Farming

- occupation farms are further classified as low

- sales small family farms (gross sales less than $100,000) and high

- sales small family farms (gross sales between $100,000 and $249,000). Limited resource farms have (a) direct or indirect gross farm sales of not more than $100,000 and (b) a total household income at or below the national poverty level for a family of four, or less than 50 percent of county median household income. By definition, limited resource farms qualify as small family farms, but they are identified as a separate category in the 2007 Census of Agriculture.3

This rule would not have a significant economic effect on producers of clementines or other U.S. entities, regardless of thei r size or resources. As described, an increase or decrease in the number of fruit sampled due to pest risk level changes would have a negligible effect on the number of clementines imported from Spain. Under these circumstances, th e Administrator of the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service has determined that this action w ould not have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities. Table 1. Number and percentage of limited resource and other small family citrus farms, 2007
Limited resource farms Retirement

farms Residential/

lifestyle farms Farm ing

occupation/ low er sales Farm ing

occupation/ higher sales Total small

family farms All citrus

farms Number of citrus farms 1,453 3,567 4,866 1,639 492 12,0 17 15,658 Percentage of total citrus farms 9% 23% 31% 10% 3% 77% 100% Source: USDA NASS, 2007 Census of Agriculture.