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

4410 

Vol. 79, No. 18 

Tuesday, January 28, 2014 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Animal and Plant Health Inspection 

Service 

7 CFR Part 319 

[Docket No. APHIS–2013–0045] 

RIN 0579–AD82 

Importation of Fresh Bananas From 

the Philippines Into Hawaii and U.S. 

Territories 

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 bananas 

from the Philippines into Guam, 

Hawaii, and the Northern Mariana 

Islands. As a condition of entry, the 

bananas would have to be produced in 

accordance with a systems approach 

that would include requirements for 

importation of commercial 

consignments, monitoring of fruit flies 

to establish low-prevalence places of 

production, harvesting only of hard 

green bananas, and inspection for 

quarantine pests by the national plant 

protection organization of the 

Philippines. The bananas would also 

have to be accompanied by a 

phytosanitary certificate with an 

additional declaration stating that they 

were grown, packed, inspected, and 

found to be free of quarantine pests in 

accordance with the proposed 

requirements. This action would allow 

the importation of bananas from the 

Philippines while continuing to protect 

against the introduction of plant pests 

into Guam, Hawaii, and the Northern 

Mariana Islands. 

DATES: We will consider all comments 

that we receive on or before March 31, 

2014. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments 

by either of the following methods: 

• Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to 

http://www.regulations.gov/

#!documentDetail;D=APHIS-2013-0045- 

0001. 

• Postal Mail/Commercial Delivery: 

Send your comment to Docket No. 

APHIS–2013–0045, 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-2013-0045 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. 

Meredith Jones, Senior Regulatory 

Coordination Specialist, RPM, RCC, 

PPQ, APHIS, 4700 River Road Unit 133, 

Riverdale, MD 20737–1231; (301) 851– 

2289. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background 

The regulations in ‘‘Subpart–Fruits 

and Vegetables’’ (7 CFR 319.56–1 

through 319.56–64, 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 the Philippines 

has requested that the Animal and Plant 

Health Inspection Service (APHIS) 

amend the regulations to allow bananas 

from the Philippines to be imported into 

Guam, Hawaii, and the Northern 

Mariana Islands. Currently, bananas 

may be imported from the Philippines 

into the continental United States as a 

result of a rule published in the Federal 

Register and effective on February 7, 

2013 (78 FR 8957–8960, Docket No. 

APHIS–2011–0028). The rule allows the 

importation of bananas from the 

Philippines into the continental United 

States under a systems approach 

described in the regulations under 

§ 319.56–58. 

As part of our evaluation of the 

Philippines’ request, we prepared a pest 

risk assessment (PRA), titled 

‘‘Importation of Banana, Musa spp., as 

Fresh, Hard Green Fruit From the 

Philippines to Guam, Hawaii, and the 

Northern Mariana Islands’’ (January 29, 

2013). The PRA evaluates the risks 

associated with the importation of green 

bananas from the Philippines into 

Guam, Hawaii, and the Northern 

Mariana Islands from the Philippines. 

The PRA identified 62 pests of 

quarantine significance present in the 

Philippines that could be introduced 

into Guam, Hawaii and the Northern 

Mariana Islands through the importation 

of green bananas: 2 mites (Brevipalpus 

spp.), 5 beetles, 5 flies (3 Bactrocera 

spp. fruit flies, 1 house fly, and 1 black 

fly), 35 scales, 4 moths, 4 grasshoppers, 

3 thrips, 1 snail, 1 weed, and 2 bacteria. 

For a full list of the pests, please see the 

PRA. 

Based on the information contained in 

the PRA, APHIS has determined that 

measures beyond standard port-of-entry 

inspection are required to mitigate the 

risks posed by the quarantine pests with 

bananas from the Philippines. To 

recommend specific measures to 

mitigate those risks, 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 bananas from the 

Philippines into Guam, Hawaii, and the 

Northern Mariana Islands only if they 

are produced in accordance with a 

systems approach. The systems 

approach we are proposing would 

require: 

• Registration, monitoring, and 

oversight of places of production; 

• Trapping for Bactrocera spp. fruit 

flies to establish low-prevalence places 

of production; 

• Covering bananas with pesticide 

bags during the growing season; 

• Harvesting only of hard green 

bananas; 

• Requirements for culling, 

safeguarding, and identifying the fruit; 

and 

• Inspection by the NPPO of the 

Philippines for quarantine pests. 

