Citrus Canker Regulations

Federal RegisterNov 4, 1999

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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service

7 CFR Part 301

[Docket No. 99-080-1]

Citrus Canker Regulations

AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, USDA.

ACTION: Interim rule and request for comments.

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SUMMARY: We are amending the citrus canker regulations to allow citrus

fruit produced outside the quarantined areas to be moved into a

quarantined area for packing and then moved from that quarantined area

to any destination in the United States, including commercial citrus-

producing areas. The citrus fruit produced outside the quarantined

areas would have to be moved and handled according to specific

conditions designed to prevent the artificial spread of citrus canker,

including conditions to prevent its commingling with, and possible

contamination by, citrus fruit produced within a quarantined area. We

are taking this action to relieve unnecessary restrictions on regulated

fruit originating outside a quarantined area but packed within a

quarantined area.

DATES: This interim rule was effective October 29, 1999. We invite you

to comment on this docket. We will consider all comments that we

receive by January 3, 2000.

ADDRESSES: Please send your comment and three copies to: Docket No. 99-

080-1, Regulatory Analysis and Development, PPD, APHIS, Suite 3C03,

4700 River Road, Unit 118, Riverdale, MD 20737-1238. Please state that

your comment refers to Docket No. 99-080-1.

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.

APHIS documents published in the Federal Register, and related

information, including the names of organizations and individuals who

have commented on APHIS rules, are available on the Internet at http://

www.aphis.usda.gov/ppd/rad/webrepor.html.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Stephen Poe, Operations Officer,

Program Support Staff, PPQ, APHIS, 4700 River Road, Unit 134,

Riverdale, MD 20737-1236; (301) 734-8247.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

Citrus canker is a plant disease that affects plants and plant

parts, including fresh fruit, of citrus and citrus relatives (Family

Rutaceae). Citrus canker can cause defoliation and other serious damage

to the leaves and twigs of susceptible plants. It can also cause

lesions on the fruit of infected plants, which renders the fruit

unmarketable, and cause infected fruit to drop from the trees before

reaching maturity. The aggressive A (Asiatic) strain of citrus canker

can infect susceptible plants rapidly and lead to extensive economic

losses in commercial citrus-producing areas.

The regulations to prevent the interstate spread of citrus canker

are contained in 7 CFR 301.75-1 through 301.75-14 (referred to below as

the regulations). The regulations restrict the interstate movement of

regulated articles from and through areas quarantined because of citrus

canker and provide conditions under which regulated fruit may be moved

into, through, and from quarantined areas for packing. The regulations

currently list parts of Broward, Collier, Dade, and Manatee Counties,

FL, as quarantined areas for citrus canker.

Among the entities that are affected by the restrictions of the

regulations are producers of regulated fruit and packing plants that

handle regulated fruit. With regard to the packing and movement of

regulated fruit, the regulations have provided for the three sets of

circumstances that may face producers and packers when areas within a

State are quarantined for citrus canker:

The regulated fruit is both produced and packed in a

quarantined area (Sec. 301.75-7(a));

The regulated fruit is produced in a quarantined area and

packed outside the quarantined areas (Sec. 301.75-4(d)(2)(ii)); and

The regulated fruit is produced outside the quarantined

areas and packed in a quarantined area (Sec. 301.75-7(b)).

In each of these three situations, the regulations provide specific

conditions that must be met in order for the fruit to qualify for

interstate movement after packing, and in each case the regulated fruit

may not be moved into commercial citrus-producing areas of the United

States after packing.

