Notice2022-22518
Notice of Proposed Revision to Requirements for the Importation of Grapes From Chile Into the United States
Primary source
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Published
October 17, 2022
Issuing agencies
Agriculture DepartmentAnimal and Plant Health Inspection Service
Abstract
We are advising the public that we have prepared a pest risk assessment (PRA) and a commodity import evaluation document (CIED) relative to the importation into the United States of fresh table grapes from regions of Chile where European grapevine moth (Lobesia botrana, EGVM) is either absent or at very low prevalence. Chile grapes are currently subject to methyl bromide fumigation for EGVM and Chilean false red mite (Brevipalpus chilensis). Based on the PRA and the findings of the CIED, we are also proposing to authorize the importation of grapes from Chile under a systems approach or irradiation for EGVM and B. chilensis; current mitigation measures for Ceratitis capitata, or Medfly, would remain unchanged. We are making the PRA and CIED available to the public for review and comment.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 87 Issue 199 (Monday, October 17, 2022)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 199 (Monday, October 17, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 62783-62784]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2022-22518]
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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service
[Docket No. APHIS-2021-0078]
Notice of Proposed Revision to Requirements for the Importation
of Grapes From Chile Into the United States
AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, USDA.
ACTION: Notice of availability.
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SUMMARY: We are advising the public that we have prepared a pest risk
assessment (PRA) and a commodity import evaluation document (CIED)
relative to the importation into the United States of fresh table
grapes from regions of Chile where European grapevine moth (Lobesia
botrana, EGVM) is either absent or at very low prevalence. Chile grapes
are currently subject to methyl bromide fumigation for EGVM and Chilean
false red mite (Brevipalpus chilensis). Based on the PRA and the
findings of the CIED, we are also proposing to authorize the
importation of grapes from Chile under a systems approach or
irradiation for EGVM and B. chilensis; current mitigation measures for
Ceratitis capitata, or Medfly, would remain unchanged. We are making
the PRA and CIED available to the public for review and comment.
DATES: We will consider all comments that we receive on or before
December 16, 2022.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by either of the following methods:
<bullet> Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to <a href="http://www.regulations.gov">www.regulations.gov</a>.
Enter APHIS-2021-0078 in the Search field. Select the Documents tab,
then select the Comment button in the list of documents.
<bullet> Postal Mail/Commercial Delivery: Send your comment to
Docket No. APHIS-2021-0078, Regulatory Analysis and Development, PPD,
APHIS, Station 3A-03.8, 4700 River Road Unit 118, Riverdale, MD 20737-
1238.
Supporting documents and any comments we receive on this docket may
be viewed at <a href="http://www.regulations.gov">www.regulations.gov</a> or in our reading room, which is
located in room 1620 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) 799-7039 before coming.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Claudia Ferguson, Senior
Regulatory Policy Specialist, RCC, IRM, PPQ, APHIS, 4700 River Road,
Unit 133, Riverdale, MD 20737-1236; (301) 851-2353;
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#c685aaa7b3a2afa7e880a3b4a1b3b5a9a886b3b5a2a7e8a1a9b0"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="fcbf909d8998959dd2ba998e9b898f9392bc898f989dd29b938a">[email protected]</span></a>.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
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 or disseminated within the United States.
Section 319.56-4 of the regulations provides the requirements for
authorizing the importation of fruits and vegetables into the United
States, as well as revising existing requirements for the importation
of fruits and vegetables. Paragraph (c) of that section provides that
the name and origin of all fruits and vegetables authorized importation
into the United States, as well as the requirements for their
importation, are listed on the internet at <a href="https://epermits.aphis.usda.gov/manual">https://epermits.aphis.usda.gov/manual</a>; this address provides access to the
Agricultural Commodity Import Requirements database, or ACIR.\1\ It
also provides that, if the Administrator of APHIS determines that any
of the phytosanitary measures required for the importation of a
particular fruit or vegetable are no longer necessary to reasonably
mitigate the plant pest risk posed by the fruit or vegetable, APHIS
will publish a notice in the Federal Register making its pest risk
documentation and determination available for public comment.
