ss 0316 2012

June 2013

Supporting Statement

Importation of Fruits and Vegetables

OMB No. 0579-0316

A. Justification

1. Explain the circumstances that make the collection of information necessary. Identify any legal or administrative requirements that necessitate the collection.

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is responsible for preventing plant pests and noxious weeds from entering the United States, preventing the spread of plant diseases not widely distributed in the United States, and eradicating those imported pests and weeds when eradication is feasible.

Under the Plant Protection Act (7 U.S.C. 7701, et seq.), the Secretary of Agriculture is authorized to carry out operations or measures to detect, eradicate, suppress, control, prevent, or retard the spread of plant pests not known to be widely distributed throughout the United States.

The regulations contained in Title 7 of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), Part 319 (Subpart-Fruits and Vegetables), Sections 319.56 through 319.56-57 implement the intent of this Act by prohibiting or restricting the importation of certain fruits and vegetables into the

United States from certain parts of the world to prevent the introduction and dissemination of fruit flies and other injurious plant pests that are new to the United States or not widely distributed within the United States.

These regulations are enforced by Plant Protection and Quarantine (PPQ), a program within USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS).

APHIS amended the fruits and vegetables regulations to list a number of fruits and vegetables from certain parts of the world as eligible, under specified conditions, for importation into the United States. All of the fruits and vegetables, as a condition of entry, would be inspected and subject to treatment at the port of first arrival as may be required by an inspector. In addition, some of the fruits and vegetables would be required to meet other special conditions. These actions provided the United States with additional types and sources of fruits and vegetables while continuing to protect against the introduction of quarantine pests through imported fruits and vegetables.

APHIS is asking OMB to approve, for an additional three years, its use of these information collection activities, associated with its efforts to restrict the importation of fruits and vegetables into the United States to prevent the spread of plant pests and plant diseases.

2. Indicate how, by whom, and for what purpose the information is used. Except for a new collection, indicate the actual use the agency has made of the information received from the

current collection.

APHIS uses the following information activities for import into the United States:

Phytosanitary Certificate (Foreign) Consignments of Alliums pp. consisting of the whole plant or above ground parts must be accompanied by a phytosanitary certificate issued by the National Plant Protection Organization (NPPO) of Canada with an additional declaration stating that the articles are apparently free from Acrolepiopsis assectella (Zeller).

APHIS requires consignments of agricultural commodities that are treated outside of the

United States to be accompanied by a phytosanitary certificate issued by an official of the plant protection service of the exporting country certifying that treatment was applied in accordance with APHIS regulations. APHIS would require that the phytosanitary certificate be provided when the commodity is offered for entry into the United States.

Lemons from Chile that are eligible for importation must be accompanied by a phytosanitary certificate issued by their NPPO stating “The fruit in this consignment comes from an area that is not under quarantine for Mediterranean fruit fly (Ceratitis capitata).

Citrus from New Zealand must be accompanied by a phytosanitary certificate issued by their NPPO with an additional declaration stating the fruit in the shipment has been inspected and found free of Cnephasia jactatana, Coscinoptycha improbana, Ctenopseustis obliquana, Epiphyas postvittana, Pezothrips kellyanus, and Planotortrix excessana; must undergo a port of entry inspection with a biometric sampling of 100 percent of 30 boxes selected randomly from each consignment; and the randomly selected boxes must be examined for hitchhiking pests.

Mangoes originating from all approved areas must be accompanied by a phytosanitary certificate issued by the Republic of the Philippines, Department of Agriculture, that contains an additional declaration stating that the mangoes have been treated for fruit flies of the genus Bactrocera in accordance with the regulations set forth.

All shipments of citrus from the Bahamas must be accompanied by a phytosanitary certificate issued by the NPPO of the Bahamas with an additional declaration stating that the fruit originated in an area that is free of citrus canker.

All shipments of tomatoes from Chile must be accompanied by a phytosanitary certificate with three additional declarations stating that: (1) "The fruit in this consignment comes from an area that is not under quarantine for Mediterranean fruit fly (Ceratitis capitata),” (2) "Tomato fruit in this consignment have been produced in accordance with an APHIS-approved systems approach, and have been visually inspected and found free of Tuta absoluta,” and (3) "These tomatoes were grown in an approved production site in Chile."

All shipments of pineapples from South Africa must be accompanied by a phytosanitary certificate issued by their NPPO.