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When the most recent additions were made to the quarantined areas

in an interim rule effective January 26, 1999, and published in the

Federal Register on February 1, 1999 (64 FR 4777-4780, Docket No. 95-

086-2), approximately 13 citrus fruit packing plants fell within the

quarantined areas. It has come to our attention that at least one of

the packing plants located in the quarantined areas could expect to

encounter significant financial hardship as a result of that quarantine

action due to the fact that a large portion of the packer's business

involves shipping gift fruit to areas of Florida located outside the

quarantined areas. As noted in the previous paragraph, regulated fruit

packed in a quarantined area may not be moved into commercial citrus-

producing areas, so the operator of this packing plant could expect to

see his business drastically curtailed as a direct result of the

inclusion of his plant in a quarantined area.

In an effort to minimize the expected significant economic effects

on this, and potentially other, fruit packing operations, we reexamined

our citrus canker regulations with an eye toward identifying potential

alternatives to the prohibition on the movement of regulated fruit that

has been packed within a quarantined area. After consulting with our

Citrus Canker Eradication Program staff, various citrus packer groups,

and the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, we

concluded that a regulatory approach that incorporated the segregation

of fruit within the packing plant--i.e., keeping regulated fruit

produced outside the quarantined areas physically separated from

regulated fruit produced within a quarantined area--and other

safeguards would allow packing plants located within a quarantined area

to move regulated fruit from outside a citrus canker quarantined area

into a quarantined area for packing under certain conditions and then

ship it to any area of the United States, including commercial citrus-

producing areas. This approach is consistent with Sec. 301.75-

4(d)(2)(ii) of the regulations, which provides conditions, including

fruit segregation, that allow regulated fruit produced both within and

outside the quarantined areas to be packed in plants located outside

the quarantined areas without affecting the ability of those plants to

move regulated fruit produced outside the quarantined areas to any

destination, including commercial citrus-producing areas. Similarly,

Florida's State-run Caribbean fruit fly (Carib fly) program has for

several years successfully provided for fruit produced both within and

outside the areas regulated for Carib fly to be packed in plants

located within regulated areas under conditions that include fruit

segregation.

Based on these considerations, we have amended the citrus canker

regulations to provide conditions under which regulated fruit produced

outside the quarantined areas may be packed within a quarantined area

and subsequently moved into any area of the United States, including

commercial citrus-producing areas. These conditions, which incorporate

features drawn from elsewhere in our citrus canker regulations and

include specific documentation, cleaning, disinfection, and handling

requirements in addition to fruit segregation, are explained in detail

below.

We believe that most producers and packers of regulated fruit will

be willing to observe the conditions set forth in this interim rule in

order to qualify regulated fruit produced outside the quarantined areas

but packed within a quarantined area for movement to all areas of the

United States, including commercial citrus-producing areas. However, we

acknowledge that there may be some producers or packers who wish to

continue to use the current provisions in Sec. 301.75-7(b) for the

packing of fruit within a quarantined area, which is not then eligible

to be shipped to commercial citrus-producing areas. These provisions

may be preferred by packers who do not wish to take the extra step of

keeping regulated fruit produced outside the quarantined areas

segregated from fruit produced within a quarantined area. Therefore, we

are retaining the original provisions of Sec. 301.75-7(b) in this

interim rule; those provisions will now be found in Sec. 301.75-

7(b)(1).

New Sec. 301.75-7(b)(2) contains conditions under which regulated

fruit produced outside the quarantined areas but packed within a

quarantined area may be moved interstate to any area of the United

States, including commercial citrus-producing areas. We have revised

the introductory text of Sec. 301.75-7(b) to indicate that there are

now two options available to qualify regulated fruit produced outside

the quarantined areas for subsequent movement when that fruit is packed

in a plant located within a quarantined area.

Under the provisions of new paragraph Sec. 301.75-7(b)(2),

regulated fruit produced outside the quarantined areas but packed in a

plant located within a quarantined area will be eligible for movement

into any area of the United States, including commercial citrus-

producing areas, under the following conditions:

Documentation. The regulated fruit produced outside the quarantined

areas must be accompanied to the packing plant by a document that

states the location of the grove where the fruit was produced, the

variety and quantity of fruit, the address to which the fruit will be

delivered for packing, and the date the movement of the fruit began.

