[Federal Register: September 20, 2000 (Volume 65, Number 183)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Page 56803-56806]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr20se00-24]
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[[Page 56803]]
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service
7 CFR Part 319
[Docket No. 98-103-1]
Importation of Artificially Dwarfed Plants in Growing Media From
the People's Republic of China
AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, USDA.
ACTION: Proposed rule.
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SUMMARY: We are proposing to amend our regulations governing the
importation of plants and plant products to allow artificially dwarfed
(penjing) plants of the genera Buxus, Ehretia (Carmona), Podocarpus,
Sageretia, and Serissa to be imported into the United States from the
People's Republic of China in an approved growing medium subject to
specified growing, inspection, and certification requirements. We have
assessed the pest risks associated with the importation of these
artificially dwarfed plants established in growing media and have
determined that they may be imported from the People's Republic of
China under the conditions proposed without presenting a significant
risk of introducing or disseminating dangerous plant pests. This
proposed rule would relieve restrictions that currently allow these
genera to be imported only as bare-rooted plants.
DATES: We invite you to comment on this docket. We will consider all
comments that we receive by November 20, 2000.
ADDRESSES: Please send your comment and three copies to: Docket No. 98-
103-1, Regulatory Analysis and Development, PPD, APHIS, Suite 3C03,
4700 River Road, Unit 118, Riverdale, MD 20737-1238.
Please state that your comment refers to Docket No. 98-103-1.
You may read any comments that we receive on this docket in our
reading room. The reading room is located in room 1141 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) 690-2817 before coming.
APHIS documents published in the Federal Register, and related
information, including the names of organizations and individuals who
have commented on APHIS dockets, are available on the Internet at
http://www.aphis.usda.gov/ppd/rad/webrepor.html.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Wayne D. Burnett, Senior Import
Specialist, Phytosanitary Issues Management Team, PPQ, APHIS, 4700
River Road Unit 140, Riverdale, MD 20737-1236; (301) 734-6799.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
The regulations in 7 CFR part 319 prohibit or restrict the
importation into the United States of certain plants and plant products
to prevent the introduction of plant pests. The regulations contained
in ``Subpart--Nursery Stock, Plants, Roots, Bulbs, Seeds, and Other
Plant Products,'' Secs. 319.37 through 319.37-14 (referred to below as
the regulations), restrict, among other things, the importation of
living plants, plant parts, and seeds for propagation.
Paragraph Sec. 319.37-8(a) of the regulations requires, with
certain exceptions, that plants offered for importation into the United
States be free of sand, soil, earth, and other growing media. This
requirement is intended to help prevent the introduction of plant pests
that might be present in the growing media; the exceptions to the
requirement take into account factors that mitigate that plant pest
risk. Those exceptions, which are found in paragraphs (b) through (e)
of Sec. 319.37-8, consider either the origin of the plants and growing
media (paragraph (b)), the nature of the growing media (paragraphs (c)
and (d)), or the use of a combination of growing conditions, approved
media, inspections, and other requirements (paragraph (e)).
That combination approach found in Sec. 319.37-8(e) provides
conditions under which plants from 10 listed taxa may be imported into
the United States established in an approved growing medium. In
addition to other requirements, Sec. 319.37-8(e):
Specifies the types of growing media that may be used;
Requires plants to be grown in accordance with written
agreements between the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service
(APHIS) and the plant protection service of the country where the
plants are grown and between the foreign plant protection service and
the grower;
Requires the plants to be rooted and grown in a greenhouse
that meets certain requirements for pest exclusion and that is used
only for plants being grown in compliance with Sec. 319.37-8(e);
Restricts the source of the seeds or parent plants used to
produce the plants, and requires grow-out or treatment of parent plants
imported into the exporting country from another country;
Specifies the sources of water that may be used on the
plants, the height of the benches on which the plants must be grown,
and the conditions under which the plants must be stored and packaged;
and
Requires that the plants be inspected in the greenhouse
and found free of evidence of plant pests no more than 30 days prior to
the exportation of the plants.