Bananas from the Philippines would 

also be required to be accompanied by 


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a phytosanitary certificate with an 

additional declaration stating that the 

bananas were grown, packed, and 

inspected in accordance with the 

proposed requirements. 

The proposed systems approach to 

pest mitigation for the importation of 

bananas from the Philippines into 

Guam, Hawaii, and the Northern 

Mariana Islands has been used 

successfully to mitigate the risks 

associated with the importation of 

bananas from the Philippines into the 

continental United States (§ 319.56–58). 

The RMD for bananas from the 

Philippines evaluated the effectiveness 

of these measures against quarantine 

pests identified in the PRA and 

concluded that the provisions in 

§ 319.56–58, along with the general 

requirements for the importation of 

fruits and vegetables in the regulations, 

will be sufficient to prevent the 

introduction of those pests into Guam, 

Hawaii, and the Northern Mariana 

Islands. Therefore, we are proposing to 

amend § 319.56–58 to allow the 

importation of bananas from the 

Philippines into the United States that 

would include the continental United 

States, Guam, Hawaii, and the Northern 

Mariana Islands. The mitigation 

measures in the systems approach are 

outlined in greater detail below. 

The introductory text of § 319.56–58 

currently lists the 12 quarantine pests of 

concern associated with the importation 

of bananas from the Philippines into the 

continental United States. As noted 

above, the number of quarantine pests of 

concern associated with the importation 

of those bananas into Guam, Hawaii, 

and the Northern Mariana Islands is 62. 

Given that large number, we are 

proposing to no longer list the pests of 

concern in the introductory text of the 

section and would instead list the pests 

in the operational workplan described 

below. 

General Requirements 

The importation of bananas from the 

Philippines into Guam, Hawaii, and the 

Northern Mariana Islands would be 

allowed under an operational workplan. 

A operational workplan is an agreement 

between APHIS’ Plant Protection and 

Quarantine (PPQ) program, officials of 

the NPPO of a foreign government, and, 

when necessary, foreign commercial 

entities that specifies in detail the 

phytosanitary measures that will 

comply with our regulations governing 

the import or export of a specific 

commodity. Operational workplans 

apply only to the signatory parties and 

establish detailed procedures and 

guidance for the day-to-day operations 

of specific export programs. Operational 

workplans also establish how specific 

phytosanitary issues are dealt within the 

exporting country and make clear who 

is responsible for dealing with those 

issues. 

Paragraph (a)(1) of § 319.56–58 

requires the NPPO of the Philippines to 

provide an operational workplan to 

APHIS that details activities that the 

NPPO of the Philippines will, subject to 

APHIS’ approval of the workplan, carry 

out to meet the requirements of the 

regulations. The bananas would have to 

be grown at places of production that 

are registered with the NPPO of the 

Philippines and that meet the 

requirements for places of production. 

Paragraph (a)(2) requires bananas to be 

grown at places of production that are 

registered with the NPPO of the 

Philippines and that meet the proposed 

requirements for places of production 

that are discussed later in this 

document. It also requires that each 

registered place of production renew its 

registration annually. 

Paragraph (a)(3) requires the bananas 

to be packed for export to the United 

States in packinghouses that meet the 

packinghouse requirements that are 

described later in this document. 

The bananas must be imported in 

commercial consignments only. 

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. Produce grown 

commercially is less likely to be infested 

with plant pests than noncommercial 

consignments. Noncommercial 

consignments are more prone to 

infestations because the commodity is 

often ripe to overripe and is often grown 

with little or no pest control. 

As such, paragraph (a)(4) requires the 

bananas to be imported in commercial 

consignments only. That provision 

would apply to bananas from the 

Philippines to be imported into Guam, 

Hawaii, and the Northern Mariana 

Islands as well as the continental United 

States. 

Monitoring and Oversight 

The systems approach includes 

monitoring and oversight requirements, 

located in paragraph (b) of § 319.56–58, 

to ensure that the required 

phytosanitary measures are properly 

implemented through the process of 

growing and packing of bananas for 

export to the United States. 

Paragraph (b)(1) requires the NPPO of 

the Philippines to visit and inspect 

registered places of production monthly, 

starting at least 3 months before harvest 

and continuing until the end of the 

shipping season, to verify that the 

growers are complying with the 

requirements and follow pest control 

guidelines, when necessary, to reduce 

quarantine pest populations. The NPPO 

of the Philippines must verify that the 

growers are complying with the fruit fly 

trapping requirements and would have 

to certify that each place of production 

has effective fruit fly trapping programs. 

