[Federal Register: January 12, 2004 (Volume 69, Number 7)]
[Notices]               
[Page 1694-1695]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr12ja04-34]                         

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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service

[Docket No. 03-113-1]

 
Availability of a Draft Pest Risk Analysis for the Importation of 
Fresh Commercial Citrus From Peru

AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, USDA.

ACTION: Notice of availability and request for comments.

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SUMMARY: We are advising the public of the availability of a draft pest 
risk analysis that has been prepared by the Animal and Plant Health 
Inspection Service relative to a proposed rule currently under 
consideration that would allow the importation of various types of 
fresh commercial citrus from Peru into the United States. We are making 
this draft pest risk analysis

[[Page 1695]]

available to the public for review and comment.

DATES: We will consider all comments that we receive on or before March 
12, 2004.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by postal mail/commercial delivery 
or by e-mail. If you use postal mail/commercial delivery, please send 
four copies of your comment (an original and three copies) to: Docket 
No. 03-113-1, Regulatory Analysis and Development, PPD, APHIS, Station 
3C71, 4700 River Road Unit 118, Riverdale, MD 20737-1238. Please state 
that your comment refers to Docket No. 03-113-1. If you use e-mail, 
address your comment to regulations@aphis.usda.gov. Your comment must 
be contained in the body of your message; do not send attached files. 
Please include your name and address in your message and ``Docket No. 
03-113-1'' on the subject line.
    You may read any comments that we receive on the draft pest risk 
analysis 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 dockets, are available on the Internet at 
http://www.aphis.usda.gov/ppd/rad/webrepor.html.


FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. Leah Millar, Center for Plant 
Health Science and Technology, PPQ, APHIS, 1017 Main Campus Drive, 
Suite 1550, Raleigh, NC 27606-5202; (919) 513-7045.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) is 
considering amending the fruits and vegetables regulations in 7 CFR 
part 319 to allow the importation of fresh commercial citrus fruit 
(grapefruit, Mandarin oranges or tangerines, sweet oranges, and 
tangelo) from Peru into the United States. Currently, citrus fruit from 
Peru may not be imported into the United States. We have prepared a 
draft pest risk analysis, entitled ``Importation of Fresh Commercial 
Citrus Fruit: Grapefruit (Citrus x paradisi Macfad.); Lime (C. 
aurantiifolia [Christm.] Swingle); Mandarin Orange or Tangerine (C. 
reticulata Blanco); Sweet Orange (C. sinensis [L.] Osbeck); Tangelo (C. 
x tangelo J.W. Ingram & H.E. Moore); from Peru into the United States 
(October 2003), that considers the pest risks associated with the 
importation of these types of fresh commercial citrus from Peru and 
identifies the appropriate phytosanitary measures to mitigate the risk 
of introduction of quarantine pests. We are making the draft pest risk 
analysis available to the public for review and comment.
    You may view the draft pest risk analysis on the Internet at http://www.aphis.usda.gov/ppq/pra/
 or in our reading room (information on the 

location and hours of the reading room is provided under the heading 
ADDRESSES at the beginning of this notice). You may also request a copy 
of the document by calling or writing to the person listed under FOR 
FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT.
    This notice solicits public comments on the draft pest risk 
analysis. We will also be making the draft pest risk analysis available 
for public comment again during the comment period for any proposed 
rule related to the importation of fresh commercial citrus from Peru.

    Authority: 7 U.S.C. 450 and 7701-7772; 21 U.S.C. 136 and 136a; 7 
CFR 2.22, 2.80, and 371.3.

    Done in Washington, DC, this 2nd day of January, 2004.
Kevin Shea,
Acting Administrator, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
[FR Doc. 04-515 Filed 1-9-04; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3410-34-P