This documentation serves to establish that the regulated fruit was

produced in an area outside the quarantined areas and, by providing a

record of the amount and type of fruit in the shipment, helps ensure

that regulated fruit from other sources is not added to the shipment

during movement.

Unloading and loading. The regulated fruit produced outside the

quarantined areas must be moved through the quarantined area without

being unloaded, and no regulated article may be added to the shipment

in the quarantined area. Keeping the regulated fruit produced outside

the quarantined areas separated from fruit produced within a

quarantined area is one of the primary safeguards of these new

provisions, so this requirement is necessary to ensure that the

integrity of the shipment is maintained from the time the fruit is

loaded in the nonquarantined production area to the time it is unloaded

at the packing plant. Producers or packers who wish to pick up

additional regulated fruit produced within the quarantined area while

en route to the packing plant may still do so under the provisions of

Sec. 301.75-7(b)(1), but, as noted above, fruit from that packing plant

will be ineligible for movement into commercial citrus-producing areas.

Protecting the shipment. The regulated fruit produced outside the

quarantined areas must be completely covered, or enclosed in containers

or in a compartment of a vehicle, both during its movement to a packing

plant in a quarantined area and during its movement from a packing

plant in a quarantined area to destinations outside that quarantined

area. This requirement is necessary to protect the regulated fruit

produced outside the quarantined areas from the possibility of

contamination during its movement through the quarantined area.

Segregation and treatment. At the packing plant, the regulated

fruit produced outside the quarantined areas must be stored separately

from, and have no contact with, regulated fruit produced in a

quarantined area. Any equipment at the packing plant that comes in

contact with regulated fruit produced in a quarantined area must be

[[Page 60090]]

treated in accordance with Sec. 310.75-11(d) of this subpart before

being used to handle any regulated fruit not produced in a quarantined

area. Requiring the regulated fruit produced outside a quarantined area

to be segregated from other fruit within the packing plant will prevent

the commingling of the two types of fruit, thus preventing the

contamination that could occur as a result of that commingling, and

will ensure that only fruit produced outside the quarantined areas is

moved interstate to commercial citrus-producing areas. Similarly, the

application of the cleaning and disinfection measures of Sec. 301.75-

11(d) to the handling equipment in the plant will prevent regulated

fruit produced outside a quarantined area from becoming contaminated by

equipment that has been used to handle fruit produced within a

quarantined area.

Fruit treatment. The regulated fruit produced outside the

quarantined areas must be treated at the packing plant in accordance

with Sec. 301.75-11(a) of the regulations. While regulated fruit

produced outside a quarantined area does not present the same citrus

canker risks as fruit produced within a regulated area, we are

nonetheless requiring it to be treated with sodium hypochlorite or

sodium o-phenyl phenate (SOPP) in accordance with Sec. 301.75-11(a) as

a redundant safeguarding measure, given that the fruit is being packed

within a quarantined area and will be eligible for movement into

commercial citrus-producing areas. Beyond the role of those treatments

in mitigating the risks posed by citrus canker, we understand that

sodium hypochlorite and SOPP treatments, as well as additional measures

such as fruit waxing, are standard packing industry practices even

outside the quarantined areas because such measures help prevent fruit

spoilage. That consideration, plus the fact that packing plants within

the quarantined areas are already equipped to apply the required

treatments, lead us to believe that this requirement will not impose

any additional burdens on the operators of packing plants.