Any personnel conducting trapping 

would have to be trained and 

supervised by the NPPO of the 

Philippines. APHIS would monitor the 

places of production by conducting 

random and scheduled inspections. 

Under paragraph (b)(2), if the NPPO of 

the Philippines finds that a place of 

production or packinghouse is not 

complying with the regulations, no fruit 

from the place of production or 

packinghouse is eligible for export to 

the United States until APHIS and the 

NPPO of the Philippines conduct an 

investigation and appropriate remedial 

actions have been implemented. 

Paragraph (b)(3) requires the NPPO of 

the Philippines to retain all forms and 

documents related to export program 

activities in groves and packinghouses 

for at least 1 year and, as requested, 

provide them to APHIS for review. Such 

forms and documents include, but are 

not limited to, fruit fly trapping and 

inspection records. 

Fruit Fly Trapping To Establish Places 

of Production With Low Prevalence 

Paragraph (c) of § 319.56–58 provides 

for the use of trapping to demonstrate 

that registered places of production 

have a low prevalence of the Bactrocera 

spp. fruit flies. Although the PRA has 

determined that the three Bactrocera 

spp. are potential pests of bananas from 

the Philippines, bananas are known to 

be poor hosts to most species of fruit 

flies. However, B. musae is recorded as 

attacking green bananas. Trapping to 

demonstrate an area of low pest 

prevalence would therefore be an 

appropriate mitigation for fruit flies. 

Beginning at least 3 months before 

harvest begins and continuing through 

the end of the harvest, trapping would 

have to be conducted in registered 

places of production with at least 1 trap 

per 0.2 square kilometers to demonstrate 

that the places of production have a low 

prevalence of the Bactrocera spp. fruit 

flies. APHIS-approved traps baited with 

APHIS-approved plugs would have to 

be used and serviced at least once every 

2 weeks. 


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During the trapping, when traps are 

serviced, if the Bactrocera spp. fruit flies 

are trapped at a registered place of 

production at cumulative levels above 2 

flies per trap per day, pesticide bait 

treatments must be applied in the 

affected place of production in order for 

the place of production to remain 

eligible to export bananas to the United 

States. The NPPO of the Philippines 

must keep records of fruit fly detections 

for each trap, update the records each 

time the traps are checked, and make 

the records available to APHIS 

inspectors upon request. 

Although the Bactrocera spp. fruit 

flies have been identified as pests of 

banana in the Philippines, we do not 

want to impose trapping requirements if 

they are not justified by the presence of 

fruit fly larvae in Philippine bananas; as 

noted earlier, bananas are poor hosts of 

fruit flies in general, especially when 

harvested green. Under the heading 

‘‘NPPO of the Philippines Inspection’’ 

later in this document, we describe 

requirements for cutting bananas to 

inspect for internal feeders such as fruit 

fly larvae. Currently, paragraph (c) 

provides that the fruit fly trapping 

requirements would no longer apply if, 

by February 9, 2015, no fruit fly larvae 

are found during such inspections, 

inspections are no longer required. We 

are proposing to provide that the fruit 

fly trapping requirements described in 

proposed paragraph (c) would no longer 

apply if, after 2 years from the effective 

date of a final rule following this 

proposed rule, such inspections do not 

find any larvae of the Bactrocera spp. 

fruit flies. Extending the date will 

provide APHIS with additional fruit fly 

trapping data, which are especially 

important given the vulnerability of 

Guam, Hawaii, and the Northern 

Mariana Islands to fruit fly 

introductions. 

The date on which trapping would no 

longer be required would be included in 

the regulations. If no fruit fly larvae are 

found, we would publish a notice in the 

Federal Register to confirm that fruit fly 

trapping would no longer be required. If 

fruit fly larvae are found, we would 

amend the regulations to address the 

demonstrated risk. 

Bagging Requirements 

Each place of production must follow 

a pest management program specified 

by the NPPO of the Philippines to 

reduce populations of quarantine pests. 

This includes applying pesticides to 

reduce pest populations and bagging 

bananas after flower drop with plastic 

bags impregnated with pesticides. 

