United States 

Department of 

Agriculture

Animal and 

Plant Health 

Inspection 

Service

June 2014

Final Regulatory Flexibility Analysis

Final Rule

APHIS 2013-0045

RIN 0579-AD82

Importation of Fresh Bananas from the 

Philippines into Hawaii and the United 

States Territories

Policy & Program Development

Policy Analysis & Development
i

Summary

This analysis examines impacts for U.S. small entities of a rule that will allow fresh 

banana imports from the Philippines into Hawaii and the U.S. Territories. Commercial 

production of bananas in the United States takes place in Hawaii, where most if not all of the 

banana farms are small entities. Currently, about 4.1 million metric tons (MT) of bananas are 

imported into the United States (including the state of Hawaii) 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 the U.S. territories, or the quantity and origin of 

bananas already imported into these destinations. However, Hawaii as well as the U.S. 

territories, already import bananas from other places since the volume of banana consumption is

greater than their production. In general, the quantity of U.S. imports from Philippines is

expected to be relatively insignificant, equivalent to about 0.05 percent of U.S. imports from 

other countries. What percent would go to Hawaii depends on the demand from the consumers 

in the state of Hawaii and in the other US territories. Consumers in Hawaii and the U.S. 

territories would benefit from the additional source of fresh bananas which are of similar quality

as the domestic ones. Therefore, APHIS does not expect the final rule to have a significant 

economic impact on small entities. 
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Table of Contents

Summary............................................................................Error! Bookmark not defined.

Introduction......................................................................................................................... 1

Need for and Objectives of the Rule................................................................................... 1

Potentially Affected Small Entities....................................Error! Bookmark not defined.

Projected Reporting, Recordkeeping, and Other Compliance Requirements..................... 3

Steps taken by APHIS to minimize Significant Economic Impacts on Small Entities ...... 3
1

Introduction

The Regulatory Flexibility Act requires agencies to evaluate the potential effects of their 

final and final rules on small businesses, small organizations and small governmental 

jurisdictions. This final regulatory flexibility analysis describes expected impacts of this rule on 

small entities, as required by section 604 of the Act.

The analysis examines impacts of a rule that will allow fresh banana imports from the 

Philippines into Hawaii and U.S. territories on U.S. small entities. The rule will amend 7 CFR 

319.5, and is part of a continuing program to allow the importation of foreign agricultural 

products that APHIS has determined are without significant risk of introducing exotic plant pests 

into the United States. 

Need for and Objectives of the Rule

This final rule is to amend the regulations to allow the importation of commercial 

shipments of hard, green bananas from the Philippines into Hawaii and the United States 

Territories under a systems approach. The Plant Protection Act of 2000 gives the Secretary of 

Agriculture the legal authority to regulate the importation of plants and plant products to prevent 

the introduction of plant pests or noxious weeds into the United States.

The Philippine Bureau of Plant Industry (BPI) submitted a market access request for 

bananas to be approved for import into the U.S. which will allow the importation of hard, green 

bananas from the Philippines to Hawaii and the United States Territories. APHIS and the BPI

have identified measures that will prevent the introduction of plant pests in Hawaii and the other 

U.S. territories. Generally, APHIS allows the importation of fresh fruits and vegetables when 

sound science and an analysis of the risks shows that it is appropriate to do so. This final rule

follows a previous Final Rule published February 7, 2013, which allows the importation of hard, 
2

green bananas into the continental United States under a systems approach. Consumers in the 

State of Hawaii and the U.S. territories will benefit from the additional source of fresh bananas 

without increasing the pest risk to domestic producers in Hawaii and the U.S. territories.

Potentially Affected Small Entities

U.S. commercial production of bananas takes place in the State of Hawaii. In 2011, that 

State’s banana harvest totaled about 7,900 MT, harvested on 240 farms.1 A banana farm is 

considered to be small according to the Small Business Administration’s standard for Other 

noncitrus Fruit Farming (North American Industry Classification System category 111339) if its 

annual receipts are not more than $750,000. Average annual receipts for the Hawaiian producers 

in 2011 was about $ 47,125, indicating that most if not all of these farms are small entities. 

We do not currently have enough information to fully assess the impact of this final rule. 

The quantity of bananas expected to be imported from the Philippines specifically into Hawaii is 

unknown. However, it is likely to be a limited quantity. Prior to a recent rulemaking to allow 

banana imports from the Philippines into the continental United States, the Philippines expected 

that it would ship only about 100 containers, or about 1,814 MT per year if granted access to the 

U.S. as a whole, including Hawaii and the U.S. Territories. 

Compared to the volume of current imports, this is a relatively insignificant quantity,

equivalent to only about 0.05 percent of the 4.1 million MT in bananas imported into the United 

States in 2011. The United States is a minor producer but a major importer of bananas. The 

international banana market is highly regional, and the United States imports bananas from 

 

1 Hawaii Farm Facts, May 2010. 

http://www.nass.usda.gov/Statistics_by_State/Hawaii/Publications/Fruits_and_Nuts/annbanFF.pdf
3

Central America, South America and the Caribbean.2 In 2011, the United States imported 4.1 

million MT of fresh bananas, with Guatemala, Ecuador, and Costa Rica, respectively, the top 

three sources.3 Similarly, banana exports by the Philippines are principally to Asian markets, 

with Japan, Iran, China, and Korea its major customers. 

It is unlikely that a significant portion of the small quantity of bananas expected to be 

imported from the Philippines to the United States as a whole would be directed specifically to 

Hawaii. The pull of the Hawaiian market for banana imports is considerably smaller than that of 

the larger continental U.S. market, and current Hawaiian banana production provides 

considerable banana supply to the Hawaiian market, however it is not enough to satisfy the 

demand for banana consumption in Hawaii and as a result there is a gap which can only be filled 

by imports. Any impact of the rule on U.S. banana producers in Hawaii and U.S. territories is 

likely to be small. To the extent that new imports of bananas from the Philippines to arrive in 

Hawaii and U.S territories, consumers will benefit from this additional source of fresh bananas. 

APHIS does not expect the final rule to have a significant economic impact on small entities. 

Projected Reporting, Recordkeeping, and Other

Compliance Requirements

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 

Impacts on Small Entities

 

2

http://www.unctad.org/infocomm/anglais/banana/market.htm

3 Hawaii Farm Facts, May 2010. 

http://www.nass.usda.gov/Statistics_by_State/Hawaii/Publications/Fruits_and_Nuts/annbanFF.pdf
4

Based on our review of available information, APHIS 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.