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

30303 

Vol. 75, No. 104 

Tuesday, June 1, 2010 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Animal and Plant Health Inspection 

Service 

7 CFR Part 319 

[Docket No. APHIS-2010-0002] 

RIN 0579-AD16 

Importation of Peppers From Panama 

AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health 

Inspection Service, USDA. 

ACTION: Proposed rule. 

SUMMARY: We are proposing to allow, 

under certain conditions, the 

importation of commercial shipments of 

peppers from Panama into the United 

States without treatment. The 

conditions to which the proposed 

importation of peppers would be 

subject, including trapping, pre-harvest 

inspection, and shipping procedures, 

are designed to prevent the introduction 

of quarantine pests into the United 

States. This action would allow for the 

importation of peppers from Panama 

into the United States, while continuing 

to provide protection against the 

introduction of quarantine pests. 

DATES: We will consider all comments 

that we receive on or before August 2, 

2010. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments 

by either of the following methods: 

∑ Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to 

(http://www.regulations.gov/ 

fdmspublic/component/ 

main?main=DocketDetail&d=APHIS2010-0002) to submit or view comments 

and to view supporting and related 

materials available electronically. 

∑ Postal Mail/Commercial Delivery: 

Please send one copy of your comment 

to Docket No. APHIS-2010-0002, 

Regulatory Analysis and Development, 

PPD, APHIS, Station 3A-03.8, 4700 

River Road Unit 118, Riverdale, MD 

20737-1238. Please state that your 

comment refers to Docket No. APHIS2010-0002. 

Reading Room: You may read any 

comments that we receive on this 

docket in our reading room. The reading 

room 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) 690-2817 before 

coming. 

Other Information: Additional 

information about APHIS and its 

programs is available on the Internet at 

(http://www.aphis.usda.gov). 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. 

David Lamb, Import Specialist, 

Regulatory Coordination and 

Compliance, PPQ, APHIS, 4700 River 

Road Unit 133, Riverdale, MD 20737- 

1236; (301) 734-0627. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background 

The regulations in ‘‘Subpart—Fruits 

and Vegetables’’ (7 CFR 319.56 through 

319.56-50, 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. 

In 2004, in response to a request from 

the Governments of Costa Rica, El 

Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and 

Nicaragua, the Animal and Plant Health 

Inspection Service (APHIS) prepared a 

pest risk assessment (PRA) to examine 

plant pest risks associated with the 

importation of fresh peppers into the 

United States from these countries. 

Recently, the national plant protection 

organization (NPPO) of Panama has 

requested that APHIS amend the 

regulations to allow peppers from 

Panama to be imported into the United 

States. As part of our evaluation of 

Panama’s request, we have updated the 

2004 PRA to include Panama as an 

exporting country and have prepared a 

risk management document. Copies of 

the PRA and risk management 

document may be obtained from the 

person listed under FOR FURTHER

INFORMATION CONTACT or viewed on the 

Regulations.gov Web site or in our 

reading room (see ADDRESSES above for 

a link to Regulations.gov and 

information on the location and hours of 

the reading room). 

The updated PRA, titled ‘‘Importation 

of Fresh Pepper–Capsicum annuum L., 

Capsicum baccatum L., Capsicum 

chinense Jacq., Capsicum frutescens L., 

and Capsicum pubescens Ruiz & Pav.– 

Fruit with Stems from Central America 

into the United States’’ (April 2009), 

evaluates the risks associated with the 

importation of peppers into the 

continental United States. The PRA 

identified 12 pests of quarantine 

significance present in Central America, 

including Panama, that could be 

introduced into the United States via 

peppers, including 8 insect pests, 1 

bacterium, 1 fungus, and 2 viruses. 

Insect pests: 

Mexican fruit fly (Mexfly, Anastrapha 

ludens). 

Mediterranean fruit fly (Medfly, 

Ceratitis capitata). 

The weevil Faustinus ovatipennis. 

Pea leafminer (Liriomyza 

huidobrensis). 

Tomato fruit borer (Neoleucinodes 

elegantalis). 

Lantana mealybug (Phenacoccus 

parvus). 

Passionvine mealybug (Planococcus 

minor). 

Melon thrips (Thrips palmi). 

Bacterium: 

Bacterial wilt (Ralstonia 

solanacearum race 3 biovar 2). 