As such, paragraph (d) provides that 

plastic bags impregnated with pesticides 

must cover the bananas during the 

growing period. If a pesticide bag falls 

off or is torn so that fruit flies can enter, 

that fruit would no longer be eligible for 

export to the United States. This 

growing requirement would prevent 

quarantine pests from attacking the 

bananas. 

Harvesting Requirements 

Paragraph (e) of § 319.56–58 sets out 

requirements for harvesting bananas. 

Under paragraph (e)(1), bananas would 

have to be harvested at a hard green 

stage. 

Harvesting bananas at a hard green 

stage (i.e., bananas with no yellow or 

green color break) is a standard industry 

practice for banana production in 

Central and South America, the 

Philippines, Hawaii, and most of the 

world because ripe bananas are more 

likely to be infested by fruit flies. 

Inspectors at the port of entry would 

need to determine that: 

• Bananas shipped by air are still 

green upon arrival in the United States; 

• Bananas shipped by sea are either 

green upon arrival in the United States 

or yellow but firm. 

Under paragraph (e)(2), harvested 

bananas are required to be placed in 

field cartons or containers that are 

marked with the official registration 

number of the place of production. The 

fruit would have to be safeguarded from 

exposure to fruit flies from harvest to 

export, including being packaged so as 

to prevent access by fruit flies and other 

injurious insect pests. These 

requirements ensure that APHIS and the 

NPPO of the Philippines can identify 

the place of production where the 

bananas were produced if inspectors 

find quarantine pests in the fruit either 

before export or at the port of entry. 

Places of production with quarantine 

pests would be removed from the 

program. 

Post-Harvesting Processing 

As such, paragraph (f) of § 319.56–58 

provides that all damaged fruit would 

have to be culled at the packinghouse. 

Fruit with broken or bruised skin is 

more susceptible to infestation by pests 

than undamaged fruit. In addition, the 

fruit would have to be washed with a 

high pressure water spray and with soap 

and water. This requirement would 

remove mites, mealy bugs, scale insects, 

and other surface-feeding quarantine 

pests from the fruit prior to export. 

Packinghouse Requirements 

The RMD suggests that the 

packinghouses prevent the entry of 

pests with double-door entry and other 

measures designed to exclude fruit flies 

and other pests of quarantine concern. 

The packinghouse operations for export 

of bananas must be monitored by the 

NPPO of the Philippines. No other fruit 

is allowed in a packinghouse during the 

time export fruit is being packed. 

Such requirements are contained in 

paragraph (g) of § 319.56–58. 

Specifically, paragraph (g)(1) provides 

that the packinghouse would have to 

have double doors at the entrance to the 

facility and at the interior entrance to 

the area where the bananas are packed 

to exclude fruit flies and other pests of 

quarantine concern. Paragraph (g)(2) 

requires that bananas for export be 

packed into new, clean boxes, crates, or 

other packing material. Paragraph (g)(2) 

also requires that bananas intended for 

export to the United States be labeled 

with the name and location of the 

packinghouse marked on the boxes, and 

segregated from bananas intended for 

other markets. These requirements 

would ensure that APHIS and the NPPO 

of the Philippines could identify the 

packinghouse at which the fruit was 

packed if inspectors find quarantine 

pests in the fruit either before export or 

at the port of entry. 

Paragraph (g)(3) requires that shipping 

documents accompanying consignments 

of bananas from the Philippines that are 

exported to the United States include 

the official registration number of the 

place of production at which the 

bananas were grown and must identify 

the packinghouse in which the fruit was 

processed and packed. This 

identification must be maintained until 

the fruit is released for entry into the 

United States. 

Paragraph (g)(4) requires that the 

packinghouse operations for export of 

bananas be monitored by the NPPO of 

the Philippines. This requirement 

would ensure that the packinghouses 

remain compliant with the regulations. 

NPPO of the Philippines Inspection 

To ensure that the mitigations 

required in the systems approach are 

effective at producing fruit free of the 

targeted quarantine pests, we would 

require the NPPO of the Philippines to 

inspect the fruit after harvest. Paragraph 

(h)(1) of § 319.56–58 requires inspectors 

from the NPPO of the Philippines to 

certify that bananas were harvested at 

the hard green stage. 

Under paragraph (h)(2), the NPPO of 

the Philippines is required to inspect a 

biometric sample of the fruit from each 

place of production at a rate to be 

determined by APHIS. The inspectors 

must visually inspect fruit from each 

place of production for all the 

quarantine pests. (The paragraph 

currently states that the inspectors must 


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visually inspect for quarantine pests 

listed in the introductory text of the 

section; we would amend the text to 

refer to the quarantine pests listed in the 

operational workplan to conform with 

the proposed change described above.) 