A phytosanitary certificate issued by the plant protection service
of the country in which the plants were grown that declares that the
above conditions have been met must accompany the plants at the time of
importation. These conditions have been used successfully to mitigate
the risk of pest introduction associated with the importation into the
United States of approved plants established in growing media.
In 1994, the Animal and Plant Quarantine Service of the People's
Republic of China (CAPQ) requested that APHIS consider amending the
regulations to allow Buxus (Buxaceaea) spp., Ehretia (Carmona)
(Boraginaceae) spp., Podocarpus (Podocarpaceae) spp., Sageretia
(theazans) (Rhamnaceae) spp., and Serissa (Rubiaceae) spp. to be
imported into the United States under the conditions set forth in
Sec. 319-37-8(e). These species are commonly traded as artificially
dwarfed plants (often
[[Page 56804]]
referred to as ``penjing'' in China and ``bonsai'' in Japan) and are
currently allowed to be imported into the United States only as bare-
rooted plants.
The regulations in Sec. 319.37-8(g) provide that we will evaluate a
request such as that made by China to allow the importation of
additional taxa of plants established in growing media using specific
pest risk evaluation standards. We conduct that assessment to determine
the plant pest risks associated with each requested plant article and
to determine whether or not we will propose to allow the requested
plant article established in growing media to be imported into the
United States. The pest risk evaluation, the standards for which are
set forth in Sec. 319.37-8(g)(1) through (g)(4), involves collecting
commodity information, cataloging quarantine pests, conducting
individual pest risk assessments, and determining an overall estimation
of risk based on a compilation of the component estimates.
After receiving China's request to allow the importation of Buxus
spp., Ehretia (Carmona) spp., Podocarpus spp., Sageretia spp., and
Serissa spp. artificially dwarfed (penjing) plants established in
growing media, we conducted a pest risk assessment. The assessment is
described in a qualitative, pathway-initiated pest risk assessment
titled ``Pest Risk Assessments Penjing Plants from China,'' copies of
which are available through the person listed under FOR FURTHER
INFORMATION CONTACT. The pest risk assessment identified arthropod
pests, mollusks, nematodes, and fungi as the plant pests most likely to
travel with the plant and having the greatest potential for economic
damage. Several of the pests were identified in the pest risk
assessment for each genus. It is important to note, however, that our
pest risk assessment did not include a risk management component, i.e.,
it did not take into account the mitigative effects of the requirements
of Sec. 319.37-8(e), which are designed to establish and maintain a
pest-free production environment and ensure the use of pest-free seeds
or parent plants.
We have determined that the existing regulations in Sec. 319.37-
8(e) that pertain to the importation of plants in growing media would
not, by themselves, provide adequate protection against certain pests
that may be present in shipments of artificially dwarfed plants from
China that are established in growing media. In order to address the
pest risks posed by these plants, we have identified additional risk
management measures related to propagative cuttings, inspections,
treatment, and greenhouse growing to protect against pest introduction.
These measures would apply only to the five genera of artificially
dwarfed (penjing) plants identified in this proposed rule and would
supplement the general requirements that apply to all plants that are
imported in growing media under Sec. 319.37-8(e). Descriptions of each
of these risk management measures follow. We propose to add these risk
management measures to the regulations in Sec. 319.37-8(e).
1. We propose to require that the propagative materials used to
produce the artificially dwarfed (penjing) plants enter an approved
greenhouse as either seeds, tissue cultures, unrooted cuttings, or
rooted cuttings. If the rooted cuttings were grown in soil, the soil
would be required to be sampled and found free from, or fumigated for,
the nematodes Paratrophorus spp., Tylenchorhynchus crassicaudatus, and
Tylenchorhynchus leviterinalis within the 12 months prior to the
introduction of the plants into the greenhouse. Before rooted or
unrooted cuttings are introduced into the greenhouse, they would be
required to be inspected and found free of pests and then treated with
a pesticide dip, approved by CAPQ, that would control mites, scale
insects, whiteflies, thrips, and fungi. Rooted cuttings would also be
required to be treated with a nematicide dip in addition to or in
conjunction with the pesticide dip.