Fungus: 

The rust fungus Puccinia pampeana. 

Viruses: 

Andean potato mottle virus. 

Tomato severe leaf curl virus. 

Pest List Changes 

The updates to the PRA did not result 

in significant changes to the pest list 

established in the 2004 PRA, but there 

are two additional pests that have been 

added to the list of pests for which 

inspection is required: Bacterial wilt 

and tomato severe leaf curl virus. We 

added those pests to the list based on 

scientific analysis and interception 

records as detailed in the PRA. As 

discussed below, symptoms of these two 

pests are macroscopic and easily 

detectable via the required field 

inspections. 

We have also removed two pests from 

the list of pests for which peppers from 

Central America must be inspected: The 

banana moth (Opogona sacchari) and 


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30304 Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 104 / Tuesday, June 1, 2010 / Proposed Rules 

tomato yellow mosaic virus. In the 2004 

PRA, peppers were determined to be a 

minor host for the banana moth. Since 

that time, there have been no 

interceptions of banana moth associated 

with shipments of peppers from Central 

America. Further, banana moth larvae 

are scavengers of dried and/or harvested 

vegetable material, and feed only 

occasionally on living material. The pest 

primarily attacks the plant stems and 

decaying pseudostems; however, since 

pepper stems are not woody or fleshy, 

and damaged fruits and tissues are 

likely to be culled during post-harvest 

processing, we find it unlikely that the 

pest will follow the importation 

pathway. 

Our basis for including tomato yellow 

mosaic virus in the 2004 PRA was the 

result of its identification as a potential 

pest of concern in the literature. 

However, upon further review, tomato 

yellow mosaic virus is not widely 

reported to occur in Central America. In 

addition, we found no evidence that this 

virus affects Capsicum spp. For these 

reasons, we are proposing to remove the 

banana moth and tomato yellow mosaic 

virus from the list of pests for which 

peppers from Central America must be 

inspected. 

Systems Approach 

To mitigate the risks presented by 

Mexfly and Medfly, we propose to 

utilize the systems approach found in 

§ 319.56-40. The regulations in § 319.56- 

40 contain specific phytosanitary 

measures that vary depending upon area 

freedom from Mexfly and Medfly. These 

measures include: 

∑ In Medfly-free areas: Pre-harvest 

inspection for the pests of concern 

conducted by the NPPO of Panama and 

a phytosanitary certificate issued by the 

NPPO certifying the pest-free status of 

the growing area and the shipment. 

∑ In areas where Medfly or Mexfly 

exists: Peppers must be grown in 

registered production sites with pestexclusionary greenhouses, trapping for 

Medfly or Mexfly must take place as 

specified, peppers must be packed in 

pest-exclusionary packinghouses, and 

export certification with issuance of an 

accompanying phytosanitary certificate 

must be completed. 

The remaining pests of concern 

exhibit symptoms that are macroscopic 

and detectable upon visual inspection 

in the production areas or during preexport or port-of-entry inspections. 

Specifically: 

∑ The weevil Faustinus ovatipennis 

feeds on leaves, stem, inflorescence, and 

fruit. Both larvae and adults are external 

feeders and, as a result, easily observed. 

∑ Pea leafminers spend a majority of 

their life cycle in larval form, mining 

host leaves. These mines are easily 

detectable via visual inspection. 

∑ Tomato fruit borer larvae penetrate 

the fruit and may cause the fruit to fall 

or become otherwise unmarketable. 

More mature larvae create large exit 

holes in the fruit that can be easily 

detected. In addition, the screen size 

required by the systems approach in 

§ 319.56-40 is too small to allow the 

entry of adult tomato fruit borers. 

∑ Latana mealybug and passionvine 

mealybug are both external pests that 

are white in color. They are easily 

detectable on the darker skin of the host. 

In addition, these pests may also cause 

deformities in the plant, making 

infestation obvious. 

∑ Melon thrips cause leaves to yellow 

and die. Terminal bud growth may be 

arrested and fruits may be scarred or 

deformed. 

∑ Bacterial wilt causes wilting of plant 

leaves without yellowing. In addition, 

the roots and lower part of the stem 

undergo visible browning. 

∑ The rust fungus Puccinia pampeana 

causes yellow or orange rust pustules to 

form on the pepper fruit stem which are 

easily detectable via visual inspection. 