The inspectors must also cut fruit to 

inspect for quarantine pests that are 

internal feeders, which include larvae of 

the three Bactrocera fruit fly species (B. 

musae, B. occipitalis, and B. 

philippinensis). We have determined 

that inspection can serve as an effective 

mitigation for the risk associated with 

these pests in bananas exported from 

the Philippines. 

If any Bactrocera spp. fruit flies are 

detected in this inspection, the place of 

production where the infested bananas 

were grown will immediately be 

suspended from the export program 

until an investigation has been 

conducted by APHIS and the NPPO of 

the Philippines and appropriate 

mitigations have been implemented. If 

other quarantine pests are detected in 

this inspection, the consignment will be 

ineligible for exportation to the United 

States. 

Phytosanitary Certificate 

To certify that the bananas from the 

Philippines have been grown and 

packed in accordance with the 

requirements of § 319.56–58, paragraph 

(i) requires each consignment of 

bananas imported from the Philippines 

into the United States to be 

accompanied by a phytosanitary 

certificate issued by the NPPO of the 

Philippines with an additional 

declaration stating that the bananas in 

the consignment were grown, packed, 

and inspected in accordance with the 

systems approach in § 319.56–58. 

Executive Order 12866 and Regulatory 

Flexibility Act 

This proposed rule has been reviewed 

under Executive Order 12866. The 

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 5 U.S.C. 603, we 

have performed an initial regulatory 

flexibility analysis, which is 

summarized below, regarding the 

economic effects of this proposed rule 

on small entities. 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). 

Based on the information we have, 

there is no reason to conclude that 

adoption of this proposed rule would 

result in any significant economic effect 

on a substantial number of small 

entities. However, we do not currently 

have all of the data necessary for a 

comprehensive analysis of the effects of 

this proposed rule on small entities. 

Therefore, we are inviting comments on 

potential effects. In particular, we are 

interested in determining the number 

and kind of small entities that may 

incur benefits or costs from the 

implementation of this proposed rule. 

Currently, about 4.1 million metric 

tons (MT) of bananas are imported into 

the United States every year. In 2011, 

Hawaii’s banana harvest totaled about 

7,900 MT compared to U.S. imports of 

about 4.1 million MT. We do not have 

information at this point on the quantity 

of bananas that the Philippines expects 

to ship to the State of Hawaii or to U.S. 

territories, or the quantity of bananas 

already imported into these 

destinations. We note that for a recent 

rulemaking to allow banana imports 

from the Philippines into the 

continental United States, that the 

quantity was expected to be relatively 

insignificant, equivalent to about 0.05 

percent of U.S. imports from other 

countries, 4.1 million MT. Consumers in 

Hawaii and U.S. territories would 

benefit from the additional source of 

fresh bananas. APHIS does not expect 

the proposed rule to have a significant 

economic impact on small entities. 

Executive Order 12988 

This proposed rule would allow 

bananas to be imported into Guam, 

Hawaii, and the Northern Mariana 

Islands from the Philippines. If this 

proposed rule is adopted, State and 

local laws and regulations regarding 

bananas 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. 

National Environmental Policy Act 

We made an environmental 

assessment that reviewed and analyzed 

the potential impacts of importation of 

bananas from the Philippines into the 

continental United States available with 

our proposal to allow that importation, 

which was published in the Federal 

Register on May 30, 2012 (77 FR 31829– 

31830, Docket No. APHIS–2011–0028). 

The environmental assessment was 

prepared in accordance with: (1) The 

National Environmental Policy Act of 

1969 (NEPA), as amended (42 U.S.C. 

4321 et seq.), (2) regulations of the 

Council on Environmental Quality for 

implementing the procedural provisions 

of NEPA (40 CFR parts 1500–1508), (3) 

USDA regulations implementing NEPA 

(7 CFR part 1b), and (4) APHIS’ NEPA 

Implementing Procedures (7 CFR part 

372). Subsequently, we published a 

finding of no significant impact along 

with the February 2013 final rule 

mentioned earlier in this document. 

We have reviewed the potential 

environmental impacts of allowing the 

importation of bananas from the 

Philippines into Guam, Hawaii, and the 

Northern Mariana Islands and found 

that they are the same as those 

described in the earlier environmental 

assessment; therefore, we are extending 

our finding of no significant impact to 

include this action as well. 

