Supporting Statement

SUPPORTING STATEMENT

IMPORTATION OF UNSHU ORANGES FROM JAPAN

OMB-0579-0173

1. JUSTIFICATION September 2013

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, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) 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 noxious weeds when eradication is feasible.

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

The regulations in “Subpart – Fruits and Vegetables” Title 7, Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) 319.28 (Citrus Fruit), referred to as the regulations, prohibit or restrict the importation of fruits and vegetables into the United States from certain parts of the world to prevent the introduction and dissemination of plant pests that are new to or not widely distributed with the United States.

Citrus canker is a disease that affects citrus and is caused by the infectious bacterium Xanthomonas campestris pv citri (Hasee) Dye. The strain of citrus canker that occurs in Japan infects twigs, leaves, and fruit in a wide spectrum of citrus species.

Implementing this renewal necessitates the use of an information collection activity in the form of a certificate.

APHIS is asking OMB to approve, for an additional 3 years, its use of this certificate

associated with its program to relieve restrictions on the importation of Unshu oranges from citrus canker-free areas of Japan.

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 to allow the importation of Unshu oranges from citrus canker-free areas of Japan into the United States.

Certificate – PPQ 203 (Business)

Each shipment of Unshu oranges from Japan must be accompanied by a certificate issued by an APHIS officer, certifying that the oranges are apparently free of citrus canker. The certificate is completed with input from the grower. Note: these certificates currently accompany all shipments of Unshu oranges imported into the United States from Honshu Island, Japan. These certificates will now be needed for Unshu oranges being imported from Kyushu Island, Japan.

Marking (prepared by Japan) (Business)

Individual boxes in which Unshu oranges from Kyushu Island, Japan, are shipped, must be stamped or printed with a statement specifying the States into which the oranges may be imported, and from which they are prohibited removal under a Federal quarantine. This marking procedure ensures Unshu oranges from Kyushu Island are not imported into citrus-producing areas of the United States such as Florida and California.

It must be noted that the necessary markings appearing on containers are mechanically stamped on the containers during manufacture.

Import Permit (PPQ Form 587) (prepared by Japan) (Business)

APHIS is anticipating that importers will already have a permit, but not necessarily everyone so APHIS will continue to account for this burden as a placeholder. This allows individuals or companies to engage in the importation of foreign fruits and vegetables.

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.

Further discussions will need to occur with Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and partnering Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) to determine how and when to automate form

PPQ 203. This form needs to go through the port of entry and be cleared by DHS and CBP.

PPQ Form 587 is automated and posted at www.aphis.usda.gov/plant_health/permits/downloads/forms/ppqform587.pdf

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 of 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 associated with this program is the minimum needed to

protect the United States from the incursion of citrus canker, fruit flies, and other plant diseases and pests from Japan. APHIS has determined that 50 percent of the 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.

Failing to collect this information would cripple APHIS’ ability to ensure that Unshu oranges from Japan are not carrying citrus canker. If citrus canker is introduced into citrus-producing areas of the United States, growers in these areas would suffer hundreds of millions of dollars in losses.

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

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

• 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 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 2013, APHIS held productive consultations with the following individuals concerning the information collection activities associated with its program to import Unshu oranges from Japan.

Mr. Hiromasi Tayashi

Foreign Trade Section

Business Department

Japan Fruit Growers Cooperative Association (Exporter)

3-2-1 Tokai, Ohta-ku

Tokyo, JAPAN 143-0001

TEL: (81) 3-5492-5821

(tayashi@nichienren.or.jp)

Mr. Adekio Hagimato

Trade Representative

Fruit Tree Department

Shizuoka Prefectural Economic Federation of Agriculture Cooperative

3-8-1 Magari-kane, Suruga ward

Shizuoka city, JAPAN 422-8620

TEL: (81) 54-284-9926

(a-hagimato@kei.ja-shizuoka.or.jp)

Iku Ajekiota

Fruit Tree Forest Section

Agricultural Cooperative of Oigawa

1-1 Midorino-oka, Fujieda-shi

Shizuoka, JAPAN 426-8661

TEL: (81) 54-638-0322

(ajekiota@oigawa.ja-shizuoka.or.jp)

On June 10, 2013, page 34636, 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. No comments from the public were received.

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 considers 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 Unshu orange growers on Kyushu and Honshu Islands, and full-time plant health officials employed by the Japanese Government’s Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries.

APHIS estimates the total annualized cost to these respondents to be $ 138,375. APHIS arrived at this figure by multiplying the total burden hours (5,535) by the estimated average hourly wage of the above respondents ($25.00). The hourly wage was provided by USDA’s Federal health officials in Japan and the Japanese Government’s Ministry of Agriculture.

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.

The estimated cost for the Federal Government is $ 119.00. (See APHIS Form 79).

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 3-year renewal 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 it collects.

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.

APHIS will display the expiration date on PPQ Form 203.

PPQ Form 587 is used in 5 information collections; 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 certifies compliance with all provisions of the Act.

B. Collections of Information Employing Statistical Methods

Statistical methods are not used in this information collection.