This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER

contains documents other than rules or

proposed rules that are applicable to the

public. Notices of hearings and investigations,

committee meetings, agency decisions and

rulings, delegations of authority, filing of

petitions and applications and agency

statements of organization and functions are

examples of documents appearing in this

section.

Notices Federal Register

61340 

Vol. 76, No. 192 

Tuesday, October 4, 2011 

1To view the notice and the PRA, go to http:// 

www.regulations.gov/#!docketDetail;D=APHIS– 

2011–0047. 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Animal and Plant Health Inspection 

Service 

[Docket No. APHIS–2011–0047] 

Notice of Decision To Authorize the 

Importation of Dragon Fruit From 

Thailand Into the Continental United 

States 

AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health 

Inspection Service, USDA. 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: We are advising the public of 

our decision to authorize the 

importation into the continental United 

States of dragon fruit (multiple genera 

and species) from Thailand. Based on 

the findings of a pest risk analysis, 

which we made available to the public 

for review and comment through a 

previous notice, we believe that the 

application of one or more designated 

phytosanitary measures will be 

sufficient to mitigate the risks of 

introducing or disseminating plant pests 

or noxious weeds via the importation of 

dragon fruit from Thailand. 

DATES: Effective Date: October 4, 2011. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. 

Claudia Ferguson, Regulatory Policy 

Specialist, Regulations, Permits, and 

Manuals, PPQ, APHIS, 4700 River Road 

Unit 133, Riverdale, MD 20737–1236; 

(301) 734–0754. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background 

Under the regulations in ‘‘Subpart— 

Fruits and Vegetables’’ (7 CFR 319.56– 

1 through 319.56–51, referred to below 

as the regulations), the Animal and 

Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) 

of the U.S. Department of Agriculture 

prohibits or restricts the importation of 

fruits and vegetables into the United 

States from certain parts of the world to 

prevent plant pests from being 

introduced into and spread within the 

United States. 

Section 319.56–4 of the regulations 

contains a performance-based process 

for approving the importation of 

commodities that, based on the findings 

of a pest risk analysis (PRA), can be 

safely imported subject to one or more 

of the designated phytosanitary 

measures listed in paragraph (b) of that 

section. Under that process, APHIS 

publishes a notice in the Federal 

Register announcing the availability of 

the PRA that evaluates the risks 

associated with the importation of a 

particular fruit or vegetable. Following 

the close of the 60-day comment period, 

APHIS may authorize the importation of 

the fruit or vegetable subject to the 

identified designated measures if: (1) No 

comments were received on the PRA; (2) 

the comments on the PRA revealed that 

no changes to the PRA were necessary; 

or (3) changes to the PRA were made in 

response to public comments, but the 

changes did not affect the overall 

conclusions of the analysis and the 

Administrator’s determination of risk. 

In accordance with that process, we 

published a notice 1 in the Federal 

Register on June 30, 2011 (76 FR 38349, 

Docket No. APHIS–2011–0047), in 

which we announced the availability, 

for review and comment, of a PRA that 

evaluates the risks associated with the 

importation into the continental United 

States of dragon fruit (multiple genera 

and species) from Thailand. We 

solicited comments on the notice for 60 

days ending on August 29, 2011. We did 

not receive any comments by that date. 

Therefore, in accordance with the 

regulations in § 319.56–4(c)(2)(ii), we 

are announcing our decision to 

authorize the importation into the 

continental United States of dragon fruit 

from Thailand subject to the following 

phytosanitary measures: 

• The dragon fruit may be imported 

into the continental United States in 

commercial consignments only. 

• The dragon fruit must be irradiated 

in accordance with 7 CFR part 305 with 

a minimum absorbed dose of 400 Gy. 

• If the irradiation treatment is 

applied outside the United States, each 

consignment of fruit must be jointly 

inspected by APHIS and the national 

plant protection organization (NPPO) of 

Thailand and accompanied by a 

phytosanitary certificate (PC) attesting 

that the fruit received the required 

irradiation treatment. 

• If the irradiation treatment is to be 

applied upon arrival in the United 

States, each consignment of fruit must 

be inspected by the NPPO of Thailand 

prior to departure and accompanied by 

a PC. 

• This commodity is subject to 

inspection at the U.S. port of entry. 

These conditions will be listed in the 

Fruits and Vegetables Import 

Requirements database (available at 

http://www.aphis.usda.gov/favir). In 

addition to these specific measures, 

dragon fruit from Thailand will be 

subject to the general requirements 

listed in § 319.56–3 that are applicable 

to the importation of all fruits and 

vegetables. Further, for fruits and 

vegetables requiring treatment as a 

condition of entry, the phytosanitary 

treatments regulations in 7 CFR part 305 

contain administrative and procedural 

requirements that must be observed in 

connection with the application and 

certification of specific treatments. 

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. 

Done in Washington, DC, this 28th day of 

September 2011. 

Kevin Shea, 

Acting Administrator, Animal and Plant 

Health Inspection Service. 

[FR Doc. 2011–25489 Filed 10–3–11; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–34–P 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Animal and Plant Health Inspection 

Service 

[Docket No. APHIS–2011–0039] 

Notice of Decision To Authorize the 

Importation of Fresh Apricot, Sweet 

Cherry, and Plumcot Fruit From South 

Africa Into the Continental United 

States 

AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health 

Inspection Service, USDA. 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: We are advising the public of 

our decision to authorize the 

importation into the continental United 

States of fresh apricot, sweet cherry, and 

plumcot fruit from South Africa. Based 


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