Decision To Authorize the Importation of Fresh Guava From Taiwan Into the Continental United States, 55544-55546 [2019-22648]

Agencies

• DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
• Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service

[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 201 (Thursday, October 17, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 55544-55546]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-22648]


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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service

[Docket No. APHIS-2018-0073]


Decision To Authorize the Importation of Fresh Guava From Taiwan 
Into the Continental United States

AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, USDA.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: We are advising the public of our decision to authorize the 
importation of fresh guava fruit from Taiwan into the continental 
United States. Based on the findings of the pest risk analysis, which 
we made available to the public to review and comment through a 
previous notice, we have concluded 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 guava fruit from Taiwan.

DATES: The articles covered by this notification may be authorized for 
importation after October 17, 2019.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Tony Rom[aacute]n, Senior 
Regulatory Policy Specialist, Regulatory Coordination and Compliance, 
PPQ, APHIS, 4700 River Road Unit 133, Riverdale, MD 20737-1231; (301) 
851-2242.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:  Under the regulations in ``Subpart L--
Fruits and Vegetables'' (7 CFR 319.56-1 through 319.56-12, referred to 
below as the regulations), the Animal and Plant Health Inspection 
Service (APHIS) 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 of the regulations contains a notice-based process 
based on established performance standards for authorizing the 
importation of fruits and vegetables. The performance standards, known 
as designated phytosanitary measures, are listed in paragraph (b) of 
that section. Under the process, APHIS proposes to authorize the 
importation of a fruit or vegetable into the United States if, based on 
the findings of a pest risk analysis, we determine that the measures 
can mitigate the plant pest risk associated with the importation of 
that fruit or vegetable. APHIS then publishes a notice in the Federal 
Register announcing the availability of the pest risk analysis that 
evaluates the risks associated with the importation of that fruit or 
vegetable.
    In accordance with that process, we published a notice \1\ in the 
Federal Register on December 14, 2018 (83 FR 64314-64315, Docket No. 
APHIS-2018-0073), in which we announced the availability, for review 
and comment, of a pest risk assessment (PRA) that evaluated the risks 
associated with the importation into the continental United States of 
fresh guava fruit from Taiwan and a risk management document (RMD) 
prepared to identify phytosanitary measures that could be applied to 
the commodity to mitigate the pest risk.
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    \1\ To view the notice, PRA, RMD, supporting documents, and the 
comments that we received, go to https://www.regulations.gov/#!docketDetail;D=APHIS-2018-0073.
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    We solicited comments on the PRA and RMD for 60 days ending on 
February 12, 2019. We received five comments by that date. They were 
from private citizens, the California Department of Food and 
Agriculture (CDFA), and the Florida Department of Agriculture and 
Consumer Services (FDACS).
    One of the commenters expressed general support for the importation 
of guava from Taiwan into the United States, while another expressed 
general opposition to the importation of fruits and vegetables into the 
United States. The other three commenters provided comments regarding 
the notice and its supporting documentation. Below, we discuss these 
comments, by topic.

Comments on the Pest Risk Assessment

    The PRA contained a pest list of pests associated with guava and 
known to occur in Taiwan. The PRA identified 23 \2\ pests as being of 
quarantine significance and likely to follow the pathway on guava from 
Taiwan, and therefore possible candidates for risk mitigation.
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    \2\ Due to a typographical error, the PRA erroneously stated 
that 24 pests had been identified, although only 23 were listed; the 
RMD correctly stated that only 23 had been identified. This notice 
will use the latter number.
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    CDFA stated that, in addition to the 23 pests identified as being 
of quarantine significance, there were another 12 pests listed on the 
pest list that were rated as either an ``A'' pest or ``B'' pest 
according to CDFA's pest rating system: Aleurodicus dispersus, 
Ceroplastes floridensis, Coccus viridis, Ferrisia virgata, Kilifia 
acuminata, Milviscutulus mangiferae, Paracoccus marginatus, Planococcus 
minor, Pseudococcus jackbeardsleyi, Pulvinaria psidii, Rusellapsis 
pustulanus, and Selenothrips rubrocinctus. Under CDFA's rating system, 
a pest given an ``A'' rating is a plant pest of known economic 
importance subject to a State of California-enforced action that 
involves eradication, quarantine regulation, containment, rejection, or 
other holding action. A pest given a ``B'' rating is a pest of known 
economic importance subject to eradication, containment, control, or 
other holding action at the discretion of the individual county 
agricultural commissioner within the State of California.\3\ The 
commenter stated that mitigations should be developed for these pests 
as well.
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    \3\ For further information, see https://ucanr.edu/sites/plantpest/Regualtory_Information/Pest_Ratings/.
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    In Sec.  319.56-4 of the regulations, paragraph (c) provides that 
if a fruit or vegetable is not authorized importation into the United 
States, APHIS will not authorize its importation until we examine the 
pest risk associated with its importation and determine that the risk 
posed by each quarantine pest associated with the importation of the 
commodity can reasonably be mitigated by the application of one or more 
mitigation measures. Additionally, consistent with international 
standards to which the United States is a signatory,\4\ the regulations 
define a quarantine pest as: ``A pest of potential