∑ The Andean potato mottle virus is 

easily observable on mature plants in 

the field. Symptoms include mottling of 

the plant and other plant deformities. In 

many cases the fruit will not develop 

and the plants themselves may be 

dwarfed. 

∑ The tomato severe leaf curl virus 

involves an initial upward cupping of 

the leaves, followed by an inward roll. 

In severe cases, the leaves roll up until 

the leaflets overlap. Symptomatic leaves 

become thickened and leathery. 

Commercial Consignments 

The commodity imports would be 

restricted to commercial consignments 

only. 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, could be of a 

variety with unknown susceptibility to 

pests, and is often grown with little or 

no pest control. Commercial 

consignments, as defined in § 319.56-1, 

are lots of fruits or vegetables that an 

inspector identifies as having been 

imported for sale and distribution. 

Identification of a particular 

consignment as commercial is based on 

a variety of indicators, including, but 

not limited to, the quantity of produce, 

the type of packaging, identification of 

a grower or packinghouse on the 

packaging, and documents consigning 

the fruits or vegetables to a wholesaler 

or retailer. Commercially produced fruit 

in Panama are already subjected to 

standard cultural and post-harvest 

practices that reduce the risk associated 

with plant pests. While not specifically 

required by this proposal, standard 

cultural practices other than the twice 

yearly application of broad spectrum 

fungicides (e.g., the regular use of 

sanitation measures, irrigation, 

fertilization, and pest control) help to 

further ensure that the pests of concern 

do not follow the pathway. All export 

orchards are registered production sites 

with traceback capability. Harvested 

fruit is moved to the packinghouses in 

a manner that would preclude 

infestation by pests. Culling of 

blemished and damaged fruit occurs in 

the field and during the post-harvest 

commercial processing of the fruit. 

The regulations in § 319.56-6 provide 

that all imported fruits and vegetables 

shall be inspected, and shall be subject 

to such disinfection at the port of first 

arrival as may be required by an 

inspector. The pre-export inspection 

conducted by APHIS personnel as part 

of preclearance activities in the country 

of export typically serves to satisfy the 

inspection requirement. Section 319.56- 

6 also provides that any shipment of 

fruits and vegetables may be refused 

entry if the shipment is so infested with 

plant pests that an inspector determines 

that it cannot be cleaned or treated. We 

believe that the proposed conditions 

described above, as well as all other 

applicable requirements in § 319.56-6, 

would be adequate to prevent the 

introduction of plant pests into the 

United States with peppers imported 

from Panama. 

We therefore propose to add Panama 

to the list of countries in § 319.56-40, 

from which importations of peppers are 

allowed. 

Executive Order 12866 and Regulatory 

Flexibility Act 

This 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 the Regulatory 

Flexibility Act, we have analyzed the 

potential economic effects of this action 

on small entities. The analysis is 

summarized below. 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). 


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Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 104 / Tuesday, June 1, 2010 / Proposed Rules 30305 

Panama exported an average of about 

20 metric tons (MT) of peppers to the 

United States annually from 1998 to 

2001. The United States has not 

imported peppers from Panama since 

2001. We model three levels of pepper 

exports to the United States from 

Panama, of increasing magnitude: (i) 20 

MT; (ii) the maximum annual quantity 

exported by Panama to all countries in 

the most recent years it had export data 

(29 MT); and (iii) 10 times the 

maximum quantity exported (290 MT). 

The largest assumed level of U.S. 

imports is less than is 0.02 percent of 

average annual U.S. consumption. Even 

when assuming the largest import 

quantity and no displacement of 

imports from other countries, the 

welfare loss for U.S. small-entity 

producers would be equivalent to less 

than 0.05 percent of their average 

revenue. U.S. producers of peppers are 

predominantly small. Other small 

entities that could be affected by the 

rule include fresh pepper importers. 

Under these circumstances, the 

Administrator of the Animal and Plant 

Health Inspection Service has 

determined that this action would not 

have a significant economic impact on 

a substantial number of small entities. 

Executive Order 12988 

This proposed rule would allow 

peppers to be imported into the United 

States from Panama. If this proposed 

rule is adopted, State and local laws and 

regulations regarding peppers imported 

under this rule would be preempted 

while the fruit is in foreign commerce. 

