SS beans 2014

April 2014

Supporting Statement

Importation of French Beans and Runner Beans from

The Republic of Kenya into the United States

OMB No. 0579-0373

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), Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), is responsible for preventing plant diseases or insect pests from entering the United States, preventing the spread of plant pests and noxious weeds not widely distributed in the United States, and eradicating those imported pests when eradication is feasible. The Plant Protection Act (PPA) authorizes the Department to carry out this mission.

The regulations in “Subpart-Fruits and Vegetables” (7 CFR 319.56-1 through 319.56-59, referred to below 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 within the United States.

APHIS’ fruits and vegetables regulations allow the importation of French beans and runner beans from the Republic of Kenya into the United States. As a condition of entry, both commodities must be produced in accordance with a systems approach that includes requirements for packing, washing, and processing. Both commodities also are required to be accompanied by a phytosanitary certificate attesting that all phytosanitary requirements have been met and that the consignment was inspected and found free of quarantine pests. These requirement allow the importation of French beans and runner beans from the Republic of Kenya into the United States while continuing to protect against the introduction of quarantine pests.

APHIS is asking OMB to approve, for an additional 3 years, its use of this information collection activity which is associated with efforts to prevent the introduction of plant pests and plant diseases into the continental United States.

2. APHIS uses the following information activities to help provide protection against the introduction of quarantine pests. Indicate how, by whom, and for what purpose the information is to be used. Except for a new collection, indicate the actual use the agency has made of the information received from the current collection.

Phytosanitary Certificate (Foreign): Each consignment of French beans and runner beans must be accompanied by a phytosanitary certificate issued by Kenya’s National Plant Protection Organization (NPPO) attesting that the conditions of this section have been met and that the consignment has been inspected and found free of pests.

Registration of Packing Houses: The beans must be packed in packing facilities that are approved and registered with Kenya’s NPPO.

Marking of Boxes: Each shipping box must be marked with the identity of the packing facility so that shipments can be traced back to the facility in the event of the discovery of a pest.

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 their forms.

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 plant diseases or dangerous insect pests from being unintentionally exported to other countries 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 100 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.

If APHIS did not collect this information or if this information was collected less frequently, APHIS would not be able to effectively evaluate the spread of plant pests. The introduction of plant pests into the United States could cause billions of dollars in losses 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;

• 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.

There are no special circumstances associated with this information collection. This collection is conducted in a manner consistent with the guidelines established 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.

APHIS engaged in productive consultations with the following individuals in 2013-2014:

Paula Olson

Western Growers Foundation

P.O. Box 2130

Newport Beach, CA 92658

949-885-2249

Kenya Fresh Produce Exporters Ltd

Priscilla King'ang'i

P.O. Box 16845 - 00620
Nairobi, Kenya

Tel +254-020-2107234/9

Fax +254-020-2107232

Email: info@kenyafresh.co.ke

Kenya Horticultural Exporters, Ltd

PO Box 11097

Enterprise Road

Nairobi, Kenya

254 -02 650300

On Tuesday, November 5, 2013, page 66329, 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 decision to provide any payment or gift to respondents, other than reenumeration of contractors or grantees.

This information collection activity involves no 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 burden hour estimates. These estimates were developed using historical data, the calculated average number of certifications requested, and discussions with International Services.

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

The estimated annualized cost to respondents is $45. APHIS arrived at this figure by multiplying 3 burden hours of estimated response time multiplied by the estimated hourly rate ($15) which was derived from discussions with International Services and historical data. (3 hours x $15 = $45)

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 to the Federal Government is $ 38. (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.

ICR Summery of Burden:

	Requested	Program Change Due to New Statute	Program Change Due to Agency Discretion	Change Due to Adjustment in Agency Estimate	Change Due to Potential Violation of the PRA	Previously Approved
Annual Number of Responses	3	0	0	0	0	3
Annual Time Burden (Hr)	3	0	0	2	0	1
Annual Cost Burden ($)	0	0	0	0	0	0

The 2-hour burden increase is the result of an adjustment APHIS has made to the total burden hours. In 2011, all burden hours were less than 1, so when added together they totaled 1. However, all burden hours should have been rounded up to 1, and then the burden hours would have totaled 3. Therefore, in this package, all burden hours have been rounded up, so now the burden hours total 3.

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.

There are no USDA forms associated with this information collection.

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 under the Act.

B. Collections of Information Employing Statistical Methods.

Statistical methods are not used in this information collection.