Unshu Oranges From Korea

SUMMARY: We are proposing to amend the regulations governing the

importation and interstate movement of citrus fruit to allow, under

certain conditions, Unshu oranges grown in citrus-canker free zones on

Cheju Island, Republic of Korea, to be imported into the United States

and moved interstate. This action would relieve restrictions on the

importation into and distribution within the United States of Unshu

oranges from Cheju Island, Republic of Korea, without presenting a

significant risk of spreading citrus canker.

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

before April 28, 1995.

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

Docket No. 94-069-1, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, Policy

and Program Development, Regulatory Analysis and Development, 4700

River Road Unit 118, Riverdale, MD 20737-1228. Please state that your

comments refer to Docket No. 94-069-1. 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. Peter Grosser or Mr. Frank Cooper,

Senior Operations Officers, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service,

Plant Protection and Quarantine, Port Operations, 4700 River Road Unit

139, Riverdale, MD 20737-1228, (301) 734-6799.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

Citrus canker is a disease which affects citrus, and is caused by

the infectious bacterium Xanthomonas campestris pv. citri (Hasse) Dye.

The strain of citrus canker that occurs in Korea infects the twigs,

leaves, and fruit of a wide spectrum of Citrus species.

Currently, the regulations in 7 CFR 319.28 (the regulations)

prohibit the importation of citrus from Eastern and Southeastern Asia,

Japan, Brazil, Paraguay, and other designated areas, except for Unshu

oranges (Citrus reticulata Blanco var. unshu, also known as Satsuma)

grown in citrus canker-free areas in Japan. After meeting certain

growing, packing, and inspection requirements, Japanese Unshu oranges

may be imported into any area of the United States except American

Samoa, Arizona, California, Florida, Louisiana, the Northern Mariana

Islands, Puerto Rico, Texas, and the Virgin Islands of the United

States. Also, under the regulations in 7 CFR 301.83, Unshu oranges

grown in Japan are prohibited from being moved interstate from any

quarantined area into or through any nonquarantined area of the United

States; all areas of the United States, except for American Samoa,

Arizona, California, Florida, Louisiana, the Northern Mariana Islands,

Puerto Rico, Texas, and the Virgin Islands of the United States, are

quarantined.

We are proposing to amend the regulations to allow the importation

and interstate movement, under identical restrictions, of Unshu oranges

grown in citrus canker-free areas on Cheju Island, Republic of Korea.

To qualify for importation into the United States, the oranges would

have to meet the following requirements:

(1) They must be grown and packed in isolated, canker-free export

areas where only Unshu orange trees are grown. These areas must be

surrounded by a disease-free buffer zone in which only certain

varieties of citrus may be grown;

(2) Korean and U.S. plant protection officials must jointly inspect

the canker free export areas and buffer zones, and must jointly inspect

Unshu oranges in the groves prior to and during harvest and in the

packinghouses during packing operations;

(3) Before packing, the Unshu oranges must be given a USDA-

prescribed surface sterilization with a bleach and water solution;

(4) On boxes in which Unshu oranges are packed and on the tissue

paper wrapping of individual Unshu oranges there must be stamped or

printed a statement specifying the States into which the Unshu oranges

may be imported and from which they are prohibited removal under a

Federal plant quarantine;

(5) The Unshu oranges must also be accompanied by a certificate

from the Korean Plant Protection Service certifying that the fruit is

apparently free of citrus canker.

Also, we are proposing to amend the regulations in Sec. 301.83 to

prohibit the movement of Cheju Island Unshu oranges from any

quarantined area into or through any nonquarantined area of the United

States. The quarantined areas in the United States for Unshu oranges

from Cheju Island would be the same as those established for Unshu

oranges from Japan.

These safeguards would be adequate to ensure that the Unshu oranges

from Cheju Island, Republic of Korea, would not disseminate citrus

canker if permitted into the United States.

Miscellaneous

Currently, under Sec. 319.28 (b)(1) and (b)(2) of the regulations,

the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) requires that

qualified Japanese and U.S. plant pathologists jointly inspect the

canker-free export areas, buffer zones, and Unshu oranges. APHIS

believes that these joint inspections could be carried out effectively

by plant protection officers from APHIS and the country of origin of

the Unshu oranges, either Japan or the Republic of Korea, rather than

by plant pathologists. Plant protection officers given this duty would

be trained to examine trees and fruit for the presence of citrus canker

and other diseases. Therefore, we are proposing to allow plant

protection officers from APHIS and Japan or the Republic of Korea to

carry out these joint inspections.

Also, under Sec. 319.28(a)(1) of the regulations, APHIS prohibits

the importation of citrus fruit from eastern, southeastern Asia, and

other areas. [[Page 16068]] Several countries, including India, Burma,

Ceylon, Thailand, Indochina, China, and Japan are mentioned. APHIS

considers the Republic of Korea to be part of eastern Asia and

prohibits the importation of Korean citrus, even though Korea is not

specifically listed under Sec. 319.28(a)(1). We are proposing to add

the Republic of Korea to this list in order to clarify the prohibition

on the importation of Korean citrus.