This requirement is necessary because the propagative materials
used to produce artificially dwarfed plants are derived from mother
plants that are not grown within the controlled environment of a
greenhouse. Mother plants that are grown outdoors necessarily present a
high risk of infestation with nematodes, mites, scale insects,
whiteflies, thrips, and fungi that, left untreated, could be spread to
plants intended for export. These measures help to ensure that seeds,
tissue cultures, unrooted cuttings, or rooted cuttings enter the
greenhouse free from such pests. If the rooted cuttings were grown in
soil, the soil would have to be sampled and/or fumigated for the
nematodes Paratrophorus spp., Tylenchorhynchus crassicaudatus, and
Tylenchorhynchus leviterinalis because these nematodes were identified
in the ``Pest Risk Assessments Penjing Plants from China'' as
presenting, in the absence of mitigation measures, both a high
likelihood of introduction and severe economic consequences in the
event of an introduction. By sampling and/or fumigating soil for
nematodes, and by applying pesticide dips to cuttings, and an
additional nematicide dip to rooted cuttings, the risk that plants
intended for export could be exposed to the pests identified above is
decreased to a negligible level.
2. We propose to require the mother plants from which the
artificially dwarfed (penjing) plants are produced to be visually
inspected by an APHIS inspector or an inspector of CAPQ and found free
of evidence of Paratrophorus spp., Tylenchorhynchus crassicaudatus, and
Tylenchorhynchus leviterminalis nematodes and the following species-
specific diseases and organisms:
For Buxus spp.: Guignardia miribelii, Macrophoma ehretia,
Meliola buxicola, and Puccinia buxi.
For Ehretia spp.: Macrophoma ehretia, Phakopsora ehretiae,
Pseudocercosporella ehretiae, Pseudocercospora ehretiae-thyrsiflora,
Uncinula ehretiae, Uredo ehretiae, and Uredo garanbiensis.
For Podocarpus spp.: Pestalosphaeria jinggangensis,
Pestalotia diospyri, Phellinus noxius, and Sphaerella podocarpi.
For Sageretia spp.: Aecidium sageretiae.
For Serissa spp.: Melampsora serissicola.
The above species-specific diseases and organisms were identified
in ``Pest Risk Assessments Penjing Plants from China'' as presenting,
in the absence of mitigation measures, both a high likelihood of
introduction and severe economic consequences in the event of an
introduction. Inspectors can visually identify evidence of the presence
of any of the above pests in Buxus spp., Ehretia spp., Podocarpus spp.,
Sageretia spp., and Serissa spp. This requirement will help to ensure
that propagative materials used to produce artificially dwarfed plants
enter the greenhouse free from the pests identified above.
3. We propose to require the artificially dwarfed (penjing) plants
to have been grown in an approved greenhouse for at least 6 months
immediately prior to export. In addition to other phytosanitary
procedures required under Sec. 319.37-8(e), the greenhouses would have
to have mesh screens with openings no larger than 0.6 mm if the plants
had been treated with broad spectrum pesticides at least once a month
for the 3 months before shipping. Otherwise, the vents and openings of
the greenhouse would have to be covered with mesh screens with openings
no larger than 0.2 mm.
We are proposing this requirement because plants that have been
grown in an approved greenhouse for 6 months are easier to observe for
signs of pest infestations and generally pose less of a
[[Page 56805]]
risk of pest infestation due to their controlled environment. Further,
we have determined that treatment of the plants with broad spectrum
pesticides would decrease the possibility that plants could be infested
with pests such as thrips and whiteflies that could otherwise enter the
greenhouse through 0.6 mm mesh screens. In order to preclude
infestations of those pests without the use of broad spectrum
pesticides, vents in the greenhouses would be required to be screened
with 0.2 mm mesh.