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\1\ This address had previously provided access to the Fruit and
Vegetable Import Requirements database, or FAVIR. However, on
September 30, 2022, the FAVIR database was replaced by the ACIR
database.
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Chile table grapes (Vitis vinifera L.) are currently listed in ACIR
as authorized for importation into the United States subject to methyl
bromide fumigation. This requirement was first adopted in 1960 as a
risk mitigation measure against the Chilean false red mite (Brevipalpus
chilensis), subsequently revised to apply only if quarantine pests were
intercepted, and, following frequent pest interceptions, reinstated in
1996 for all shipments. Chile table grapes from areas of Chile under
quarantine for Medfly (Ceratitis capitata) are subject to additional
pest mitigation measures, which we are not proposing to change.\2\
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\2\ We would, however, clarify that irradiation is an approved
phytosanitary treatment for Medfly. This is specified in our PPQ
Treatment Manual, but not currently reflected in ACIR.
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On August 27, 2008, we published in the Federal Register (73 FR
50577-50582, Docket No. APHIS-2007-0152) a proposed rule \3\ to allow
the importation of fresh table grapes from Chile into the continental
United States under a systems approach. Following an outbreak of
European grapevine moth (Lobesia botrana, EGVM) in Chile that same
year, and subsequent public comments on the proposed rule regarding the
outbreak, APHIS elected not to finalize the proposed rule, as the
proposed systems approach did not include EGVM-specific measures. Since
that time, we have continued to require that table grapes imported from
Chile receive methyl bromide fumigation, which also mitigates the risk
of EGVM.
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\3\ To view the proposed rule, go to <a href="https://www.regulations.gov/document/APHIS-2007-0152-0001">https://www.regulations.gov/document/APHIS-2007-0152-0001</a>.
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The national plant protection organization (NPPO) of Chile has
requested that APHIS revise the import requirements for grapes from
Chile to the United States to allow the export of table grapes from
areas of Chile where EGVM is either absent or at very low prevalence
(the Arica and Parinacota, Tarapac[aacute], Antofagasta, Atacama,
Coquimbo, and Valpara[iacute]so regions of Chile) under a systems
approach or irradiation.
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In response to this request, APHIS prepared a new pest risk
assessment (PRA) that evaluates the risks associated with importation
of commercially produced fresh grapes (Vitis vinifera L.) for
consumption from Chile into the entire United States. Based on the PRA,
a commodity import evaluation document (CIED) was prepared to identify
phytosanitary measures that could be applied to grapes from Chile to
mitigate pest risk. The CIED recommends that commercially produced
shipments of fresh table grapes originating from the Arica and
Parinacota, Tarapac[aacute], Antofagasta, Atacama, Coquimbo, and
Valpara[iacute]so regions of Chile could be imported into the United
States under a systems approach or irradiation without the risk of
introducing quarantine pests.
Therefore, in accordance with Sec. 319.56-4(c), we are announcing
the availability of our PRA and CIED for public review and comment.
Those documents, as well as a description of the economic
considerations associated with revising the conditions for the
importation of table grapes from Chile, may be viewed on the
<a href="http://Regulations.gov">Regulations.gov</a> website or in our reading room (see ADDRESSES above for
a link to <a href="http://Regulations.gov">Regulations.gov</a> and information on the location and hours of
the reading room). You may request paper copies of the PRA and CIED by
calling or writing to the person listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION
CONTACT. Please refer to the subject of the analysis you wish to review
when requesting copies.
After reviewing any comments we receive, we will announce our
decision regarding whether to revise the requirements for the
importation of table grapes from Chile in a subsequent notice. If the
overall conclusions of our analysis and the Administrator's
determination of risk remain unchanged following our consideration of
the comments, then we will revise the requirements for the importation
of table grapes from Chile as specified in the CIED.
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 12th day of October 2022.
Anthony Shea,
Administrator, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
[FR Doc. 2022-22518 Filed 10-14-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-34-P
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