[[Page 55545]]

economic importance to the area endangered thereby and not yet present 
there, or present but not widely distributed there and being officially 
controlled.'' For purposes of an APHIS risk assessment, the 
``endangered area'' is the geographical area of the United States into 
which a foreign country has requested that APHIS authorize importation 
of the commodity; in the case of the guava from Taiwan, this is the 
continental United States.
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    \4\ See https://www.ippc.int/largefiles/adopted_ISPMs_previousversions/en/ISPM_05_2007_En_2007-07-26.pdf.
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    With regard to 11 of the 12 pests cited by CDFA (Aleurodicus 
dispersus, Ceroplastes floridensis, Coccus viridis, Ferrisia virgata, 
Kilifia acuminata, Milviscutulus mangiferae, Planococcus minor, 
Pseudococcus jackbeardsleyi, Pulvinaria psidii, Rusellapsis pustulanus, 
and Selenothrips rubrocinctus), while these pests were listed in the 
pest list of our PRA, they are all present in the United States and not 
under Federal official control, and therefore do not meet our 
definition of a quarantine pest. Therefore, we do not consider it 
necessary to develop mitigations for these pests, irrespective of their 
rating within CDFA's system.
    However, APHIS has developed a program, the Federally Recognized 
State Managed Phytosanitary Program (FRSMP), to afford protections to 
States when commodities are determined at a port of entry to harbor a 
plant pest that is not a quarantine pest but is of concern to a 
particular State. Information regarding the petition process for FRSMP 
is found here: https://www.aphis.usda.gov/plant_health/plant_pest_info/frsmp/downloads/petition_guidelines.pdf.
    With regard to the twelfth pest mentioned by CDFA (Paracoccus 
marginatus), this pest was, in fact, not included in the pest list in 
our PRA. We agree that P. marginatus is associated with guava and known 
to occur on fruit, but could find no evidence suggesting it is present 
in Taiwan; this is why it was not included in the pest list. CDFA did 
not provide a reference regarding the pest's presence in Taiwan; 
therefore, we cannot evaluate their assertion. We also note that P. 
marginatus is present in the United States and not under official 
control, and thus not a quarantine pest.
    Finally, CDFA stated that Phyllostica psidiicola, a fungal 
pathogen, is present in Taiwan, not present in the continental United 
States, and known to cause severe black rot in guavas. CDFA requested 
that it be included in the PRA.
    We agree that Phyllostica psidiicola is present in Taiwan and not 
present in the continental United States, and have determined that it 
is a quarantine pest and could follow the pathway on importation of 
guavas from Taiwan into the continental United States. Therefore, we 
have prepared an addendum to the PRA that evaluates P. psidiicola, 
assigns it a Medium risk rating, and determines that it is a possible 
candidate for risk mitigation. We also have revised our RMD to include 
P. psidiicola as a quarantine pest that could follow the pathway on the 
importation of guavas from Taiwan into the United States. The addendum 
to the PRA and the revised RMD are available on Regulations.gov, or by 
contacting the individual listed in this notice under FOR FURTHER 
INFORMATION CONTACT.
    The inclusion of P. psidiicola in the RMD does not alter the 
mitigations of the RMD from those we initially proposed. P. psidiicola 
causes corky lesions on the surface on infected fruit that are easily 
detected during visual inspections, and we proposed both pre-export 
inspection by the national plant protection organization of Taiwan and 
port-of-entry inspections as components of our systems approach for the 
importation of guava from Taiwan.
    That being said, the revised RMD does include one additional 
mitigation measure not included in the initial RMD. We discuss this 
mitigation measure and the basis for its inclusion later in this 
document.