Based on the pest risk assessment, we have determined that Buxus
spp., Ehretia (Carmona) spp., Podocarpus spp., Sageretia spp., and
Serissa spp. artificially dwarfed (penjing) plants established in
growing media could be imported from the People's Republic of China
under Sec. 319.37-8(e) and the additional conditions described in this
proposed rule without posing any greater plant pest risk than is posed
by the importation of these species as bare-rooted plants under
Sec. 319.37-8(a). We have also determined that sufficient APHIS
resources are available to implement or ensure implementation of the
proposed mitigation measures described above, as required under
Sec. 319.37-8(g)(4)(ii) of the regulations. Therefore, we propose to
amend the regulations to allow Buxus spp., Ehretia (Carmona) spp.,
Podocarpus spp., Sageretia spp., and Serissa spp. to be imported in
approved growing media subject to those conditions.
In this document, we are also correcting the number of a footnote
in Sec. 319.37-8(e).
Fish and Wildlife Service Consultation About Potential Impacts to
Endangered Species
APHIS has begun the process of informal consultation with the U.S.
Fish and Wildlife Service \1\ to assess the potential effects of this
proposed rule on endangered or threatened species. We believe that the
phytosanitary measures that we have proposed would effectively mitigate
the risk of introducing quarantine pests. Therefore, we currently have
no reason to believe that there would be effects on any endangered or
threatened species associated with this rulemaking. If, during our
consultation with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, we determine that
this proposal would have effects on endangered or threatened species,
we will take appropriate action. Executive Order 12866 and Regulatory
Flexibility Act.
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\1\ The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has recommended that
APHIS enter into formal section 7 consultation, as required by the
Endangered Species Act (ESA) for all Federal actions that may affect
species listed under the ESA.
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This proposed rule has been reviewed under Executive Order 12866.
The rule has been determined to be not significant for the purposes of
Executive Order 12866 and, therefore, has not been reviewed by the
Office of Management and Budget.
This proposal would allow five genera of artificially dwarfed
(penjing) plants established in approved growing media to be imported
into the United States from the People's Republic of China. The five
genera are: Buxus, Ehretia (carmona), Podocarpus, Sageretia, and
Serissa. Plants imported or offered for importation under this program
would be required to be presented for inspection at ports of entry with
special inspection and treatment facilities, and they would be allowed
to enter the United States only under specific conditions designed to
prevent the introduction of plant pests.
In China, trained miniature or artificially dwarfed artistic potted
plants are called penjing (most Americans are more familiar with the
related Japanese term, bonsai). Penjing plants may range from 4 to 60
inches in height. Various styles of potted penjing plants are developed
and shaped using specific preferred varieties of trees and other plants
most fitted to each particular distinctive style. In China, there are
over 160 species of trees, as well as a number of other plants,
considered suitable for penjing development. Among the most commonly
used are apricot, box, camellia, carmonas, cypress, elm, flowering
quince, Fujian tea bush, gingko, hedge, jasmine orange, juniper, maple,
ornamental apple, pine, pomegranate, sageretia, serissa, stone yew, and
yew podocarpus. Each school of styles uses various combinations of
these trees to painstakingly develop the preferred miniature of the
parent tree. The objective is to make the penjing plants look as
natural, ancient, and picturesque as their large relatives. Growing
penjing plants is highly labor intensive and requires much time. Some
of these plants have been actively cultivated for hundreds of years by
succeeding generations. Penjing plants may be cultivated either from
natural trees by cutting, pruning, and shaping, or propagated
artificially through seeding, cutting, grafting, and a process known as
layering.
The art of miniature tree gardening is a relatively recent
phenomenon in the United States. Because it is highly time consuming
and very labor intensive, it is practiced by a relatively small number
of households. Acquiring the already developed trees can be an
expensive investment, with prices ranging between $40 and $10,000 per
plant. Value increases with age, regardless of size. Information on the
number of households that own penjing plants is not available. However,
if the size of the industry is an indicator, then the number of
households may be very small. Currently, there are about 400 companies
in the United States engaged in the production and distribution of
artificially dwarfed plants and related materials, with gross revenue
of less than $10 million. Most of these establishments are family owned
and operated. Some are plant and seed producers. Other companies are
engaged in supplying tools and stands for artificially dwarfed plants.
