### United States

Department of Agriculture Anim al and Plant Health Inspection Service June, 2011 Final Regulatory Flexibility Analysis

Final Rule 20 09 - 0 086 RIN 0579 - 0366 Importation of Shepherd’s Purse from Korea

Policy & Program

Developm ent Policy Analysis & Developmenti



### Table of Contents Introduction
................................ ................................ ................................ ......................... 2 Final Regulatory

Flexibility

Anal ys is
................................ ................................ ................. 2 Need for and Objectives of the Rule
................................ ................................ ............ 3 Significant Issues raised by Public Comment in response to the Initial Regulatory Flexibility

Anal ys is
................................ ................................ ................................ ........ 3 Significant Issues raised by the Small Business Administration in response to the Initial Regulatory

Flexibility

Anal ys is
................................ ................................ ........... 3 Potentially

Affec ted Small Entities
................................ ................................ ................. 3 Projected Reporting, Recordkeeping, and Other Compliance Requirements
................. 4 Steps taken by

APHI S to minimize Signific ant Economic Impacts on Small Entities
.. 4ii



### Introduction APHI S, 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 anal ys is and determined that this commodity

can be safely

imported with minimal pest risk. Currently , APHI S regulations allow for the importation of shepherd’s purse leaves and stems from Korea without roots. APHI S is amending 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 b y various pests (a s ys tems 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 ye ar, or the equivalent of about 24 metric tons (MT ). Shepherd’s purse (Capsella bursa

- pastoris) is an herbaceous plant of the mustard family ( Brassicaceae ) that is widely distributed in North America. It inhabits agronomic and vegetable crop fields, orchards, viney ards, nurseries, gardens, turf, landsc aped 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, Nev ada, Utah, and Virginia. 1 The plant’s fruit has a peppery flavor and is sometimes added as a spice to salad greens.

1 Source: USDA Forest Service, Forest Health Staff, Newtown Square, PA. Invasive Plants w ebsite: http://www.na.fs.fed.us/fhp/invasive_plants2

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. 2 Based on these data, yearly sales of shepherd’s purse at Garak
- tong market have averaged 1,422 MT over the p ast five ye ars (table 1). Most of the shepherd’s purse production in the Republic of Korea is consumed domesticall y. During the same five
- ye ar period, an average of only 298 kilograms per y ear 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. Table 1: Republic of Korea’s production and exportation of Shepherd’s purse, 2005 - 2009, based on Garak- tong market data, kilograms Year 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 Production 1,401,000 1,324,000 1,325,000 1,361,000 1,700,000 Exports 90 310 40 330 690 Source: Transaction Chronology of Agricultural and Fisheries Products of Garak Market, Seoul. 

### Final Regulatory Flexibility Analysis Th e 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 60 4 of the Act requires agencies to prepare and make available for public comment a final regulatory flexibility

analy sis that describes expected impacts of a rule on small entities.

2 Yunhee Kim, Agricultural Specialist, USDA/APHIS, American Embassy, Seoul, South Korea. The Garak
- tong market has 131 acres of covered space.3

Need for and Objectives of the Rule APHI S has determined that fresh shepherd’s purse with roots can be safel y 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 an y plant product if the Secr etary 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 of foreign agricultural products that APHI S has determined are without significant risk of introducing pests or diseases into the United States. Significant Issues raised by Public Comment in response to the Initial Regulatory Flexibility Analysis There were no significant issues raised b y public comment in response to the initial regulatory

flexibility

analy sis. Significant Issues raised by the Small Business Administration in response to the Initial Regulatory Flexibility Analysis There were no significant issues raised b y the Small Busi ness Administration in response to the initial regulatory

flexibility

anal ys is. Potentially Affected Small Entities U.S. entities that could be affected b y the final 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 S ys tem (NAI CS) 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 Korea4

are considered small if they have 100 or fewer employ ees (NAI CS code 424480, Fresh Fruit and Vege table Merchant Wholesalers). 3 F irms that engage 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. 4 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 did not receive information from the public during the review period of the proposed rule to help us better understand potential effects of the rule for small entities. Projected Reporting, Recordkeeping, and Other Compliance Requirement s Reporting and recordkeeping requirements associated with the final rule are discussed in the rule under the heading "Paperwork Reduction Act. ” 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. In the absence of significant economic impacts, we have not identified alternatives that would minimize such impacts.

3 The wholesale sector comprises tw o types of wholesalers: those that sell goods on their own account and those that arr ange sales and purchases for others for a commission or fee. Importers are included in both cases. 4 The average market value of crops sold by operations engaged in other vegetable (except potato) and melon farming in 2007 w as about $312,000 (2007 Censu s of Agriculture, Table 46). About 95 percent of fruit and vegetable wholesalers that operated for the entire year had fewer than 100 employees in 2007 (U.S. Census Bureau, 2007 Economic Census. http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/IBQTable?_bm=y&
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