Notice2025-14091
Notice of Decision To Deregulate Light Brown Apple Moth for Fruit Imported From New Zealand Into the United States
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Published
July 25, 2025
Issuing agencies
Agriculture DepartmentAnimal and Plant Health Inspection Service
Abstract
We are advising the public of our decision to deregulate light brown apple moth (LBAM) for fruit imported from New Zealand into the United States. Currently, fruit imported from New Zealand into the United States must be accompanied by a phytosanitary certificate with an additional declaration stating that the fruit is free of LBAM. Based on the findings of a commodity import evaluation document, which we made available to the public for review and comment through a previous notice, we are removing the requirement for the additional declaration. Accordingly, we are revising the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service Agricultural Commodity Import Requirements database regarding LBAM requirements for fruit imported from New Zealand into the United States. This change will harmonize our domestic and import requirements.
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 90 Issue 141 (Friday, July 25, 2025)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 141 (Friday, July 25, 2025)]
[Notices]
[Pages 35265-35266]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2025-14091]
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Notices
Federal Register
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This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER contains documents other than rules
or proposed rules that are applicable to the public. Notices of hearings
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Federal Register / Vol. 90, No. 141 / Friday, July 25, 2025 /
Notices
[[Page 35265]]
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service
[Docket No. APHIS-2020-0032]
Notice of Decision To Deregulate Light Brown Apple Moth for Fruit
Imported From New Zealand Into the 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 deregulate light
brown apple moth (LBAM) for fruit imported from New Zealand into the
United States. Currently, fruit imported from New Zealand into the
United States must be accompanied by a phytosanitary certificate with
an additional declaration stating that the fruit is free of LBAM. Based
on the findings of a commodity import evaluation document, which we
made available to the public for review and comment through a previous
notice, we are removing the requirement for the additional declaration.
Accordingly, we are revising the U.S. Department of Agriculture's
Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service Agricultural Commodity
Import Requirements database regarding LBAM requirements for fruit
imported from New Zealand into the United States. This change will
harmonize our domestic and import requirements.
DATES: The articles covered by this notification may be authorized for
importation under the revised requirements after July 25, 2025.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Julie Orr, Regulatory Policy
Specialist IRM-PEIP-PPQ-APHIS, 1400 Independence SW, Washington, DC
20250; (240) 946-0542; <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#c389b6afaaa6ed8cb1b183b6b0a7a2eda4acb5"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="8ec4fbe2e7eba0c1fcfccefbfdeaefa0e9e1f8">[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) of the U.S.
Department of Agriculture (USDA) 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 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, be listed on the USDA's APHIS Agricultural Commodity
Import Requirements (ACIR) database (<a href="https://acir.aphis.usda.gov/s/">https://acir.aphis.usda.gov/s/</a>).
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.
The light brown apple moth (LBAM), Epiphyas postvittana
(Tortricidae), is a native pest of Australia and is now widely
distributed in New Zealand, the United Kingdom, Ireland, and New
Caledonia. LBAM is a pest of concern in the United States and elsewhere
because it can damage a wide range of fruits, vegetables, and other
valuable plants. It was reported in Hawaii in the late 1800s and
detected in Alameda County, California in 2007. In response to the 2007
detection, APHIS conducted delimiting surveys and issued a series of
Federal Orders to establish quarantines and host lists and to regulate
the movement of LBAM hosts from affected areas.
However, since 2007, APHIS has developed pest risk assessments
(PRAs) for a number of LBAM hosts and established that standard
commercial production practices are sufficient to remove any risk from
the spread of LBAM in commercially produced commodities. As a result,
APHIS has determined that due to both the absence of significant damage
in commercial agriculture and the availability of effective treatments,
Federal involvement to regulate LBAM as a pest of quarantine
significance for these commodities appears to be no longer
necessary.\1\
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\1\ The Federal Order removing domestic quarantines and other
restrictions imposed by previous orders may be viewed at <a href="https://www.aphis.usda.gov/plant_health/downloads/da-2021-29-lbam-deregulation.pdf">https://www.aphis.usda.gov/plant_health/downloads/da-2021-29-lbam-deregulation.pdf</a>.
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Currently, fruit from New Zealand imported into the United States
must be accompanied by a phytosanitary certificate with an additional
declaration that the fruit is free of LBAM. However, under
International Standards for Phytosanitary Measures 20,\2\ APHIS cannot
regulate an imported commodity for a specific pest more stringently
than it regulates the commodity domestically unless this discrepancy is
technically justified.