Still others specialize in the production of pots and containers.
Certain companies also produce business newsletters and magazines or
are otherwise engaged in consulting. Approximately 99 percent of these
firms are considered to be small entities.
Artificially dwarfed plants imported into the United States come
from the People's Republic of China, Japan, and the Republic of Korea.
None of the artificially dwarfed plants are currently imported in
growing media. Between 5 and 10 companies import about 20,000 bare-
rooted artificially dwarfed plants (about 5,000 from China, 10,000 from
Japan, and 5,000 from Korea) annually. To minimize the time between
unpotting and repotting these plants so the bare-rooted plants are not
damaged, they are shipped by air. Since the cost of air shipment of
these plants is based not only on weight but also on space occupied,
the cost per unit is quite high. The cost of transporting the plants in
a growing media, by ship, would be lower than the current air freight
cost.
We expect that adoption of this proposed rule would cause a slight
decrease in the costs of business for importers of artificially dwarfed
plants. The cost reduction would be mainly from reduced transportation
expenses. The ability to import penjing plants in growing media would
allow importers to use sea transport without risking the loss of
valuable plants. The average savings per importer would depend on the
number of penjing plants moved by air versus by sea. Those entities
that opt to ship their products by sea could save as much as 50 percent
per unit. If these savings were passed on to penjing buyers, consumers
could benefit from lower prices.
[[Page 56806]]
Since the price of other ornamental trees and plants is relatively much
lower than penjing plants, their competitive advantage over penjing
plants would continue to be great even with reduced prices for penjing
plants. It is also unlikely that more people would be drawn to purchase
these plants as a result of the proposed rule, as unique individual
preferences are not changed by such minor cost reductions. Therefore,
we expect that overall effects of this proposed rule upon price and
competitiveness would be relatively insignificant.
Under these circumstances, the Administrator of the Animal and
Plant Health Inspection Service has determined that this action would
not have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small
entities. Executive Order 12988.
This proposed rule has been reviewed under Executive Order 12988,
Civil Justice Reform. If this proposed rule is adopted: (1) All State
and local laws and regulations that are inconsistent with this rule
will be preempted; (2) no retroactive effect will be given to this
rule; and (3) administrative proceedings will not be required before
parties may file suit in court challenging this rule.
National Environmental Policy Act
APHIS has begun the process of preparing an environmental
assessment for this action. When the environmental assessment has been
completed, we will publish a notice in the Federal Register that
announces the availability of the environmental assessment and requests
public comment on it. We will also make the environmental assessment
available to the public for inspection on the APHIS web site at http://
www.aphis.usda.gov/ppd/ead/ppqdocs.html.
The environmental assessment will be prepared in accordance with:
(1) The National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA), as amended
(42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.), (2) regulations of the Council on
Environmental Quality for implementing the procedural provisions of
NEPA (40 CFR parts 1500-1508), (3) USDA regulations implementing NEPA
(7 CFR part 1b), and (4) APHIS' NEPA Implementing Procedures (7 CFR
part 372).
Paperwork Reduction Act
This proposed rule contains no new information collection or
recordkeeping requirements under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995
(44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.).
List of Subjects in 7 CFR Part 319
Bees, Coffee, Cotton, Fruits, Honey, Imports, Logs, Nursery stock,
Plant diseases and pests, Quarantine, Reporting and recordkeeping
requirements, Rice, Vegetables.
Accordingly, we propose to amend 7 CFR part 319 as follows:
PART 319--FOREIGN QUARANTINE NOTICES
1. The authority citation for part 319 would be revised to read as
follows:
Authority: Title IV, Pub. L. 106-224, 114 Stat. 438, 7 U.S.C.
7701-7772; 7 U.S.C. 166 and 450; 21 U.S.C. 136 and 136a; 7 CFR 2.22,
2.80, and 371.3.
2. In Sec. 319.37-8, paragraph (e) would be amended as follows:
a. By revising the introductory text.
b. In paragraph (e)(2)(ix), by removing the word ``and'' at the end
of the paragraph.
c. In paragraph (e)(2)(x)(B), by removing the period at the end of
the paragraph and adding in its place a semicolon followed by the word
``and''.
d. By adding new paragraph (e)(2)(xi).
