Importation of Fruit Trees From France

SUMMARY: We are proposing to allow Chaenomeles spp., Cydonia spp.,

Malus spp., Pyrus spp., and certain Prunus spp. plants (except seeds)

to be imported into the United States as restricted articles, if grown

in private nurseries in France and certified by the French plant

protection service to be free of various diseases. This action would

relieve restrictions on the importation of these articles from France

without presenting a significant risk of introducing plant pests into

the United States.

We are also proposing to remove Laredo, TX, from the list of ports

equipped with plant inspection stations.

DATES: Consideration will be given only to comments received on or

before April 12, 1995.

ADDRESSES: Please send an original and three copies of your comments to

Docket No. 94-102-1, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, Policy

and Program Development, Regulatory Analysis and Development, 4700

River Road Unit 118, Riverdale, MD 20737-1238. Please state that your

comments refer to Docket No. 94-102-1. Comments received may be

inspected at USDA, room 1141, South Building, 14th Street and

Independence Avenue SW., Washington, DC, between 8 a.m. and 4:30 p.m.,

Monday through Friday, except holidays. Persons wishing to inspect

comments are requested to call ahead on (202) 690-2817 to facilitate

entry into the comment reading room.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. James Petit de Mange or Mr. Peter

Grosser, Operations Officers, Animal and Plant Health Inspection

Service, Plant Protection and Quarantine, Port Operations, 4700 River

Road Unit 139, Riverdale, MD, 20737-1238, (301) 734-8645.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

The Plant Quarantine Act (7 U.S.C. 151 et seq.) and the Federal

Plant Pest Act (7 U.S.C. 150aa et seq.) authorize the Animal and Plant

Health Inspection Service (APHIS) to prohibit or restrict the

importation into the United States of any plants, roots, bulbs, seeds,

or other plant products in order to prevent the introduction of plant

pests into the United States.

Regulations promulgated under this authority, among others, include

7 CFR 319.37 through 319.37-14, ``Subpart--Nursery Stock, Plants,

Roots, Bulbs, Seeds, and Other Plant Products'' (the regulations).

These regulations govern the importation of living plants, plant parts,

and seeds for or capable of propagation, and related articles. The

regulations prohibit or restrict the importation of most plants, roots,

bulbs, seeds, and other plant products. These articles are classified

as either ``prohibited articles'' or ``restricted articles.''

A prohibited article is an article that the Deputy Administrator

for Plant Protection and Quarantine (PPQ), APHIS, has determined cannot

feasibly be inspected, treated, or handled to prevent it from

introducing plant pests new to or not widely prevalent or distributed

within and throughout the United States. Prohibited articles may not be

imported into the United States, unless imported by the United States

Department of Agriculture (USDA) for experimental or scientific

purposes under specified safeguards.

A restricted article is an article that the Deputy Administrator

for PPQ has determined can be inspected, treated, or handled to

essentially eliminate the risk of its spreading plant pests if imported

into the United States. Restricted articles may be imported into the

United States if they are imported in compliance with restrictions that

may include permit and phytosanitary certificate requirements,

inspection, treatment, or postentry quarantine.

Under Sec. 319.37-5(b) of the regulations, articles (except seeds)

of the genera Chaenomeles (flowering quince), Cydonia (quince), Malus

(apple, crabapple), Pyrus (pear), and certain species of the genus

Prunus (almond, apricot, cherry, cherry laurel, English laurel,

nectarine, peach, plum, prune) may be imported into the United States

as restricted articles if grown in government or private nurseries in

Belgium, Canada, Great Britain, the Federal Republic of Germany, or The

Netherlands. They may be imported from France as restricted articles

only if grown in government nurseries. All of these restricted articles

must be accompanied by a phytosanitary certificate of inspection

stating where the article was grown and certifying that the article was

found by the plant protection service of the country in which grown to

be free of various plant diseases. Also, all of the restricted articles

listed above, except those grown in Canada, are subject to a 2-year

postentry quarantine period, as specified in Sec. 319.37-7. In

postentry quarantine, restricted articles are grown in isolation and

observed in order to detect plant pests undetectable by inspection at

the port of entry.

