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<body><h1>Initial Regulatory Flexibility Analysis</h1>
<h1>Proposed Rule
</h1>
<h1 class="title">Importation of Shepherd’s Purse from Korea
</h1>
<h1 class="title">Docket Number 09-086-01
</h1>
<h2 class="subtitle">U.S. Department of Agriculture
</h2>
<h2 class="subtitle">Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service
</h2>
<h2>June 2010</h2>
<p><b>Introduction 
</b></p>
<p class="noskip">APHIS, in response to a request from the Republic of Korea to export fresh shepherd’s purse with roots into the United States, has conducted a pest risk analysis and determined that this commodity can be safely imported with minimal pest risk.  Currently, APHIS regulations allow for the importation of shepherd’s purse leaves and stems from Korea without roots.  APHIS proposes to amend the regulations to allow the importation of commercial shipments of fresh shepherd’s purse with roots into the United States under a combination of mitigations to address the pest risk presented by various pests (a systems approach).  These measures are more extensive because the importation of the plant with its roots intact increases plant pest risk.  The Republic of Korea expects to export initially one 40-foot shipping container of fresh shepherd’s purse with roots into the United States per year, or the equivalent of about 24 metric tons (MT).  
</p>
<p class="noskip">Shepherd’s purse<i> (Capsella bursa-pastoris)</i> is an herbaceous plant of the mustard family (<i>Brassicaceae</i>) that is widely distributed in North America.  It inhabits agronomic and vegetable crop fields, orchards, vineyards, nurseries, gardens, turf, landscaped areas, roadsides, and other disturbed places.  Shepherd’s purse colonizes open ground and may inhibit the establishment of native species.    The plant is considered an invasive weed in some States, including Arizona, California, Hawaii, Maryland, Nevada, Utah, and Virginia.
  The plant’s fruit has a peppery flavor and is sometimes added as a spice to salad greens.  </p>
<p class="noskip">The Republic of Korea does not keep official statistics on minor agricultural commodities such as shepherd’s purse.  However, production and export data have been gathered from farmers and wholesalers at Garak-tong market, one of the biggest wholesale agricultural markets in Seoul.
  Based on these data, yearly sales of shepherd’s purse at Garak-tong market have averaged 1,422 MT over the past five years (table 1).  Most of the shepherd’s purse production in the Republic of Korea is consumed domestically.  During the same five-year period, an average of only 298 kilograms per year were exported, i.e., 0.02 percent of reported production.  Expected initial exports to the United States under the proposed rule, 24 MT, dwarf the reported 2005-2009 export levels.</p>
<p class="noskip"><b>Table 1:  Republic of Korea’s production and exportation of Shepherd’s purse, 2005-2009, based on Garak-tong market data, kilograms </b></p>
<table><tbody><tr>	<td><p>Year</p>
</td>	<td><p><b>2005</b></p>
</td>	<td><p><b>2006</b></p>
</td>	<td><p><b>2007</b></p>
</td>	<td><p><b>2008</b></p>
</td>	<td><p><b>2009</b></p>
</td></tr>
<tr>	<td><p><b>Production </b></p>
</td>	<td><p>1,401,000</p>
</td>	<td><p>1,324,000</p>
</td>	<td><p>1,325,000</p>
</td>	<td><p>1,361,000</p>
</td>	<td><p>1,700,000</p>
</td></tr>
<tr>	<td><p><b>Exports </b></p>
</td>	<td><p>90</p>
</td>	<td><p>310</p>
</td>	<td><p>40</p>
</td>	<td><p>330</p>
</td>	<td><p>690</p>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<p> Source: Transaction Chronology of Agricultural and Fisheries Products of Garak Market,  Seoul.</p>
<p class="default_Text"><b>Potential Impact on Small Entities
</b></p>
<p class="default_Text">The Regulatory Flexibility Act requires agencies to evaluate the potential effects of their proposed and final rules on small businesses, small organizations and small governmental jurisdictions.  Section 603 of the Act requires agencies to prepare and make available for public comment an initial regulatory flexibility analysis that describes expected impacts of a proposed rule on small entities.
</p>
<p class="default_Text"><b>Reasons Action is Being Considered
</b></p>
<p>The proposed rule is in response to a request made by the Republic of Korea to allow fresh shepherd’s purse with roots from Korea to be imported into the United States.  
</p>
<p class="default_Text"><b>Objectives of and Legal Basis for the Rule
</b></p>
<p>APHIS has determined that fresh shepherd’s purse with roots can be safely imported from Korea into the United States under certain conditions.  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 any plant product if the Secretary determines that the prohibition or restriction is necessary to prevent the introduction of a plant pest or noxious weed into the United States.  The proposed rule is part of a continuing program to allow the importation of foreign agricultural products that APHIS has determined are without significant risk of introducing pests or diseases into the United States.
</p>
<p class="default_Text"><b>Potentially affected Small Entities  
</b></p>
<p class="default_Text">U.S. entities that could be affected by the proposed rule are domestic producers of shepherd’s purse, and wholesalers that import fresh shepherd’s purse.  Businesses producing shepherd’s purse are classified in the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) within the category of Other Vegetable (except Potato) and Melon Farming (NAICS code 111219).  The Small Business Administration’s small-entity standard for these producers is annual receipts of not more than $750,000.  Firms that would import fresh shepherd’s purse with roots from Korea are considered small if they have 100 or fewer employees (NAICS code 424480, Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Merchant Wholesalers).
</p>
<p class="default_Text">In general, firms engaged in the production or importation of agricultural commodities are predominantly small, and we expect the same would be true for producers and importers of shepherd’s purse with roots.
  However, we do not have information on the quantity of shepherd’s purse that is produced for commercial sale or the location, number or size of the commercial operations.  We welcome information that the public may provide that will help us to better understand potential effects of the rule for small entities.     </p>
<h2>Projected Reporting, Recordkeeping, and Other Compliance Requirements
</h2>
<p>This proposed rule contains no mandatory reporting, recordkeeping, or other compliance requirements for U.S. entities.
</p>
<h2>Duplication, Overlap, or Conflict with Existing Rules and Regulations
</h2>
<p>APHIS has not identified any duplication, overlap, or conflict of this proposed rule with other Federal rules.
</p>
<h2>Alternatives to minimize Significant Economic Impacts of the Rule
</h2>
<p>Based on our review of available information, APHIS does not foresee the proposed rule having a significant economic impact on small entities.  In the absence of evidence of likely significant economic impacts, we have not identified alternatives that would minimize such impacts.
</p>
<p>� Source: USDA Forest Service, Forest Health Staff, Newtown Square, PA.  Invasive Plants website:  http://www.na.fs.fed.us/fhp/invasive_plants
</p>
<p>�Yunhee Kim, Agricultural Specialist, USDA/APHIS, American Embassy, Seoul, South Korea.  The Garak-tong market has 131 acres of covered space.
</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>� The wholesale sector comprises two types of wholesalers: those that sell goods on their own account and those that arrange sales and purchases for others for a commission or fee.  Importers are included in both cases.  
</p>
<p>� The average market value of crops sold by operations engaged in other vegetable (except potato) and melon farming in 2007 was about $312,000 (2007 Census of Agriculture, Table 46).  About 95 percent of fruit and vegetable wholesalers were considered small in 2002 (U.S. Census Bureau, 2002 Economic Census.  Data from the 2007 Economic Census are not yet available for this industry category.) 
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