Sec. 319.37-8 Growing media.
* * * * *
(e) A restricted article of any of the following groups of plants
may be imported established in an approved growing medium listed in
this paragraph if the article meets the conditions of this paragraph
and is accompanied by a phytosanitary certificate issued by the plant
protection service of the country in which the article was grown that
declares that the article meets the conditions of this paragraph:
Alstroemeria, Ananas \10\, Anthurium Artificially dwarfed (penjing)
plants from the People's Republic of China as follows:
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\10\ These articles are bromeliads, and if imported into Hawaii,
bromeliads are subject to postentry quarantine in accordance with
Sec. 319.7-7.
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Buxus spp., Ehretia (Carmona) spp., Podocarpus spp., Sageretia
spp., and Serissa spp., Begonia, Gloxinia (= Sinningia), Nidularium
\10\, Peperomia, Polypodiophyta (=Filicales) (ferns), Rhododendron from
Europe, Saintpaulia.
* * * * *
(2) * * *
(xi) Artificially dwarfed (penjing) plants of the genera Buxus,
Ehretia (Carmona), Podocarpus, Sageretia, and Serissa from the People's
Republic of China must also meet the following conditions:
(A) Propagative cuttings. The propagative materials used to produce
the artificially dwarfed (penjing) plants may enter an approved
greenhouse only as seeds, tissue cultures, unrooted cuttings, or rooted
cuttings. If the rooted cuttings were grown in soil, the soil must have
been sampled and found free from, or fumigated for, the nematodes
Paratrophorus spp., Tylenchorhynchus crassicaudatus, and
Tylenchorhynchus leviterinalis within the 12 months prior to
introduction of the plants into the greenhouse.
(B) Inspection and treatment. When any cuttings are introduced into
the greenhouse, they must be inspected and found free of plant pests
and then treated with a pesticide dip, approved by the Animal and Plant
Quarantine Service of the People's Republic of China, that will control
mites, scale insects, whiteflies, thrips, and fungi. Rooted cuttings
must also be treated with a nematicide dip in addition to or in
conjunction with the pesticide dip. The artificially dwarfed (penjing)
plants must be propagated from mother plants that have been visually
inspected by an APHIS inspector or an inspector of the Animal and Plant
Quarantine Service of the People's Republic of China, found free of
evidence of Paratrophorus spp., Tylenchorhynchus crassicaudatus, and
Tylenchorhynchus leviterminalis nematodes and found free of evidence of
the following species-specific diseases and organisms:
(1) For Buxus spp.: Guignardia miribelii, Macrophoma ehretia,
Meliola buxicola, and Puccinia buxi.
(2) For Ehretia spp.: Macrophoma ehretia, Phakopsora ehretiae,
Pseudocercosporella ehretiae, Pseudocercospora ehretiae-thyrsiflora,
Uncinula ehretiae, Uredo ehretiae, and Uredo garanbiensis.
(3) For Podocarpus spp.: Pestalosphaeria jinggangensis, Pestalotia
diospyri, Phellinus noxius, and Sphaerella podocarpi.
(4) For Sageretia spp.: Aecidium sageretiae.
(5) For Serissa spp.: Melampsora serissicola.
(C) Growing. The artificially dwarfed (penjing) plants must be
grown in an approved greenhouse for at least 6 months immediately prior
to export.
(D) Greenhouse screens. Greenhouses in which the artificially
dwarfed (penjing) plants are grown must have mesh screens with openings
no larger than 0.6 mm if the plants have been treated, at least once a
month for the 3 months before shipping, with broad spectrum pesticides.
Otherwise, the vents and openings of an approved greenhouse must be
covered with mesh screens with openings no larger than 0.2 mm.
* * * * *
Done in Washington, DC, this 14th day of September 2000.
Bobby R. Acord,
Acting Administrator, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
[FR Doc. 00-24133 Filed 9-19-00; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-34-P
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