Comments on the Risk Management Document

    We proposed that a portion of a biometric sample of all 
consignments of guavas from Taiwan intended for export to the United 
States would have to be cut open by the NPPO of Taiwan and inspected 
for internally feeding quarantine pests.
    FDACS questioned whether the fruit cutting would be effective. They 
requested data from the NPPO regarding the efficacy of fruit cutting to 
detect quarantine pests that feed internally.
    The efficacy of fruit cutting as a means of detecting quarantine 
pests is long established,\5\ and the inspectors who will conduct the 
cutting in Taiwan have been trained by the NPPO in proper fruit cutting 
to sample for pests. While we acknowledge FDACS' legitimate interest in 
ensuring that infested guava are not imported from Taiwan into the 
State of Florida, we would only request fruit-cutting data from an NPPO 
and consider sharing it with external parties when there is reason to 
believe that the NPPO is not conducting fruit cutting or is doing so in 
an ineffective manner. This is not the case with Taiwan.
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    \5\ For example, see: Cavey, J.F. 2003. Mitigating introduction 
of invasive plant pests in the United States. Pages 350--361(Chapter 
13). In Invasive Species: Vectors and Management Strategies, G.M. 
Ruiz and J.T. Carlton, editors. Island Press, Washington DC. See 
also: Gould, W.P. 1995. Probability of Detecting Caribbean Fruit Fly 
(Diptera: Tephritidae) Infestations by Fruit Dissection. Florida 
Entomologist 78(3): 502-507.
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    We also note that all guava imported into the United States will be 
subject to additional cutting by Customs and Border Protection in 
accordance with 7 CFR part 305 at ports of entry into the United 
States.
    We proposed that the guava would have to be treated with cold 
treatment for Bactrocera spp. fruit flies, or alternatively, 
irradiated.
    FDACS expressed concern that the cold treatment would not be 
effectively applied. They stated that misapplication of cold treatment 
is a recurring issue, and cited two examples that they considered 
evidence of failure of in-transit cold treatment and indicative of the 
liabilities of cold treatment as a mitigation measure: The discovery of 
live fruit flies on cold-treated clementines from Spain, later, 
clementines from Morocco. Because of the possibility of cold treatment 
failure and the high likelihood that fruit flies may become established 
in Florida, if introduced, FDACS requested that we prohibit the 
importation of guava from Taiwan into the State of Florida.
    The detection of fruit flies on clementines from Spain occurred in 
2001 and was determined to be the result of an inadequate cold 
treatment schedule, rather than misapplication of an effective 
treatment schedule.\6\ It resulted in a holistic review and revision of 
the manner in which APHIS evaluates and approves phytosanitary 
treatments, and should not be considered indicative of current 
practices.
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    \6\ These findings are discussed at length in a 2002 interim 
rule (67 FR 63529-63539, Docket No. 02-071-1) that revised our 
phytosanitary treatment regulations based on the detection.
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    Based on a site visit that APHIS conducted, the detection of fruit 
flies on clementines from Morocco was determined to be the result of 
failure to pre-cool the fruit adequately prior to applying cold 
treatment. We also determined that this pre-cooling failure was, in 
turn, due to uniquely inhospitable climatic conditions in the area of 
Morocco surrounding the pre-cooling facility, a desert where daytime 
temperatures during the summer months routinely exceed 90 [deg]F. We 
addressed this failure by revising the operational workplan that 
Morocco had entered into with APHIS to specify additional pre-cooling 
and temperature