Permit Applications (PPQ Form 587) – Permit applications must be submitted in writing or electronically in advance of the proposed importation. Applications must state the country or locality of origin of the fruits or vegetables, the anticipated port of first arrival, the name and address of the importer in the United States, and the identity (scientific name preferred) and quantity of the fruit or vegetable.

Inspections for Chile Tomatoes – NPPO would be required to inspect, report on, and certify the production sites monthly starting 2 months before harvest and continuing through the end of the shipping season.

Records for Chile Tomatoes - NPPO and SAG must maintain records of trap placements of any Rhagoletic tomatis or Tuta absoluta captures for 1 year for APHIS review. The SAG must maintain an APHIS-approved quality control program to monitor or audit the trapping program.

Labeling for Chile Tomatoes - APHIS requires each shipment box to be labeled with the identity of the production site.

Trapping for Chile tomatoes - Production sites located in a region of Chile where Medfly occurs would have to conduct trapping for Medfly; this trapping would not be required for Medfly-free regions of the country. Where trapping is necessary, APHIS would require McPhail traps with approved protein bait be placed inside greenhouses at a density of 4 traps/10 ha, with a minimum of at least 2 traps per greenhouse. All traps would have to be checked on a weekly basis.

3. Describe whether, and to what extent, the collection of information involves the use of automated, electronic, mechanical, or other forms of information technology, e.g., permitting electronic submission of responses, and the basis for the decision for adopting this means of collection. Also, describe any consideration of using information technology to reduce burden.

APHIS has no control or influence over when foreign countries will automate phytosanitary certificates.

The PPQ Form 587 is posted and downloadable at:

http://www.aphis.usda.gov/permits/ppq_epermits.shtml

4. Describe efforts to identify duplication. Show specifically why any similar information already available cannot be used or modified for use for the purpose described in item 2 above.

The information APHIS collects is exclusive to its mission in preventing the entry of injurious plant pests, diseases, and noxious weeds and is not available from any other source.

5. If the collection of information impacts small businesses or other small entities, describe any methods used to minimize burden.

The information APHIS collects is the minimum needed to protect the United States from

destructive plant pests while increasing the number and variety of fruits and vegetables that can be imported from other countries. APHIS has determined that approximately 3 percent of the total respondents are small entities.

6. Describe the consequences to Federal program or policy activities if the collection is not conducted or is conducted less frequently, as well as any technical or legal obstacles to reducing burden.

If APHIS did not collect this information or collected it less frequently, the effectiveness of its Import Regulations would be severely compromised, likely resulting in the introduction of a number of destructive (and economically damaging) agricultural pests into the United States. The entry of such pests as fruit flies would result in millions of dollars in damage to American agriculture.

7. Explain any special circumstances that require the collection to be conducted in a manner inconsistent with the general information collection guidelines in 5 CFR 1320.5.

• requiring respondents to report informa­tion to the agency more often than quarterly;

Inspections for Chile Tomatoes – NPPO would be required to inspect, report on, and certify the production sites monthly starting 2 months before harvest and continuing through the end of the shipping season.

• requiring respondents to prepare a writ­ten response to a collection of infor­ma­tion in fewer than 30 days after receipt of it;

• requiring respondents to submit more than an original and two copies of any docu­ment;

• requiring respondents to retain re­cords, other than health, medical, government contract, grant-in-aid, or tax records for more than three years;

• in connection with a statisti­cal sur­vey, that is not de­signed to produce valid and reli­able results that can be general­ized to the uni­verse of study;

• requiring the use of a statis­tical data classi­fication that has not been re­vie­wed and approved by OMB;

• that includes a pledge of confiden­tiali­ty that is not supported by au­thority estab­lished in statute or regu­la­tion, that is not sup­ported by dis­closure and data security policies that are consistent with the pledge, or which unneces­sarily impedes shar­ing of data with other agencies for com­patible confiden­tial use; or

• requiring respondents to submit propri­etary trade secret, or other confidential information unless the agency can demon­strate that it has instituted procedures to protect the information's confidentiality to the extent permit­ted by law.

No other special circumstances exist that would require this collection to be conducted in a manner inconsistent with the general information collection guidelines in 5 CFR 1320.5.

8. Describe efforts to consult with persons outside the agency to obtain their views on the availability of data, frequency of collection, the clarity of instructions and recordkeeping, disclosure, or reporting form, and on the data elements to be recorded, disclosed, or reported. If applicable, provide a copy and identify the date and page number of publication in the Federal Register of the agency's notice, soliciting comments on the information collection prior to submission to OMB.