The French Ministry of Agriculture has asked that species of the

above mentioned genera grown in private nurseries in France be allowed

to enter the United States as restricted articles. In response to this

request, APHIS representatives visited France in June 1994, to review

France's fruit tree certification program. Following that review, APHIS

determined that the process by which the French plant protection

service certifies these articles to be ``disease-free'' is sufficient

to allow their entry into the United States without increasing the risk

of plant pest introduction. Therefore, we are proposing to amend the

regulations to allow Chaenomeles spp., Cydonia spp., Malus spp., Pyrus

spp., and certain Prunus spp. grown in private nurseries in France to

be imported as restricted articles into the United States under the

same conditions already applied to those same articles when grown in

government nurseries in France.

Also, for the sake of clarity, we are proposing to incorporate the

provision in Sec. 319.37-5, footnote 7, concerning Prunus spp. not

immune to plum pox virus, into a new paragraph (b)(2) in Sec. 319.37-5,

and to remove footnote 7. [[Page 13383]]

Port of Laredo Plant Inspection Station

Some restricted articles may be imported into the United States

only under a written permit issued by APHIS. Permits are required for

these restricted articles because the articles appear to present a

substantial risk of carrying plant pests at the time of importation.

Section 319.37-3(a) of the regulations lists the categories of

restricted articles that require a written permit for importation.

Section 319.37-14(b) of the regulations contains a list of the

approved ports of entry through which restricted articles may be

imported into the United States. Restricted articles that do not

require a written permit may be imported through any of the approved

ports of entry; restricted articles that do require a permit, because

of their greater plant pest risk, may be imported only through ports

equipped with special inspection and treatment facilities (plant

inspection stations). Ports equipped with plant inspection stations are

indicated on the list by an asterisk.

We are proposing to amend the regulations by removing the port of

Laredo, TX, from the list of ports with plant inspection stations in

Sec. 319.37-14(b). The fumigation chamber at the Laredo plant

inspection station was found to be in violation of State clean air

regulations by the Texas Natural Resources and Conservation Commission

on July 7, 1994, and has not been used since that date. Since the

volume of plant material requiring written permits and entering through

Laredo has been low and because fumigation without a fumigation chamber

would be difficult, APHIS elected to close the plant inspection station

on October 1, 1994. As a result, certain plants and plant products can

no longer be imported through Laredo, but must go to another port

instead.

Executive Order 12866 and Regulatory Flexibility Act

This proposed rule has been reviewed under Executive Order 12866.

The rule has been determined to be not significant for purposes of

Executive Order 12866 and, therefore, has not been reviewed by the

Office of Management and Budget.

We are proposing to allow species of the genera Chaenomeles,

Cydonia, Malus, Pyrus, and certain species of Prunus (those resistant

to plum pox virus) grown in private nurseries in France to be imported

into the United States. Currently, under 7 CFR 319.37-5, APHIS allows

restricted articles of these five genera to be imported if grown in

government or private nurseries in Belgium, Canada, Great Britain, the

Federal Republic of Germany, or The Netherlands, but from France only

if grown in government nurseries.

During the first nine months of fiscal year 1994, approximately

312,893 fruit trees valued at $1.64 million were imported into the

United States. Malus spp. accounted for 99.9 percent (312,840) of

imported fruit trees. Thirty-two trees of Prunus spp. and 21 of Pyrus

spp. were also imported. There were no imports of Chaenomeles spp. or

Cydonia spp. Prices of imported fruit trees averaged about $5.25 per

tree.

Annually, domestic producers market about 20 million fruit trees of

these five genera, valued at approximately $105 million. Domestic tree

prices range from $5 to $6 per tree.

Imported fruit trees, therefore, currently account for only about

1.5 percent of fruit trees available in the U.S. market. We anticipate,

as a result of this rule, that private French nurseries could export an

additional 20,000 to 30,000 trees to the United States each year. This

additional number of fruit trees would account for less than one-half

of one percent of the U.S. supply. Furthermore, these additional fruit

tree imports from France probably would compete directly with imports

from The Netherlands, thus lessening the impact on the total domestic

supply. We anticipate, therefore, that this proposed rule would not

have a significant economic impact on total domestic fruit tree supply

and thus would not have a significant economic impact on domestic fruit

tree producers or other small entities.

