This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER

contains regulatory documents having general

applicability and legal effect, most of which

are keyed to and codified in the Code of

Federal Regulations, which is published under

50 titles pursuant to 44 U.S.C. 1510.

The Code of Federal Regulations is sold by

the Superintendent of Documents.

Rules and Regulations Federal Register

38591 

Vol. 82, No. 156 

Tuesday, August 15, 2017 

1To view the proposed rule, supporting 

documents, and the comments we received, go to 

http://www.regulations.gov/ 

#!docketDetail;D=APHIS-2016-0022. 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Animal and Plant Health Inspection 

Service 

7 CFR Part 319 

[Docket No. APHIS–2016–0022] 

RIN 0579–AE29 

Importation of Hass Avocados From 

Colombia 

AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health 

Inspection Service, USDA. 

ACTION: Final rule. 

SUMMARY: We are amending the 

regulations to allow the importation of 

fresh Hass avocado fruit from Colombia 

into the continental United States. As a 

condition of entry, fresh Hass avocado 

fruit from Colombia will have to be 

produced in accordance with a systems 

approach that includes orchard and 

packinghouse requirements and port of 

entry inspection. The fruit will also be 

required to be imported in commercial 

consignments and accompanied by a 

phytosanitary certificate issued by the 

national plant protection organization of 

Colombia with an additional declaration 

stating that the fruit has been produced 

in accordance with the requirements. 

This action will allow for the 

importation of fresh Hass avocado fruit 

from Colombia while continuing to 

provide protection against the 

introduction of plant pests into the 

continental United States. 

DATES: Effective September 14, 2017. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. 

David B. Lamb, Senior Regulatory 

Policy Specialist, IRM, PPQ, APHIS, 

4700 River Road Unit 133, Riverdale, 

MD 20737–1231; (301) 851–2103. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background 

Under the regulations in ‘‘Subpart— 

Fruits and Vegetables’’ (7 CFR 319.56– 

1 through 319.56–77, referred to below 

as the regulations or the fruits and 

vegetables regulations), the Animal and 

Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) 

of the United States Department of 

Agriculture (USDA) 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. 

On October 27, 2016, we published in 

the Federal Register (81 FR 74722– 

74727, Docket No. APHIS–2016–0022) a 

proposal 1 to amend the regulations by 

allowing for the importation of 

commercially produced fresh Hass 

avocado (Persea americana) fruit from 

Colombia into the continental United 

States. 

We solicited comments concerning 

our proposal for 60 days ending 

December 27, 2016. We reopened and 

extended the deadline for comments 

until February 16, 2017, in a document 

published in the Federal Register on 

January 17, 2017 (82 FR 4798, Docket 

No. APHIS–2016–0022). We extended 

the reopened comment period until 

March 20, 2017, in a document 

published in the Federal Register on 

February 10, 2017 (82 FR 10312, Docket 

No. APHIS–2016–0022). We received 43 

comments by that date. They were from 

producers, exporters, industry groups, 

and representatives of State and foreign 

governments. Of these, 32 were fully 

supportive of the proposed action. The 

remaining 11 raised issues that are 

discussed below by topic. 

General Comments 

One commenter suggested that APHIS 

focus on importing fresh Hass avocado 

fruit from Indonesia since Indonesia’s 

production levels are much higher than 

Colombia’s. 

APHIS’s phytosanitary evaluation 

process only begins once a country has 

submitted a formal request for market 

access for a particular commodity. 

APHIS does not solicit such requests, 

nor do we control which countries 

submit requests. Were Indonesia to 

submit a market access request for 

avocados we would evaluate that 

request in the same way we do any 

other. 

The same commenter argued that we 

should direct our efforts towards 

keeping avocado fruit produced 

domestically within the United States, 

thus reducing the need to import fresh 

Hass avocado fruit. A second 

commenter urged APHIS to focus 

instead on bolstering domestic avocado 

growers. The commenter claimed that 

the number and size of U.S. avocado 

farms is decreasing as a result of 

competition from foreign growers. 