Handling of culls and debris. Due to the likelihood that they will

be commingled with similar regulated articles collected from regulated

fruit produced in a quarantined area, all leaves, litter, and culls

collected at the packing plant from the shipment of regulated fruit

produced outside the quarantined areas must be handled as prescribed in

Sec. 301.75-4(d)(2)(ii)(E) of the regulations. Paragraph (d) of

Sec. 301.75-4 contains the conditions that must be met in order for

less than an entire State to be designated as a quarantined area; those

conditions include the specific provisions for the intrastate movement

and handling of leaves, litter, and culls cited above as appearing in

Sec. 301.75-4(d)(2)(i)(E). Those requirements, which include the

incineration or burying in a fenced public landfill of such articles

and the option of processing culls into a product other than fresh

fruit (e.g., juice or juice concentrate), are intended to prevent the

artificial spread of citrus canker that could occur through the

movement of leaves, litter, and culls. Given that it usually takes some

time before a sufficiently large load of, for example, leaves and

litter to be collected to warrant a trip to the landfill, we believe

that it is likely that packing plant operators will store the leaves,

litter, and culls collected from the shipment of regulated fruit

produced outside the quarantined areas with similar articles collected

from shipments of regulated fruit produced within the quarantined area.

Therefore, we believe that it is necessary to require that all those

regulated articles, regardless of their origin, be handled in the same

manner as the regulated articles presenting the highest risk.

Certificate. The regulated fruit produced outside the quarantined

areas maybe moved interstate from the packing plant to any destination

if it is accompanied by a certificate issued in accordance with

Sec. 301.75-12 of the regulations. The certificate will provide

documentation that the requirements of this interim rule have been met.

Under the regulations, a certificate is used to authorize the

interstate movement of a regulated article from a quarantined area into

any area of the United States, and a limited permit is used to

authorize the movement of regulated articles from the quarantined

areas, but with restrictions on the areas of the United States into

which the articles may be moved. Because regulated fruit produced

outside the quarantined areas and handled in accordance with the new

provisions of this interim rule will be eligible for movement to any

area of the United States, including commercial citrus-producing areas,

a certificate, and not a limited permit, will be required.

Regulated fruit produced outside the quarantined areas can be

packed within a quarantined area and moved into any area of the United

States, including commercial citrus-producing areas, under the

conditions set forth in this interim rule without contributing to the

artificial spread of citrus canker. Although our pest data sheet for

citrus canker \1\ indicates that the causal pathogen could potentially

move long distances on diseased fruit, that data sheet also states that

there is no authenticated example of a citrus canker outbreak that was

initiated by diseased fruit. If diseased fruit is an unlikely pathway

for the spread of citrus canker, then it is reasonable to expect that

fruit produced outside the quarantined areas, which is the only fruit

affected by this rule, will present an even lower risk, even if it is

packed within a quarantined area. Given the preponderance of evidence

and expert opinion that the long-distance spread of citrus canker

occurs primarily through the movement of infected planting and

propagative materials, and given the absence of documented cases of

citrus canker outbreaks attributable to the movement of infected fruit,

we have concluded that regulated fruit produced outside the quarantined

areas and handled, treated, and packed under the conditions of this

rule will present a negligible disease risk.

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\1\ This pest data sheet may be obtained from the person listed

under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT.

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Immediate Action

The Administrator of the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service

has determined that there is good cause for publishing this interim

rule without prior opportunity for public comment. Immediate action is

necessary to provide, prior to the start of the winter shipping season,

conditions under which regulated fruit produced outside the quarantined

areas but packed within a quarantined area may be moved into any area

of the United States, including commercial citrus-producing areas.

Because prior notice and other public procedures with respect to

this action are impracticable and contrary to the public interest under

these conditions, we find good cause under 5 U.S.C. 553 to make this

action effective upon signature. We will consider comments that are

received within 60 days of publication of this rule in the Federal

document in the Federal Register. The document will include a

discussion of any comments we receive and any amendments we are making

to the rule as a result of the comments.

Executive Order 12866 and Regulatory Flexibility Act

This rule has been reviewed under Executive Order 12866. The rule

has been determined to be not significant for the purposes of Executive

Order 12866

[[Page 60091]]

and, therefore, has not been reviewed by the Office of Management and

Budget.

This rule amends the citrus canker regulations to allow citrus