This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER

contains notices to the public of the proposed

issuance of rules and regulations. The

purpose of these notices is to give interested

persons an opportunity to participate in the

rule making prior to the adoption of the final

rules.

Proposed Rules Federal Register

79634 

Vol. 78, No. 251 

Tuesday, December 31, 2013 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Animal and Plant Health Inspection 

Service 

7 CFR Part 319 

[Docket No. APHIS–2013–0016] 

RIN 0579–AD81 

Importation of Fresh Blueberry Fruit 

From Morocco Into the Continental 

United States 

AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health 

Inspection Service, USDA. 

ACTION: Proposed rule. 

SUMMARY: We are proposing to amend 

the regulations concerning the 

importation of fruits and vegetables to 

allow the importation of fresh blueberry 

fruit from Morocco into the continental 

United States. As a condition of entry, 

the blueberries would have to be 

produced under a systems approach 

employing a combination of mitigation 

measures for two quarantine pests, 

Ceratitis capitata and Monilinia 

fructigena, and would have to be 

inspected prior to exportation from 

Morocco and found free of these pests. 

The blueberries would have to be 

imported in commercial consignments 

only and would have to be treated with 

one of two approved postharvest 

treatments to mitigate the risk of C. 

capitata. The blueberries would also 

have to be accompanied by a 

phytosanitary certificate with an 

additional declaration stating that the 

conditions for importation have been 

met. This action would allow the 

importation of blueberries from 

Morocco while continuing to protect 

against the introduction of plant pests 

into the United States. 

DATES: We will consider all comments 

that we receive on or before March 3, 

2014. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments 

by either of the following methods: 

• Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to 

http://www.regulations.gov/

#!documentDetail;D=APHIS-2013-0016- 

0001. 

• Postal Mail/Commercial Delivery: 

Send your comment to Docket No. 

APHIS–2013–0016, 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-2013-0016 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: Ms. 

Dorothy Wayson, Senior Regulatory 

Policy Specialist, PPQ, APHIS, 4700 

River Road Unit 133, Riverdale, MD 

20737–1231; (301) 851–2036. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background 

The regulations in ‘‘Subpart—Fruits 

and Vegetables’’ (7 CFR 319.56–1 

through 319.56–62, referred to below as 

the regulations) prohibit or restrict the 

importation of fruits and vegetables into 

the United States from certain parts of 

the world to prevent the introduction 

and dissemination of plant pests that are 

new to or not widely distributed within 

the United States. 

The national plant protection 

organization (NPPO) of Morocco has 

requested that the Animal and Plant 

Health Inspection Service (APHIS) 

amend the regulations to allow fresh 

blueberry fruit from Morocco to be 

imported into the continental United 

States. 

As part of our evaluation of Morocco’s 

request, we prepared a pest risk 

assessment (PRA), titled ‘‘Importation of 

Fresh Fruit of Highbush Blueberry 

(Vaccinium corymbosum Linnaeus) and 

its hybrid varieties Southern Highbush 

Blueberry [V. corymbosum x 

angustifolium (V. x atlanticum) and V. 

corymbosum x virgatum] into the 

Continental United States from 

Morocco’’ (March 2012). The PRA 

evaluated the risks associated with the 

importation of blueberries into the 

continental United States from Morocco. 

The PRA identified two pests of 

quarantine significance present in 

Morocco that could be introduced into 

the United States through the 

importation of blueberries: Ceratitis 

capitata, the Meditterranean fruit fly, 

and Monilinia fructigena Honey ex 

Whetzel, a fungus. 

According to our PRA, both pests are 

rated high risk. Pests with high pest risk 

potential generally require measures in 

addition to inspection at the port of 

entry to mitigate risk. To recommend 

specific measures to mitigate the risk 

posed by the pests identified in the 

PRA, we prepared a risk management 

document (RMD). Copies of the PRA 

and RMD may be obtained from the 

person listed under FOR FURTHER

INFORMATION CONTACT or viewed on the 

Regulations.gov Web site (see 

ADDRESSES above for instructions for 

accessing Regulations.gov). 

Based on the recommendations of the 

RMD, we are proposing to allow the 

importation of blueberries from 

Morocco into the continental United 

States only if they are produced in 

accordance with a systems approach. 

The systems approach we are proposing 

would require that blueberries be 

imported only under the conditions 

described below. These conditions 

would be added to the regulations in a 

new § 319.56–63. 