It is beyond APHIS’ statutory 

authority to prohibit importation of a 

commodity for any reason other than to 

prevent the introduction or 

dissemination of a plant pest or noxious 

weed within the United States. Under 

the Plant Protection Act (PPA), APHIS 

may prohibit the importation of a fruit 

or vegetable into the United States only 

if we determine that the prohibition is 

necessary in order to prevent the 

introduction or dissemination of a plant 

pest or noxious weed within the United 

States. The second commenter’s claim 

regarding a decrease in the number of 

domestic producers is incorrect. Nearly 

all domestic production of fresh Hass 

avocado fruit takes place in California 

and the number of avocado farms in that 

State increased by nearly 17 percent 

between 2002 and 2012. While total 

acreage did decrease by 20 percent 

during that period, largely as a result of 

urban growth and water shortages, 

higher yields have allowed producers to 

maintain steady overall production 

levels. 

Another commenter was supportive of 

the action, but only if the fresh Hass 

avocado fruit from Colombia was grown 

organically. 

While we do not stipulate that the 

fresh Hass avocado fruit must be grown 

to USDA organic standards, Colombian 

growers may choose to do so. The USDA 

Agricultural Marketing Service enforces 

the regulations governing domestic and 

imported organic agricultural 

commodities under the National 

Organic Program. 

Several commenters said that the 

phytosanitary risk represented by the 

importation of fresh Hass avocado fruit 

from Colombia outweighs any potential 

monetary gains associated with such 

importation. 

This action was predicated on the 

findings of several risk assessment 

documents that provide a scientific 

basis for potential importation of fresh 

Hass avocado fruit from Colombia. 

Without these risk assessment 


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38592 Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 156 / Tuesday, August 15, 2017 / Rules and Regulations 

documents, which have withstood 

several reviews and public comment 

periods, APHIS would not have 

proposed this action. Economic interests 

may stimulate consideration of the 

expansion of trade of agricultural 

commodities between countries, but all 

decisionmaking concerning 

phytosanitary restrictions on trade must 

be science-based. APHIS stands behind 

the risk assessment documents that 

support this rule, and believes they are 

based on sound science. The risk 

mitigations required by APHIS will 

remove any insect pests from the 

importation pathway. 

Another commenter expressed 

concerns that the national plant 

protection organization (NPPO) of 

Colombia may not adequately 

implement the required systems 

approach in the interests of cost-cutting. 

Our standard practice is to conduct 

site visits prior to the initiation of any 

import program. This is to ensure that 

all required mitigations are in place and 

the agreed upon operational workplan is 

being enforced. Subject matter experts 

inspect production sites and 

packinghouses and report their findings 

to APHIS. Furthermore, the operational 

workplan authorizes the regional APHIS 

International Services Director to 

conduct periodic audit visits of 

production sites. While it is true that the 

systems approach will be overseen 

thereafter by the NPPO of Colombia or 

its designee, APHIS will provide 

qualified personnel to work 

cooperatively with the NPPO of 

Colombia and all other program 

participants to review and evaluate 

operations in the field and 

packinghouses, quarantine pest 

management and control activities, and 

other safeguarding measures when such 

assistance is necessary as a result of 

noncompliance events or program 

audits conducted in accordance with 

APHIS’ policy. 

Comments on the Pest List 

The pest risk assessment (PRA) that 

accompanied the proposed rule 

identified four quarantine pests that 

could be introduced into the United 

States in consignments of fresh Hass 

avocado fruit from Colombia. A 

quarantine pest is defined in § 319.56– 

2 as ‘‘a pest of potential economic 

importance to the area endangered 

thereby and not yet present there, or 

present but not widely distributed and 

being officially controlled.’’ The pests 

listed in the PRA are: 

• The avocado seed weevil, Heilipus 

lauri Boheman; 

• The avocado seed weevil, Heilipus 

trifasciatus; 

• Pink hibiscus mealybug, 

Maconellicoccus hirsutus (Green); and 

• Avocado seed moth, Stenoma 

catenifer. 

We later amended the PRA in order to 

remove pink hibiscus mealybug from 

the pest list after further examination 

revealed that growing conditions and 

standard packinghouse practices used in 

Colombia would effectively prevent 

pink hibiscus mealybug from following 

the pathway of importation into the 

United States. We have therefore 

removed references to that pest in the 

final regulatory text and supporting 

documents. 

