[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 164 (Wednesday, August 25, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 52302-52303]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-21136]
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Notices
Federal Register
________________________________________________________________________
This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER contains documents other than rules
or proposed rules that are applicable to the public. Notices of hearings
and investigations, committee meetings, agency decisions and rulings,
delegations of authority, filing of petitions and applications and agency
statements of organization and functions are examples of documents
appearing in this section.
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Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 164 / Wednesday, August 25, 2010 /
Notices
[[Page 52302]]
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service
[Docket No. APHIS-2010-0074]
Notice of Availability of Pest Risk Analyses for the Importation
of Fresh Celery, Arugula, and Spinach From Colombia
AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, USDA.
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: We are advising the public that we have prepared three pest
risk analyses that evaluate, respectively, the risks associated with
the importation into the continental United States of fresh celery,
arugula, and spinach from Colombia. Based on these analyses, we believe
that the application of one or more designated phytosanitary measures
will be sufficient to mitigate the risks of introducing or
disseminating plant pests or noxious weeds via the importation of fresh
celery, arugula, and spinach from Colombia. We are making these pest
risk analyses available to the public for review and comment.
DATES: We will consider all comments that we receive on or before
October 25, 2010.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by either of the following methods:
Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to (http://www.regulations.gov/fdmspublic/component/main?main=DocketDetail&d=APHIS-2010-0074) to submit or view comments
and to view supporting and related materials available electronically.
Postal Mail/Commercial Delivery: Please send one copy of
your comment to Docket No. APHIS-2010-0074, Regulatory Analysis and
Development, PPD, APHIS, Station 3A-03.8, 4700 River Road Unit 118,
Riverdale, MD 20737-1238. Please state that your comment refers to
Docket No. APHIS-2010-0074.
Reading Room: 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.
Other Information: Additional information about APHIS and its
programs is available on the Internet at (http://www.aphis.usda.gov).
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Dorothy C. Wayson, Senior
Regulatory Coordination Specialist, RPM, PHP, PPQ, APHIS, 4700 River
Road Unit 141, Riverdale, MD 20737-1236; (301) 734-0772.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
Under the regulations in ``Subpart--Fruits and Vegetables'' (7 CFR
319.56-1 through 319.56-50, referred to below as the regulations), the
Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) of the U.S.
Department of Agriculture 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.
Section 319.56-4 contains a performance-based process for approving
the importation of commodities that, based on the findings of a pest-
risk analysis, can be safely imported subject to one or more of the
designated phytosanitary measures listed in paragraph (b) of that
section. These measures are:
The fruits or vegetables are subject to inspection upon
arrival in the United States and comply with all applicable provisions
of Sec. 319.56-3;
The fruits or vegetables are imported from a pest-free
area in the country of origin that meets the requirements of Sec.
319.56-5 for freedom from that pest and are accompanied by a
phytosanitary certificate stating that the fruits or vegetables
originated in a pest-free area in the country of origin;
The fruits or vegetables are treated in accordance with 7
CFR part 305;
The fruits or vegetables are inspected in the country of
origin by an inspector or an official of the national plant protection
organization of the exporting country, and have been found free of one
or more specific quarantine pests identified by the risk assessment as
likely to follow the import pathway; and/or
The fruits or vegetables are a commercial consignment.
APHIS received a request from the Government of Colombia to allow
the importation of fresh celery, arugula, and spinach from Colombia
into the continental United States. We have completed a pest risk
assessment for each of those commodities to identify pests of
quarantine significance that could follow the pathway of importation
into the United States and, based on those pest risk assessments, have
prepared three risk management documents to identify phytosanitary
measures that could be applied to fresh celery, arugula, and spinach
from Colombia to mitigate the pest risk. We have concluded that fresh
celery, arugula, and spinach can be safely imported into the
continental United States from Colombia using one or more of the five
designated phytosanitary measures listed in Sec. 319.56-4(b).
Therefore, in accordance with Sec. 319.56-4(c), we are announcing the
availability of our pest risk analyses for public review and comment.
The pest risk analyses may be viewed on the Regulations.gov Web site or
in our reading room (see ADDRESSES above for a link to Regulations.gov
and information on the location and hours of the reading room). You may
request paper copies of the pest risk analyses by calling or writing to
the person listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT. Please refer
to the subject of the pest risk analysis you wish to review when
requesting copies.
After reviewing any comments we receive, we will announce our
decision regarding the import status of fresh celery, arugula, and
spinach from Colombia in a subsequent notice. If the overall
conclusions of the analyses and the Administrator's determination of
risk remain unchanged following our consideration of the comments, then
we will begin issuing permits for importation of fresh celery, arugula,
and spinach from Colombia into the continental United States subject to
the requirements specified in the risk management documents.
[[Page 52303]]
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.
Done in Washington, DC, this 18\th\ day of August 2010.
Kevin Shea
Acting Administrator, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
[FR Doc. 2010-21136 Filed 8-24-10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-34-S