Proposed paragraph (a) of § 319.56–63 

would state that blueberries from 

Morocco may be imported in 

commercial consignments only. Produce 

grown commercially is less likely to be 

infested with plant pests than 

noncommercial shipments. 

Noncommercial shipments are more 

prone to infestations because the 

commodity is often ripe to overripe, 

could be of a variety with unknown 

susceptibility to pests, and is often 

grown with little or no pest control. 

Commercial consignments, as defined in 

§ 319.56–2, are consignments that an 

inspector identifies as having been 

imported for sale and distribution. Such 

identification is based on a variety of 

indicators, including, but not limited to: 

Quantity of produce, type of packaging, 

identification of grower or packinghouse 

on the packaging, and documents 

consigning the fruits or vegetables to a 

wholesaler or retailer. 

Paragraph (b) would require 

blueberries to be grown at places of 

production that are registered with the 


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Federal Register / Vol. 78, No. 251 / Tuesday, December 31, 2013 / Proposed Rules 79635 

NPPO of Morocco. Registering places of 

production would allow APHIS and the 

NPPO of Morocco to trace back 

consignments of blueberries to the 

orchard of origin if a pest or disease of 

concern is detected after harvest. 

M. fructigena is the most common 

cause of fruit rot in the fruit orchards in 

Europe and Asia, causing characteristic 

brown rot symptoms that can easily be 

identified during visual inspections. 

Therefore, paragraph (c) would require 

that, 30 days prior to harvest, 

blueberries be inspected in the field by 

the NPPO of Morocco for signs of M. 

fructigena infestation. If the fungal 

disease is detected, the NPPO of 

Morocco would have to notify APHIS, at 

which point APHIS will prohibit the 

importation of blueberries into the 

continental United States from the place 

of production for the remainder of the 

season. The place of production may 

resume shipments of blueberries to the 

United States in the next growing 

season if an investigation is conducted 

and APHIS and the NPPO of Morocco 

agree that appropriate remedial actions 

have been taken. 

C. capitata produce oviposition scars 

in blueberries, but eggs are laid below 

the skin of the fruit and larvae are 

internal feeders; therefore, infested fruit 

may be overlooked during inspection. 

Thus, additional safeguards beyond 

field and packinghouse inspections 

would be necessary to prevent the pest 

from being introduced into the United 

States. The RMD discusses the use of 

two treatments to reduce the risk of C. 

capitata from blueberries from Morocco: 

Fumigation with methyl bromide 

according to treatment schedule T101– 

i–1–1 or cold treatment according to 

treatment schedule T107–a. Both are 

approved APHIS treatments for C. 

capitata in blueberries. 

Accordingly, paragraph (d) would 

require that each consignment of 

blueberries be treated in accordance 

with 7 CFR part 305 for C. capitata with 

one of the two above-mentioned 

treatment methods. Within part 305, 

§ 305.2 provides that approved 

treatment schedules are set out in the 

Plant Protection and Quarantine 

Treatment Manual, found online at 

http://www.aphis.usda.gov/import_

export/plants/manuals/ports/

downloads/treatment.pdf. Treatments 

would also be conducted in accordance 

with the other requirements of part 305. 

Paragraph (e) of § 319.56–63 would 

require each consignment of blueberries 

imported from Morocco into the 

continental United States to be 

accompanied by a phytosanitary 

certificate issued by the NPPO of 

Morocco with an additional declaration 

stating that the requirements of 

§ 319.56–63 have been met and the 

consignment has been inspected and 

found free of M. fructigena. 

Under the general conditions for the 

importation of fruits and vegetables in 

§ 319.56–3, each consignment of 

blueberries would be subject to further 

inspection at the port of entry into the 

United States. 

Executive Order 12866 and Regulatory 

Flexibility Act 

This proposed rule has been 

determined to be not significant for the 

purposes of Executive Order 12866 and, 

therefore, has not been reviewed by the 

Office of Management and Budget. 

In accordance with the Regulatory 

Flexibility Act, we have analyzed the 

potential economic effects of this action 

on small entities. The analysis is 

summarized below. Copies of the full 

analysis are available by contacting the 

person listed under FOR FURTHER

INFORMATION CONTACT or on the 

Regulations.gov Web site (see 

ADDRESSES above for instructions for 

accessing Regulations.gov). 

Morocco expects to export 360,000 

pounds of fresh blueberries to the 

continental United States annually. This 

quantity is equivalent to about one-tenth 

of 1 percent of U.S fresh blueberry 

supply, 2007–2011. Morocco is 

expected to export fresh blueberries to 

the continental United States in July 

and August. The U.S. blueberry season 

is from April to August. Even though 

the two seasons overlap and most, if not 

all, fresh blueberry producers in the 

United States are small entities, the 

relatively small quantity expected to be 

imported from Morocco would not 

significantly affect the U.S. market or 

prices. 