Fresh fruits and vegetables 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 caseby-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. 

Paperwork Reduction Act 

This proposed rule contains no new 

information collection or recordkeeping 

requirements under the Paperwork 

Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501 

et seq.). 

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 319.56-40 is amended by 

revising the introductory text of the 

section and paragraphs (a)(2), (b)(3)(v), 

and (c)(3)(v) to read as follows. 

§ 319.56-40 Peppers from certain Central 

American countries. 

Fresh peppers (Capsicum spp.) may 

be imported into the United States from 

Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, 

Honduras, Nicaragua, and Panama only 

under the following conditions and in 

accordance with all other applicable 

provisions of this subpart: 

(a) * * * 

(2) A pre-harvest inspection of the 

growing site must be conducted by the 

national plant protection organization 

(NPPO) of the exporting country for the 

weevil Faustinus ovatipennis, pea 

leafminer, tomato fruit borer, lantana 

mealybug, passionvine mealybug, melon 

thrips, bacterial wilt, the rust fungus 

Puccinia pampeana, Andean potato 

mottle virus, and tomato severe leaf curl 

virus, and if these pests are found to be 

generally infesting the growing site, the 

NPPO may not allow export from that 

production site until the NPPO has 

determined that risk mitigation has been 

achieved. 

* * * * * 

(b) * * * 

(3) * * * 

(v) The greenhouse must be inspected 

prior to harvest for the weevil Faustinus 

ovatipennis, pea leafminer, tomato fruit 

borer, lantana mealybug, passionvine 

mealybug, melon thrips, bacterial wilt, 

the rust fungus Puccinia pampeana, 

Andean potato mottle virus, and tomato 

severe leaf curl virus. If these pests, or 

other quarantine pests, are found to be 

generally infesting the greenhouse, 

export from that production site will be 

halted until the exporting country’s 

NPPO determines that the pest risk has 

been mitigated. 

* * * * * 

(c) * * * 

(3) * * * 

(v) The greenhouse must be inspected 

prior to harvest for the weevil Faustinus 

ovatipennis, pea leafminer, tomato fruit 

borer, lantana mealybug, passionvine 

mealybug, melon thrips bacterial wilt, 

the rust fungus Puccinia pampeana, 

Andean potato mottle virus, and tomato 

severe leaf curl virus. If these pests, or 

other quarantine pests, are found to be 

generally infesting the greenhouse, 

export from that production site will be 

halted until the exporting country’s 

NPPO determines that the pest risk has 

been mitigated. 

* * * * * 

Done in Washington, DC, this 24th day 

of May 2010. 

Kevin Shea 

Acting Administrator, Animal and Plant 

Health Inspection Service. 

[FR Doc. 2010–13002 Filed 5–28–10: 12:33 pm] 

BILLING CODE 3410–34–S 

DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND 

SECURITY 

Coast Guard 

33 CFR Part 117 

[Docket No. USCG–2009–0073] 

RIN 1625–AA09 

Drawbridge Operation Regulation; 

Perquimans River, Hertford, NC 

AGENCY: Coast Guard, DHS. 

ACTION: Notice of proposed rulemaking; 

withdrawal. 

SUMMARY: The Coast Guard is 

withdrawing its notice of proposed 

rulemaking concerning the proposed 

change to the regulations that governed 

the operation of the US17 Bridge, at 

mile 12.0, across Perquimans River at 

Hertford, NC. The requested change 

would have allowed the bridge to 

operate without a tender during specific 

times of the year on an advance notice 

basis. 

DATES: The notice of proposed 

rulemaking is withdrawn on June 1, 

2010. 

ADDRESSES: The docket for this 

withdrawn rulemaking is available for 

inspection or copying at the Docket 

Management Facility (M–30), U.S. 

Department of Transportation, West 

Building Ground Floor, Room W12–140, 

1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE., 

Washington, DC 20590, between 9 a.m. 

and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, 

except Federal holidays. You may also 

find this docket on the Internet by going 

to http://www.regulations.gov, inserting 

USCG–2009–0073 in the ‘‘Keyword’’ box 

and then clicking ‘‘Search’’. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: If 

you have questions about this notice, 

call or e-mail Sandra S. Elliott, Fifth 

Coast Guard District; telephone (757) 

398–6557, e-mail 


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