One commenter argued that the larvae 

of the two avocado seed weevils and the 

avocado seed moth are internal feeders, 

unaffected by post-harvest processing 

and very likely to escape detection via 

visual inspection. 

The avocado seed weevil Heilipus 

lauri Boheman and the avocado seed 

moth are among the pests analyzed in 

connection with the importation of fresh 

Hass avocado fruit from Mexico and 

have been successfully mitigated for 

years using a similar systems approach. 

As long as post-harvest practices are 

maintained as part of the overall 

systems approach, we are confident that 

the pests will not follow the pathway of 

importation. The avocado seed weevil 

Heilipus trifasciatus has behavior and 

biology very similar to Heilipus lauri 

and we are therefore similarly confident 

in the efficacy of the systems approach 

in connection with this pest. In 

addition, Heilipus trifasciatus is very 

uncommon in Colombia, which also 

decreases the chance of infestation. 

The same commenter observed that 

fresh avocado fruit are considered by 

APHIS to be conditional non-hosts for 

the South American fruit fly 

(Anastrepha fraterculus), the guava fruit 

fly (Anastrepha striata), and old world 

fruit flies (Ceratitis spp.) based on the 

scientific literature and pest 

interception data. The commenter stated 

that this status does not mean that fresh 

Hass avocado fruit is not a host and 

therefore risk of infestation is present. 

The commenter is correct that fresh 

Hass avocado fruit are considered by 

APHIS to be conditional non-hosts to 

fruit flies. The only time fresh Hass 

avocado fruit may become a fruit fly 

host is after the fruit has fallen from the 

tree or after harvesting. For that reason, 

we require that all fallen fruit be 

removed from production sites and 

destroyed weekly. Fallen fruit is also 

prohibited from entering the 

packinghouses. Harvested avocados are 

required to be safeguarded from fruit 

flies after harvest until the fruit is 

packed in pest-exclusionary 

packinghouses and shipped to the 

United States. 

Comments on the Systems Approach 

Based on the findings of the PRA, we 

determined that measures beyond 

standard port-of-entry inspection will be 

needed to mitigate the risks posed by 

the pests listed above. These measures 

were identified in the risk mitigation 

document (RMD) and were used as the 

basis for the requirements of the systems 

approach. 

At various locations within the 

proposed regulations, PRA, and RMD, 

we referred to departments of Colombia, 

which are one of the administrative 

units of that country. The Colombian 

government requested that these 

references be replaced with the term 

‘‘municipalities.’’ Municipalities are 

smaller administrative units which 

comprise Colombian departments. 

We agree and have changed the 

language accordingly. 

One commenter requested that fresh 

Hass avocado fruit from Colombia not 

be allowed into the State of Florida 

given that the climate in that State is 

conducive to the establishment of the 

listed pests. 

We have determined, for the reasons 

described in the RMD that accompanied 

the proposed rule, that the measures 

specified in the RMD will effectively 

mitigate the risk associated with the 

importation of fresh Hass avocado fruit 

from Colombia. The commenter did not 

provide any evidence suggesting that 

the mitigations are not effective. 

Therefore, we are not taking the action 

requested by the commenter. 

We stipulated that Hass avocado fruit 

that has fallen from the trees would 

have to be removed from each place of 

production at least once every 7 days, 

starting 2 months before harvest and 

continuing to the end of harvest. One 

commenter suggested that we require 

fallen fruit to be removed at shorter 

intervals. 

The 7-day interval is consistent with 

the requirement we have successfully 

used for years in relation to the 

importation of fresh Hass avocado fruit 

from Mexico and Peru. We also note 

that the requirement sets out the 7-day 

interval as the maximum amount of 

time growers may allow to elapse 

between removing any fallen fruit. 

Growers may choose to remove fallen 

fruit at shorter intervals if they feel such 

action is warranted. 