In 2012-2013, APHIS consulted individuals and representatives of foreign countries concerning information required by its program to import fruits and vegetables from foreign countries:

Tony Wright

President

NZ Passion Fruit Growers Assoc., Inc.

P.O. Box 117

Katikati, New Zealand

64 7 549 3553

tonywright@slingshot.co.nz

Hansben Export Co.

Paola Mendez

Export Manager

P22-C Los Canelos de Miraflores

Curacavi

Santiago, Chile

56-2-835-3556

Don Wright

Hale Indian River Groves

Southern Fulfillment Services, LLC

1650 90th Avenue
Vera Beach, Florida 32969

1-800-562-4502

On Wednesday, February 27, 2013, APHIS published in the Federal Register, a 60-day notice seeking public comments on its plans to request a 3-year renewal of this collection of information. One comment from a private citizen was received regarding her perception of the general disregard of the environment by USDA. It had no relevance to the purpose of this collection.

9. Explain any decisions to provide any payment or gift to respondents, other than remuneration of contractors or grantees.

This information collection activity involves no payments (other than appropriate, program-related payments) or gifts to respondents.

10. Describe any assurance of confidentiality provided to respondents and the basis for the assurance in statute, regulation, or agency policy.

No additional assurance of confidentiality is provided with this information collection. Any and all information obtained in this collection shall not be disclosed except in accordance with

5 U.S.C. 552a.

11. Provide additional justification for any questions of a sensitive nature, such as sexual behavior and attitudes, religious beliefs, and others that are considered private. This justification should include the reasons why the agency consider s the questions necessary, the specific uses to be made of the information, the explanation to be given to persons from whom the information is requested, and any steps to be taken to obtain their consent.

This information collection activity asks no questions of a personal or sensitive nature.

12. Provide estimates of the hour burden of the collection of information. Indicate the number of respondents, frequency of response, annual hour burden, and an explanation of how the burden was estimated.

• Indicate the number of respondents, frequency of response, annual hour burden, and an explanation of how the burden was estimated. If this request for approval covers more than one form, provide separate hour burden estimates for each form and aggregate the hour burdens in Item 13 of OMB Form 83-I.

See APHIS Form 71 for hour burden estimates.

• Provide estimates of annualized cost to respondents for the hour burdens for collections of information, identifying and using appropriate wage rate categories.

Respondents are growers, shippers, and inspectors of regulated articles, including foreign government officials. NPPOs of exporting countries are also respondents. APHIS estimates the total annualized cost to these respondents to be $1,488,120. This total was calculated by multiplying the estimated hours (124,010) by the estimated average hourly wage ($12.00). 124,010 X $12 = $1,488,120.

These estimates were developed by using historical data and through discussions with growers, shippers, and foreign government officials, along with APHIS’ International Services.

13. Provide estimates of the total annual cost burden to respondents or recordkeepers resulting from the collection of information, (do not include the cost of any hour burden shown in items 12 and 14). The cost estimates should be split into two components: (a) a total capital and start-up cost component annualized over its expected useful life; and (b) a total operation and maintenance and purchase of services component.

There is zero annual cost burden associated with capital and start-up costs, maintenance costs, and purchase of services in connection with this program.

14. Provide estimates of annualized cost to the Federal government. Provide a description of the method used to estimate cost and any other expense that would not have been incurred without this collection of information.

See APHIS Form 79 for the annualized cost to the Federal Government. This cost is based on the estimated average time required to process permit applications, certificates, and other documents associated with our Fruit and Vegetable Import Regulation. APHIS estimates these costs to be $639,705.

15. Explain the reasons for any program changes or adjustments reported in Items 13 or 14 of the OMB Form 83-1.

There is no change in burden for this information collection.

16. For collections of information whose results are planned to be published, outline plans for tabulation and publication.

APHIS has no plans to tabulate or publish the information collected.

17. If seeking approval to not display the expiration date for OMB approval of the information collection, explain the reasons that display would be inappropriate.

PPQ Form 587 is used in 7 other information collections besides this one; therefore, it is not practical to include an OMB expiration date because of the various expiration dates for each collection. APHIS is seeking approval to not display the OMB expiration date on this form.

18. Explain each exception to the certification statement identified in the "Certification for Paperwork Reduction Act."

APHIS is able to certify compliance with all the provisions in the Act.

B. Collections of Information Employing Statistical Methods

Statistical methods are not used in this information collection.