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–2013–0045. 

Please send a copy of your comments to: 

(1) Docket No. APHIS–2013–0045, 

Regulatory Analysis and Development, 

PPD, APHIS, Station 3A–03.8, 4700 

River Road Unit 118, Riverdale, MD 

20737–1238, 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. 

Allowing the importation of fresh 

bananas from the Philippines into 

Guam, Hawaii, and the Northern 

Mariana Islands will require the 

completion of the following 

information: A bilateral workplan, 

registration of production sites, 

monitoring and oversight of production 

sites, maintenance of records, forms, 

and documents, marking of production 

sites with registration numbers, 

identification of packinghouses name 

location, and a phytosanitary certificate. 

We are soliciting comments from the 

public (as well as affected agencies) 


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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; 

(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 0.78 hours per 

response. 

Respondents: Foreign government, 

importers and growers of bananas from 

the Philippines. 

Estimated annual number of 

respondents: 46. 

Estimated annual number of 

responses per respondent: 5.34. 

Estimated annual number of 

responses: 246. 

Estimated total annual burden on 

respondents: 192 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 E-Government 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. 

List 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 propose 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 319.56–58 is amended as 

follows: 

■ a. The introductory text is revised; 

■ b. In paragraph (c), the date, 

‘‘February 9, 2015’’ is removed and the 

date ‘‘[date 2 years after the effective 

date of final rule]’’ is added in its place; 

■ c. In paragraph (h)(2), in the second 

sentence, the words ‘‘introductory text 

of this section’’ are removed and the 

words ‘‘operational workplan required 

by paragraph (a)(1) of this section’’ are 

added in their place. 

The revision reads as follows: 

§ 319.56–58 Bananas from the Philippines. 

Bananas (Musa spp., which include 

M. acuminate cultivars and M. 

acuminate x M. balbisiana hybrids) may 

be imported into the continental United 

States, Guam, Hawaii, and the Northern 

Mariana Islands from the Philippines 

only under the conditions described in 

this section. 

* * * * * 

Done in Washington, DC, this 23rd day of 

January 2014. 

Kevin Shea, 

Administrator, Animal and Plant Health 

Inspection Service. 

[FR Doc. 2014–01581 Filed 1–27–14; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–34–P 

FEDERAL HOUSING FINANCE BOARD 

12 CFR Parts 914 and 917 

FEDERAL HOUSING FINANCE 

AGENCY 

12 CFR Parts 1236 and 1239 

DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND 

URBAN DEVELOPMENT 

Office of Federal Housing Enterprise 

Oversight 

12 CFR Parts 1710 and 1720 

RIN 2590–AA59 

Responsibilities of Boards of 

Directors, Corporate Practices and 

Corporate Governance Matters 

AGENCIES: Federal Housing Finance 

Board; Federal Housing Finance 

Agency; Office of Federal Housing 

Enterprise Oversight. 

ACTION: Proposed rule; with request for 

comments. 

SUMMARY: The Federal Housing Finance 

Agency (FHFA) is proposing to amend 

its regulations by relocating and 

consolidating certain Federal Housing 

Finance Board (Finance Board) and 

Office of Federal Housing Enterprise 

Oversight (OFHEO) regulations that 

pertain to the responsibilities of boards 

of directors, corporate practices, and 

corporate governance matters. The 

OFHEO regulations address corporate 

governance matters at the Federal 

National Mortgage Association and the 

Federal Home Loan Mortgage 

Corporation (Enterprises), while the 

Finance Board regulations address the 

powers and responsibilities of the 

boards of directors and management of 

the Federal Home Loan Banks (Banks). 

The proposed rule would consolidate 

most of those existing regulations into a 

new FHFA regulation, parts of which 

would apply to both the Banks and the 

Enterprises (together, regulated entities), 

and parts of which would apply only to 

the Banks or only to the Enterprises. 

Most of the content of the new 

regulation has been derived from the 

existing regulations, with such 

modifications as are necessary to apply 

certain provisions to all regulated 

entities. The proposal also would 

include a new provision on risk 

management and a new definition of 

‘‘credit risk,’’ which is a term that is 

used only within the proposed risk 

management provision. Those 

provisions would apply to both the 

Banks and the Enterprises. FHFA also is 

proposing to amend a definition within 


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