Under these circumstances, the 

Administrator of the Animal and Plant 

Health Inspection Service has 

determined that this action would not 

have a significant economic impact on 

a substantial number of small entities. 

Executive Order 12988 

This proposed rule would allow fresh 

blueberry fruit to be imported into the 

continental United States from Morocco. 

If this proposed rule is adopted, State 

and local laws and regulations regarding 

blueberries imported under this rule 

would be preempted while the fruit is 

in foreign commerce. Fresh fruits are 

generally imported for immediate 

distribution and sale to the consuming 

public and would remain in foreign 

commerce until sold to the ultimate 

consumer. The question of when foreign 

commerce ceases in other cases must be 

addressed on a case-by-case basis. If this 

proposed rule is adopted, no retroactive 

effect will be given to this rule, and this 

rule will not require administrative 

proceedings before parties may file suit 

in court challenging this rule. 

Paperwork Reduction Act 

In accordance with section 3507(d) of 

the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 

(44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.), the information 

collection or recordkeeping 

requirements included in this proposed 

rule have been submitted for approval to 

the Office of Management and Budget 

(OMB). Please send written comments 

to the Office of Information and 

Regulatory Affairs, OMB, Attention: 

Desk Officer for APHIS, Washington, DC 

20503. Please state that your comments 

refer to Docket No. APHIS–2013–0016. 

Please send a copy of your comments to: 

(1) APHIS, using one of the methods 

described under ADDRESSES at the 

beginning of this document, and (2) 

Clearance Officer, OCIO, USDA, Room 

404–W, 14th Street and Independence 

Avenue SW., Washington, DC 20250. A 

comment to OMB is best assured of 

having its full effect if OMB receives it 

within 30 days of publication of this 

proposed rule. 

This proposed rule would amend the 

fruits and vegetables regulations to 

allow the importation of fresh blueberry 

fruit from Morocco into the continental 

United States. As a condition of entry, 

the blueberries would have to be 

produced under a systems approach 

employing a combination of mitigation 

measures for two quarantine pests and 

would have to be inspected prior to 

exportation from Morocco and found 

free of these pests. The blueberries 

would have to be imported in 

commercial consignments only and 

would have to be treated with one of 

two approved postharvest treatments to 

mitigate the risk of C. capitata. The 

blueberries would also have to be 

accompanied by a phytosanitary 

certificate with an additional 

declaration stating that the conditions 

for importation have been met. 

Implementing this rulemaking would 

require production site registration and 

the completion of phytosanitary 

certificates. 

We are soliciting comments from the 

public (as well as affected agencies) 

concerning our proposed information 

collection and recordkeeping 

requirements. These comments will 

help us: 

(1) Evaluate whether the proposed 

information collection is necessary for 

the proper performance of our agency’s 

functions, including whether the 

information will have practical utility; 


emcdonald on DSK67QTVN1PROD with PROPOSALS
79636 Federal Register / Vol. 78, No. 251 / Tuesday, December 31, 2013 / Proposed Rules 

(2) Evaluate the accuracy of our 

estimate of the burden of the proposed 

information collection, including the 

validity of the methodology and 

assumptions used; 

(3) Enhance the quality, utility, and 

clarity of the information to be 

collected; and 

(4) Minimize the burden of the 

information collection on those who are 

to respond (such as through the use of 

appropriate automated, electronic, 

mechanical, or other technological 

collection techniques or other forms of 

information technology; e.g., permitting 

electronic submission of responses). 

Estimate of burden: Public reporting 

burden for this collection of information 

is estimated to average .55 hours per 

response. 

Respondents: NPPO of Morocco, 

blueberry producers in Morocco, and 

U.S. importers. 

Estimated annual number of 

respondents: 8. 

Estimated annual number of 

responses per respondent: 3. 

Estimated annual number of 

responses: 20. 

Estimated total annual burden on 

respondents: 11 hours. (Due to 

averaging, the total annual burden hours 

may not equal the product of the annual 

number of responses multiplied by the 

reporting burden per response.) 

Copies of this information collection 

can be obtained from Mrs. Celeste 

Sickles, APHIS’ Information Collection 

Coordinator, at (301) 851–2908. 