We will require the fresh Hass 

avocado fruit to be packed in insectproof packaging, or covered with insectproof mesh or a plastic tarpaulin, for 

transport to the United States. These 

safeguards will have to remain intact 


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Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 156 / Tuesday, August 15, 2017 / Rules and Regulations 38593 

until arrival in the United States. One 

commenter asked that we remove this 

requirement for maritime shipments 

because those consignments are 

constantly protected in equivalent ways 

due to the nature of the transport. 

We are making no changes as a result 

of this comment since we consider the 

sealed maritime containers in which all 

maritime shipments are transported to 

represent an adequate safeguarding 

measure as required by the regulations. 

Therefore, for the reasons given in the 

proposed rule and in this document, we 

are adopting the proposed rule as a final 

rule, with the changes discussed in this 

document. 

Executive Orders 12866 and 13771 and 

Regulatory Flexibility Act 

This final 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. Further, 

because this rule is not significant, it is 

not a regulatory action under Executive 

Order 13771. 

In accordance with 5 U.S.C. 604, we 

have performed a final regulatory 

flexibility analysis, which is 

summarized below, regarding the 

economic effects of this rule on small 

entities. Copies of the full analysis are 

available on the Regulations.gov Web 

site (see footnote 1 in this document for 

a link to Regulations.gov) or by 

contacting the person listed under FOR

FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT. 

Colombia has requested USDA 

authorization of market access for 

commercial shipments of fresh Hass 

avocado fruit into the continental 

United States under a systems approach. 

U.S. fresh Hass avocado fruit imports 

have increased significantly over the 

years. A growing U.S. population and 

growing Hispanic share of the 

population, greater awareness of the 

avocado’s health benefits, year-round 

availability of fresh, affordable Hass 

avocado fruit, and greater disposable 

income have contributed to the 

increased demand. 

The increase in demand over the past 

decade has contributed to domestic 

producers being able to maintain 

production levels despite the large 

increase in avocado imports. Annual 

U.S. fresh avocado fruit production, 

2011/12 to 2015/16, averaged 426 

million pounds, of which California 

accounted for approximately 84 percent, 

or over 356 million pounds. Nearly all 

of California’s production is of the Hass 

variety. 

Potential economic effects of this rule 

are estimated using a partial equilibrium 

model of the U.S. fresh Hass avocado 

fruit sector. Colombia is expected to 

export between 8,000 to 12,000 metric 

tons of fresh Hass avocado fruit, with 

10,000 metric tons being most likely. If 

the United States were to import 

between 10,000 and 12,000 metric tons 

of fresh Hass avocado fruit considering 

a 20 percent displacement of fresh Hass 

avocado fruit imports from other 

sources, the decline in avocado prices 

may range from 1.0 percent to 1.5 

percent. Consumer welfare gains of 

about $14 million to $22 million will 

outweigh producer welfare losses of 

about $4 million to $5 million, resulting 

in net welfare gains of about $11 million 

to $17 million. The lower-bound of 

8,000 metric tons considers partial 

import displacement will occur, and 

price and welfare effects will be 

proportional to the net increase in U.S. 

fresh Hass avocado fruit imports if fresh 

Hass avocado fruit imported from 

Colombia were to displace fresh Hass 

avocado fruit imports from elsewhere 

(e.g., Chile, Peru, or Mexico). 

While APHIS does not have 

information on the size distribution of 

U.S. avocado producers, according to 

the Census of Agriculture, there were a 

total of 93,020 Fruit and Tree Nut farms 

(NAICS 1113) in the United States in 

2012. The average value of agricultural 

products sold by these farms was less 

than $274,000, which is well below the 

Small Business Administration’s smallentity standard of $750,000. It is 

reasonable to assume that most avocado 

farms qualify as small entities. Between 

2002 and 2012, the number of avocado 

operations in California grew by 

approximately 17 percent, from 4,801 to 

5,602 operations. 

Executive Order 12988 

This final rule allows fresh Hass 

avocado fruit to be imported into the 

United States from Colombia. State and 

local laws and regulations regarding 

fresh Hass avocado fruit imported under 

this rule will be preempted while the 

fruit is in foreign commerce. Fresh fruits 

are generally imported for immediate 

distribution and sale to the consuming 

public, and 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. 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 

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 final rule, 

which were filed under 0579–0459, 

have been submitted for approval to the 

Office of Management and Budget 

(OMB). When OMB notifies us of its 

decision, if approval is denied, we will 

publish a document in the Federal 

Register providing notice of what action 

we plan to take. 