Also, we have determined, using the Small Business Administration

definition of small business (having 100 or fewer employees), that

there are currently about 9,097 small retail nurseries and 11,347

wholesale shippers of flowers and nursery stock in the United States.

We expect that these small businesses may benefit, if only slightly,

from this rule. They would gain access to a greater variety of imported

fruit trees, possibly at lower prices.

We are also proposing to remove the port of Laredo, TX, from the

list of ports with plant inspection stations. About 400 million plants

are imported through plant inspection stations into the United States

annually. Only 24 shipments of 21,429 plants (less than one percent of

400 million) were imported through the plant inspection station at

Laredo in 1993. In view of the low volume of plants imported into the

United States through the Laredo plant inspection station, we do not

believe that this rule would have a significant economic effect on

businesses or other entities, large or small. Moreover, any plants

requiring written permits and previously imported through Laredo could

be diverted to the ports of Brownsville or El Paso, TX, which still

retain plant inspection stations.

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 12778

This proposed rule has been reviewed under Executive Order 12778,

Civil Justice Reform. If this proposed rule is adopted: (1) All State

and local laws and regulations that are inconsistent with this rule

will be preempted; (2) no retroactive effect will be given to this

rule; and (3) administrative proceedings will not be required before

parties may file suit in court challenging this rule.

Paperwork Reduction Act

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1980 (44 U.S.C.

3501 et seq.), the information collection or recordkeeping requirements

included in this proposed rule have been approved by the Office of

Management and Budget (OMB), and there are no new requirements. The

assigned OMB control number is 0579-0049.

List of Subjects in 7 CFR Part 319

Bees, Coffee, Cotton, Fruits, Honey, Imports, Incorporation by

reference, Nursery stock, Plant diseases and pests, Quarantine,

Reporting and recordkeeping requirements, Rice, Vegetables.

Accordingly, 7 CFR part 319 would be amended as follows:

PART 319--FOREIGN QUARANTINE NOTICES

1. The authority citation for part 319 would continue to read as

follows:

Authority: 7 U.S.C. 150dd, 150ee, 150ff, 151-167, and 450; 21

U.S.C. 136 and 136a; 7 CFR 2.17, 2.51, and 371.2(c).

2. Section 319.37-5 would be amended as follows:

a. In paragraph (b)(1), the first sentence would be amended by

removing the reference to ``(b)(2)'' and adding a reference to

``(b)(3)'' in its place.

b. Footnote 7 and its reference would be removed.

c. Paragraph (b)(2) would be redesignated as paragraph (b)(3) and a

new paragraph (b)(2) would be added to read as set forth below.

[[Page 13384]]

Sec. 319.37-5 Special foreign inspection and certification

requirements.

* * * * *

(b) * * *

(2) Species of Prunus not immune to plum pox virus (species other

than P. avium, P. cerasus, P. effusa, P. laurocerasus, P. mahaleb, P.

padus, P. sargentii, P. serotina, P. serrula, P. serrulata, P.

subhirtella, P. yedoensis, and P. virginiana) and grown in Belgium,

France, Germany, Great Britain, or The Netherlands may be certified

only from the government operated nurseries (research stations) where

the original parent stock is indexed for the appropriate national fruit

tree certification program.

* * * * *

Secs. 319.37-6, 319.37-7, 319.37-8, and 319.37-13 [Amended]

3. Footnotes 8 through 12 and their references would be

redesignated as footnotes 7 through 11.

Sec. 319.37-14 [Amended]

4. In Sec. 319.37-14, paragraph (b), under the list of ports of

entry in Texas, the asterisk immediately preceding the entry for Laredo

would be removed.

Done in Washington, DC, this 7th day of March 1995.

Terry L. Medley,

Acting Administrator, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.

[FR Doc. 95-6098 Filed 3-10-95; 8:45 am]

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