E-Government Act Compliance 

The Animal and Plant Health 

Inspection Service is committed to 

compliance with the EGovernment Act 

to promote the use of the Internet and 

other information technologies, to 

provide increased opportunities for 

citizen access to Government 

information and services, and for other 

purposes. For information pertinent to 

E-Government Act compliance related 

to this proposed rule, please contact 

Mrs. Celeste Sickles, APHIS’ 

Information Collection Coordinator, at 

(301) 851–2908. 

Lists of Subjects in 7 CFR Part 319 

Coffee, Cotton, Fruits, Imports, Logs, 

Nursery stock, Plant diseases and pests, 

Quarantine, Reporting and 

recordkeeping requirements, Rice, 

Vegetables. 

Accordingly, we are proposing to 

amend 7 CFR part 319 as follows: 

PART 319—FOREIGN QUARANTINE 

NOTICES 

■ 1. The authority citation for part 319 

continues to read as follows: 

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. 

■ 2. Section 319.56–63 is added to read 

as follows: 

§ 319.56–63 Fresh blueberries from 

Morocco. 

Fresh fruit of highbush blueberry 

(Vaccinimum corymbosum L.) and its 

hybrid varieties southern highbush 

blueberry [V. corymbosum x 

angustifolium (V. x atlanticum) and V. 

corymbosum x virgatum] may be 

imported into the continental United 

States from Morocco only under the 

conditions described in this section. 

These conditions are designed to 

prevent the introduction of the 

following quarantine pests: Ceratitis 

capitata, the Mediterranean fruit fly, 

and the fungus Monilinia fructigena 

Honey ex Whetzel. 

(a) The blueberries may be imported 

in commercial consignments only. 

(b) The blueberries must be grown at 

places of production that are registered 

with the national plant protection 

organization (NPPO) of Morocco. 

(c) During the growing season, 

blueberries must be inspected in the 

field for signs of M. fructigena 

infestation 30 days prior to harvest. If 

the fungal disease is detected, the NPPO 

of Morocco must notify APHIS. APHIS 

will prohibit the importation of 

blueberries from Morocco into the 

continental United States from the place 

of production for the remainder of the 

growing season. The exportation of 

blueberries from the rejected place of 

production may resume in the next 

growing season if an investigation is 

conducted and APHIS and the NPPO of 

Morocco agree that appropriate remedial 

actions have been taken. 

(d) Each consignment of blueberries 

must be treated in accordance with 7 

CFR part 305 for C. capitata. 

(e) Each consignment of blueberries 

must be accompanied by a 

phytosanitary certificate issued by the 

NPPO of Morocco with an additional 

declaration stating that the conditions of 

this section have been met, and that the 

consignment has been inspected prior to 

export from Morocco and found free of 

M. fructigena. 

Done in Washington, DC, this 20th day of 

December 2013. 

Kevin Shea, 

Administrator, Animal and Plant Health 

Inspection Service. 

[FR Doc. 2013–31144 Filed 12–30–13; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–34–P 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Animal and Plant Health Inspection 

Service 

7 CFR Parts 319 and 340 

[Docket No. APHIS–2008–0011] 

RIN 0579–AD75 

Restructuring of Regulations on the 

Importation of Plants for Planting 

AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health 

Inspection Service, USDA. 

ACTION: Proposed rule; reopening of 

comment period. 

SUMMARY: We are reopening the 

comment period for our proposed rule 

that would restructure the regulations 

governing the importation of plants for 

planting. We are requesting comments 

on our proposed framework for 

integrated pest risk management 

measures for plants for planting. We are 

especially interested in: The differences 

commenters perceive between 

International Standard for Phytosanitary 

Measures No. 36 and the North 

American Plant Protection 

Organization’s Regional Standard for 

Phytosanitary Measures No. 24, and 

reasons to prefer one over the other as 

a basis for such measures; and how to 

address the risk posed when plant 

brokers purchase and move plants for 

planting after they leave their place of 

production and before they are exported 

to the United States. This action will 

allow interested persons additional time 

to prepare and submit comments on 

these topics. 

DATES: The comment period for the 

proposed rule published April 25, 2013 

(78 FR 24634) is reopened. We will 

consider all comments that we receive 

on or before January 30, 2014. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments 

by either of the following methods: 

• Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to 

http://www.regulations.gov/

#!documentDetail;D=APHIS-2008-0011- 

0001. 

• Postal Mail/Commercial Delivery: 

Send your comment to Docket No. 

APHIS–2008–0011, 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-2008-0011 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 


emcdonald on DSK67QTVN1PROD with PROPOSALS