E-Government Act Compliance 

The Animal and Plant Health 

Inspection Service is committed to 

compliance with the EGovernment 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 rule, please contact Ms. Kimberly 

Hardy, APHIS’ Information Collection 

Coordinator, at (301) 851–2483. 

List of Subjects for 7 CFR Part 319 

Coffee, Cotton, Fruits, Imports, Logs, 

Nursery stock, Plant diseases and pests, 

Quarantine, Reporting and 

recordkeeping requirements, Rice, 

Vegetables. 

Accordingly, we are amending 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 319.56–78 is added to read 

as follows: 

§ 319.56–78 Hass avocados from 

Colombia. 

Fresh Hass variety (Persea americana 

P. Mill) avocados may be imported into 

the continental United States from 

Colombia only under the conditions 

described in this section. These 

conditions are designed to prevent the 

introduction of the following quarantine 

pests: Heilipus lauri Boheman, avocado 

seed weevil; Heilipus trifasciatus, 

avocado seed weevil; and Stenoma 

catenifer, avocado seed moth. 

(a) General requirements—(1) 

Operational workplan. The national 

plant protection organization (NPPO) of 

Colombia must provide an operational 

workplan to APHIS that details the 

activities that the NPPO of Colombia 

and places of production and 

packinghouses registered with the 

NPPO of Colombia will, subject to 

APHIS’ approval of the workplan, carry 

out to meet the requirements of this 


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38594 Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 156 / Tuesday, August 15, 2017 / Rules and Regulations 

section. The operational workplan must 

include and describe the specific 

requirements as set forth in this section. 

APHIS will be directly involved with 

the NPPO of Colombia in monitoring 

and auditing implementation of the 

regulatory requirements in this section, 

including implementation of the 

operational workplan. 

(2) Registered places of production. 

The fresh avocados considered for 

export to the continental United States 

must be grown by places of production 

that are registered with the NPPO of 

Colombia and that have been 

determined to be free from H. lauri, H. 

trifasciatus, and S. catenifer in 

accordance with this section. 

(3) Registered packinghouses. The 

avocados must be packed for export to 

the continental United States in pestexclusionary packinghouses that are 

registered with the NPPO of Colombia. 

(4) Avocados may be imported in 

commercial consignments only. 

(b) Monitoring and oversight. (1) The 

NPPO of Colombia must visit and 

inspect registered places of production 

monthly, starting at least 2 months 

before harvest and continuing until the 

end of the shipping season, to verify 

that the growers are complying with the 

grove sanitation requirements of this 

section and following pest control 

guidelines, when necessary, to reduce 

quarantine pest populations. Any 

personnel conducting trapping and pest 

surveys under this section at registered 

places of production must be hired, 

trained, and supervised by the NPPO of 

Colombia. APHIS may monitor the 

places of production if necessary. 

(2) In addition to conducting fruit 

inspections at the packinghouses, the 

NPPO of Colombia must monitor 

packinghouse operations to verify that 

the packinghouses are complying with 

the requirements of this section. 

(3) If the NPPO of Colombia finds that 

a place of production or packinghouse 

is not complying with the requirements 

of this section, no avocados from the 

place of production or packinghouse 

will be eligible for export to the United 

States until APHIS and the NPPO of 

Colombia conduct an investigation and 

agree that appropriate remedial actions 

have been implemented. 

(4) The NPPO of Colombia must retain 

all forms and documents related to 

export program activities in places of 

production and packinghouses for at 

least 1 year and, as requested, provide 

them to APHIS for review. 

(c) Grove sanitation. Avocado fruit 

that has fallen from the trees must be 

removed from each place of production 

at least once every 7 days, starting 2 

months before harvest and continuing to 

the end of harvest. Fallen avocado fruit 

may not be included in field containers 

of fruit brought to the packinghouse to 

be packed for export. 