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\2\ The document may be viewed at <a href="http://www.fao.org/3/a-y5721e.pdf">http://www.fao.org/3/a-y5721e.pdf</a>.
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In accordance with the requirements of Sec. 319.56-4, we published
a notice \3\ in the Federal Register on November 25, 2024 (89 FR 92887-
92888, Docket No. APHIS-2020-0032), in which we announced the
availability of a commodity import evaluation document (CIED) for
public review and comment. Based on the findings of pest risk
assessments cited in the CIED, APHIS has concluded that consignments of
commercially produced fresh fruit from New Zealand may safely be
imported to the United States without requiring LBAM-specific
mitigations.
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\3\ To view the notice, supporting documents, and the comments
we received, go to <a href="http://www.regulations.gov">www.regulations.gov</a>. Enter APHIS-2020-0032 in the
Search field.
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We proposed to no longer require the additional declaration of LBAM
freedom for the following commodities imported from New Zealand into
the United States:
Apple--Malus domestica
Apricot--Prunus armeniaca
Avocado--Persea americana
Blackberry--Rubus sp.
Blueberry--Vaccinium angustifolium, Vaccinium ashei, Vaccinium
corymbosum, Vaccinium virgatum
Cherry--Prunus avium
Currant--Ribes spp.
Feijoa--Acca sellowiana
Grapes--Vitis vinifera
[[Page 35266]]
Kiwi--Actinidia spp. (A. deliciosa, A. arguta, A. chinensis, A.
kolomikta, A. melanandra, A. polygama, A. rubricaulis var. coriacea
Loquat--Eriobotrya japonica (Into Guam and CNMI)
Nectarine--Prunus persica nucipersica
Peach--Prunus persica var. persica
Pear--Pyrus communis
Plum--Prunus domestica ssp. domestica
Raspberry--Rubus sp.
Sand Pear--Pyrus pyrifolia var. culta
Strawberry--Fragaria x ananassa
If consignments of the above fruits are not precleared, the
consignment will need to be accompanied by a phytosanitary certificate
issued by the National Plant Protection Organization (NPPO) of New
Zealand.
Additionally, consignments of citrus (Citrus spp) and persimmon
(Diospyros kaki) fruit must be accompanied by a phytosanitary
certificate issued by the NPPO of New Zealand with an additional
declaration stating the fruit is free of Cnephasia jactatana,
Coscinoptycha improbana, Ctenopseustis obliquana, Pezothrips kellyanus,
and Planotortrix excessana.
We solicited comments on the notice for 60 days ending January 24,
2025. We received two comments by that date, one from a New Zealand
industry organization and one from a New Zealand government ministry.
Both commenters expressed support for the notice. One commenter, from
the government ministry, requested assurances that, upon arrival,
inspections of non-precleared consignments will be commensurate with
risk, and that the higher sampling rates specific for LBAM host
commodities are removed from the inspection manual.
We note that no port-of-entry inspection procedures target LBAM
specifically. Rather, the inspection procedures employed on fruits and
vegetables from New Zealand match those for agricultural commodities
from numerous other countries and have been developed to detect
quarantine pests as well as hitchhikers, weeds, and soil. After the
deregulation of LBAM, the inspection procedures at the port of entry
will remain the same for the listed agricultural commodities from New
Zealand if they have not been pre-cleared in the country of origin.
Therefore, in accordance with the regulations in Sec. 319.56-4(c),
we are announcing our decision to deregulate LBAM for fruit imported
from New Zealand into the United States subject to the phytosanitary
measures identified in the CIED that accompanied the initial notice.
The conditions will be listed in the ACIR database. In addition to
these specific measures, fruit from New Zealand 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 recordkeeping and burden requirements associated
with this action are included under the Office of Management and Budget
control number 0579-0049.
E-Government Act Compliance
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service is committed to
compliance with the E-Government 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 <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#6f2e3f27263c413f3d2e2f1a1c0b0e41080019"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="e6a7b6aeafb5c8b6b4a7a693958287c8818990">[email protected]</span></a>.
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 22nd day of July 2025.
Michael Watson,
Administrator, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
[FR Doc. 2025-14091 Filed 7-24-25; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-34-P
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