Finally, under Sec. 319.28(b)(7) of the regulations, Unshu oranges

grown in Japan are subject to a final examination at the port of

arrival in the United States by APHIS inspectors to determine if they

are infected with citrus canker. This requirement is redundant, since

Sec. 319.56-6 of the Fruits and Vegetables regulations contains a

similar provision that applies to all imported produce. We are

proposing, therefore, to remove Sec. 319.28(b)(7) from the regulations.

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.

In accordance with 5 U.S.C. 603, we have performed an Initial

Regulatory Flexibility Analysis, which is set out below, regarding the

impact of this rule on small entities. However, we do not currently

have all the data necessary for a comprehensive analysis of the effects

of this rule on small entities. Therefore, we are inviting comments

concerning potential effects. In particular, we are interested in

determining the number and kind of small entities that may incur

benefits or costs from implementation of this proposed rule.

This proposed rule would allow Unshu oranges grown on Cheju Island,

Republic of Korea, to be imported into and through 45 States after

meeting certain requirements.

Unshu oranges are imported for a small market in the United States

and sell for two to three times the price of the domestically grown

Satsuma tangerines, a citrus fruit similar to the Unshu orange.

Imported Unshu oranges are available for only a short period of time

each year, from early November into mid-January.

In the 1992-93 growing season, domestic producers grew

approximately 362 million pounds of tangerines in Arizona, California

and Florida. We estimate annual domestic production of Satsuma

tangerines to be about 1.9 to 2.4 million pounds, less than one one-

hundredth of one percent of total tangerine production.

We anticipate that following the promulgation of this rule, the

Republic of Korea initially could export about 1.1 million pounds of

Unshu oranges to the United States and increase this amount to around

3.3 to 4.4 million pounds within a few years. While 4.4 million pounds

of imported Korean Unshu oranges would amount to less than one percent

of the total domestic tangerine production, it would constitute twice

the annual domestic production of satsuma tangerines. Again, however,

these Korean Unshu oranges could cost up to three times as much as

domestically produced Satsuma tangerines.

Executive Order 12778

This proposed rule would allow Unshu oranges to be imported into

the United States from Cheju Island, Republic of Korea. If this

proposed rule is adopted, State and local laws and regulations

regarding Unshu oranges imported under this rule would be preempted

while the fruit is in foreign commerce. Fresh Unshu oranges 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 case-by-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

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 will be submitted for approval to the

Office of Management and Budget. Please send written comments to the

Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, OMB, Attention: Desk

Officer for APHIS, Washington, DC 20503. Please send a copy of your

comments to: (1) Docket No. 94-069-1, Animal and Plant Health

Inspection Service, Policy and Program Development, Regulatory Analysis

and Development, 4700 River Road Unit 118, Riverdale, MD 20737-1228,

and (2) Clearance Officer, OIRM, USDA, room 404-W, 14th Street and

Independence Avenue SW., Washington, DC 20250.

List of Subjects

7 CFR Part 301

Agricultural commodities, Plant diseases and pests, Quarantine,

Reporting and recordkeeping requirements, Transportation.

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 parts 301 and 319 would be amended as follows:

PART 301--DOMESTIC QUARANTINE NOTICES

1. The authority citation for part 301 would continue to read as

follows:

Authority: 7 U.S.C. 150bb, 150dd, 150ee, 150ff; 161, 162, and

164-167; 7 CFR 2.17, 2.51, and 371.2(c).

Sec. 301.83 [Amended]

2. In Sec. 301.83, paragraph (a) would be amended by adding the

phrase ``or on Cheju Island, Republic of Korea,'' immediately following

``Japan''.

PART 319--FOREIGN QUARANTINE NOTICES

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

follows:

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

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

Sec. 319.28 [Amended]

4. Section 319.28 would be amended as follows:

a. Paragraph (a)(1) would be amended by adding the phrase ``the

Republic of Korea,'' immediately following the phrase ``Japan and

adjacent islands,''.

b. Paragraph (b) introductory text would be amended by adding the

phrase ``or on Cheju Island, Republic of Korea,'' immediately following

``Japan''.

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

removing the phrase ``Japanese Plant Protection Service'' and adding

the phrase ``plant protection service of the country of origin'' in its

place; and in the third and sixth sentences, the word ``pathologists''

would be removed and the phrase ``protection officers'' would be added

in its place and the word ``Japan'' would be removed and the phrase

``the country of origin'' would be added in its place.

d. Paragraph (b)(2) would be amended by removing the word

``pathologists'' and adding the phrase ``protection officers'' in its

place and by removing [[Page 16069]] the word ``Japan'' and adding the

phrase ``the country of origin'' in its place.

e. Paragraph (b)(4)(ii) would be amended by removing the phrase

``Japanese Plant Protection Service'' and adding the phrase ``plant

protection service of the country of origin'' in its place.

f. Paragraph (b)(7) would be removed.

g. In paragraph (f), the word ``Japan'' would be removed and the

phrase ``the country of origin of the Unshu oranges'' would be added in

its place.

Done in Washington, DC, this 22nd day of March 1995.

Terry L. Medley,

Acting Administrator, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.

[FR Doc. 95-7600 Filed 3-28-95; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3410-34-P