(d) Mitigation measures for H. lauri, 

H. trifasciatus, and S. catenifer. 

Avocados must either be grown in 

places of production located in 

municipalities of Colombia that are 

designated as free of H. lauri, H. 

trifasciatus, and S. catenifer in 

accordance with § 319.56–5, or be 

grown in places of production that have 

been surveyed by the NPPO of Colombia 

and have been determined to be free of 

these pests. If the latter, the NPPO must 

maintain a buffer zone of 1 kilometer 

around the perimeter of the place of 

production, and must survey 

representative areas of the place of 

production and buffer zone for H. lauri, 

H. trifasciatus, and S. catenifer monthly, 

beginning no more than 2 months before 

harvest, in accordance with a survey 

protocol approved by APHIS. If one or 

more H. lauri, H. trifasciatus, or S. 

catenifer is detected during a survey of 

the place of production or buffer zone, 

the place of production will be 

suspended from the export program for 

avocados to the continental United 

States until APHIS and the NPPO of 

Colombia conduct an investigation and 

agree that appropriate remedial actions 

to reestablish pest freedom have been 

implemented. 

(e) Harvesting requirements. 

Harvested avocados must be placed in 

field cartons or containers that are 

marked with the official registration 

number of the place of production. The 

place of production where the avocados 

were grown must remain identifiable 

when the fruit leaves the grove, at the 

packinghouse, and throughout the 

export process. The fruit must be moved 

to a registered packinghouse within 3 

hours of harvest or must be protected 

from fruit fly introduction until moved. 

The fruit must be safeguarded in 

accordance with the operational 

workplan while in transit to the 

packinghouse and while awaiting 

packing. 

(f) Packinghouse requirements. (1) 

During the time registered 

packinghouses are in use for packing 

avocados for export to the United States, 

the packinghouses may only accept 

avocados that are from registered places 

of production and that are produced in 

accordance with the requirements of 

this section. 

(2) Avocados must be packed within 

24 hours of harvest in a pestexclusionary packinghouse. All 

openings to the outside of the 

packinghouse must be screened or 

covered by a barrier that prevents pests 

from entering, as specified within the 

operational workplan. The 

packinghouse must have double doors 

at the entrance to the facility and at the 

interior entrance to the area where the 

avocados are packed. 

(3) Fruit must be packed in insectproof packaging, or covered with insectproof mesh or a plastic tarpaulin, for 

transport to the United States. These 

safeguards must remain intact until 

arrival in the United States. 

(4) Shipping documents 

accompanying consignments of 

avocados from Colombia that are 

exported to the United States must 

specify the place of production at which 

the avocados were grown as well as the 

packing shed or sheds in which the fruit 

was processed and packed. This 

identification must be maintained until 

the fruit is released for entry into the 

United States. 

(g) NPPO of Colombia inspection. 

Following any post-harvest processing, 

inspectors from the NPPO of Colombia 

must visually inspect a biometric 

sample of fruit from each place of 

production at a rate to be determined by 

APHIS. The inspectors must visually 

inspect for quarantine pests and must 

cut a portion of the fruit to inspect for 

H. lauri, H. trifasciatus, and S. catenifer. 

If a single quarantine pest is detected 

during this inspection protocol, the 

consignment from which the sample 

was taken is prohibited from being 

shipped to the United States. 

Additionally, if a single H. lauri, H. 

trifasciatus, or S. catenifer at any life 

stage is detected during this inspection, 

the place of production of the infested 

avocados will be suspended from the 

export program for avocados to the 

continental United States until APHIS 

and the NPPO of Colombia conduct an 

investigation and agree that appropriate 

remedial actions to reestablish pest 

freedom have been implemented. 

(h) Phytosanitary certificate. Each 

consignment of Hass avocados from 

Colombia must be accompanied by a 

phytosanitary certificate issued by the 

NPPO of Colombia with an additional 

declaration stating that the avocados in 

the consignment were produced in 

accordance with this section and the 

operational workplan. 

(Approved by the Office of Management and 

Budget under control number 0579–0459) 

Done in Washington, DC, this 10th day of 

August 2017. 

Michael C. Gregoire, 

Acting Administrator, Animal and Plant 

Health Inspection Service. 

[FR Doc. 2017–17211 Filed 8–14–17; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–34–P 


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