[[Page 55546]]

reading procedures at pre-cooling facilities.\7\
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    \7\ See https://www.aphis.usda.gov/import_export/plants/plant_imports/federal_order/downloads/2018/DA-2018-01.pdf.
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    Given Taiwan's more temperate climate, we do not consider a similar 
pre-cooling failure likely to occur in Taiwan.
    Additionally, we note that cold treatment is not the only 
mitigation measure that we proposed in order to address Bactrocera spp. 
fruit flies. We proposed that places of production would have to have a 
fruit fly trapping system in place, as certified by the NPPO of Taiwan; 
that fallen fruit would have to be removed from places of production to 
eliminate possible fruit fly host material; that packinghouses where 
the guava was processed for consignment to the United States would have 
to be registered with the NPPO of Taiwan and determined to be pest 
exclusionary; and that a portion of a biometric sample of each 
consignment of guava intended for export to the United States would 
have to cut open by the NPPO of Taiwan and inspected for fruit fly 
larvae and other quarantine pests.
    For the above reasons, we do not consider it necessary to prohibit 
the importation of guava from Taiwan into the State of Florida.
    A commenter suggested that the guava could be irradiated as a 
treatment for fruit flies.
    We agree, and included this treatment option in the RMD.
    Finally, following the close of the comment period, the NPPO of 
Taiwan informed us that, as a standard industry practice, all guava 
intended for export from Taiwan for commercial sale are bagged. 
Accordingly, the NPPO indicated that they would be amenable to 
including bagging as an additional, voluntarily imposed mitigation 
measure to address the pest risk associated with the importation of 
guava into the continental United States, with the specific logistics 
of this bagging included in the operational workplan that they will 
enter into with APHIS. This additional bagging requirement is included 
in the revised RMD.
    Therefore, in accordance with Sec.  319.56-4(c)(3)(iii), we are 
announcing our decision to authorize the importation of fresh guava 
fruit from Taiwan into the continental United States subject to the 
following phytosanitary measures:
     Importation in commercial consignments only;
     Development of an operational workplan that the NPPO of 
Taiwan must enter into with APHIS;
     Registration of places of production and packinghouses 
with the NPPO of Taiwan;
     Regular inspections of places of production by the NPPO;
     Grove sanitation and trapping for fruit flies in places of 
production;
     Safeguarding and identification of the lot throughout the 
growing, packing and export process;
     Bagging of fruit intended for export;
     Phytosanitary treatment (cold treatment or irradiation);
     Pre-export inspection by the NPPO, including fruit cutting 
of a portion of a biometric sample, and issuance of a phytosanitary 
certificate with an additional declaration that states that the fruit 
have been produced in accordance with the requirements of the systems 
approach, inspected, and found free of P. psidii and P. psidiicola; and
     Port of entry inspections.
    These conditions will be listed in the Fruits and Vegetables Import 
Requirements database (available at https://epermits.aphis.usda.gov/manual). In addition to these specific measures, fresh guava fruit from 
Taiwan will be subject to the general requirements listed in Sec.  
319.56-3 that are applicable to the importation of all fruits and 
vegetables.

Paperwork Reduction Act

    In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 
3501 et seq.), the reporting and recordkeeping requirements included in 
this notice are covered under the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) 
control number 0579-0049. The estimated annual burden on respondents is 
1,632 hours, which will be added to 0579-0049 in the next quarterly 
update.

E-Government Act Compliance

    The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service is committed to 
compliance with the EGovernment Act to promote the use of the internet 
and other information technologies, to provide increased opportunities 
for citizen access to Government information and services, and for 
other purposes. For information pertinent to E-Government Act 
compliance related to this notice, please contact Mr. Joseph Moxey, 
APHIS' Information Collection Coordinator, at (301) 851-2483.

Congressional Review Act

    Pursuant to the Congressional Review Act (5 U.S.C. 801 et seq.), 
the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs designated this action 
as not a major rule, as defined by 5 U.S.C. 804(2).

    Authority: 7 U.S.C. 1633, 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 10th day of October 2019.
 Kevin Shea,
Administrator, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
[FR Doc. 2019-22648 Filed 10-16-19; 8:45 am]
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