[Federal Register: December 4, 2001 (Volume 66, Number 233)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Page 63004-63007]
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Proposed Rules
Federal Register
7 CFR Part 352
[Docket No. 00-086-1]
Untreated Oranges, Tangerines, and Grapefruit from Mexico
Transiting the United States to Foreign Countries
AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, USDA.
ACTION: Proposed rule.
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SUMMARY: We are proposing to allow untreated oranges, tangerines, and
grapefruit from Mexico to be moved overland by truck or rail to Corpus
Christi and Houston, TX, for export to another country by water. We are
proposing this action in response to requests by the port authorities
of Corpus Christi and Houston, TX. We are also proposing to require
that untreated oranges, tangerines, and grapefruit moving from Mexico
through Brownsville, Corpus Christi, Galveston, or Houston, TX, for
export by water to another country be shipped in sealed, refrigerated
containers. We are proposing this action to provide additional
protection against the possible introduction of fruit flies via
untreated oranges, tangerines, and grapefruit from Mexico that transit
the United States.
DATES: We invite you to comment on this docket. We will consider all
comments we receive that are postmarked, delivered, or e-mailed by
February 4, 2002.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by postal mail/commercial delivery
or by e-mail. If you use postal mail/commercial delivery, please send
four copies of your comment (an original and three copies) to: Docket
No. 00-086-1, Regulatory Analysis and Development, PPD, APHIS, Station
3C71, 4700 River Road Unit 118, Riverdale, MD 20737-1238. Please state
that your comment refers to Docket No. 00-086-1. If you use e-mail,
address your comment to regulations@aphis.usda.gov. Your comment must
be contained in the body of your message; do not send attached files.
Please include your name and address in your message and ``Docket No.
00-086-1'' on the subject line.
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. Ron Sponaugle, Senior Staff
Officer, Port Operations, PPQ, APHIS, 4700 River Road Unit 60,
Riverdale, MD 20737-1236; (301) 734-8295.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
The plant quarantine safeguard regulations in 7 CFR part 352
relieve restrictions for certain products or articles that are
classified as prohibited or restricted products or articles under our
other regulations in title 7. Such articles include fruits and
vegetables that are moved into the United States for: (1) A temporary
stay where unloading or landing is not intended, (2) unloading or
landing for transshipment and exportation, (3) unloading or landing for
transportation and exportation, or (4) unloading and entry at a port
other than the port of first arrival. Fruits and vegetables that are
moved into the United States under these circumstances are subject to
inspection and must be handled in accordance with conditions assigned
under the safeguard regulations to prevent the introduction and
dissemination of plant pests.
Authorized Ports
The regulations in Sec. 352.30 address the movement into or through
the United States of untreated oranges, tangerines, and grapefruit from
Mexico that transit the United States en route to foreign countries.
The regulations currently allow untreated oranges, tangerines, and
grapefruit from Mexico to enter the United States at the ports of
Nogales, AZ, or Brownsville, Eagle Pass, El Paso, Hidalgo, or Laredo,
TX. The fruit may then be moved, under certain conditions, by truck or
railcar to seaports at Brownsville and Galveston, TX, for export by
water to another country.
The port authorities of Corpus Christi and Houston, TX, have
requested that those ports be added to regulations as ports eligible to
export untreated Mexican oranges, tangerines, and grapefruit by water.
The port of Corpus Christi is located midway between the ports of
Brownsville and Galveston along the Texas coast. Corpus Christi is the
fifth largest U.S. port in terms of trade volume (i.e., 86.8 million
short tons of commodities in 1997). The port of Corpus Christi has
295,500 square feet of covered dockside storage and a 100,000-square-
foot refrigerated facility. This new facility includes refrigerator and
freezer rooms, a treatment facility, and rail and truck docks that are
temperature-controlled.
The port of Houston is located on Galveston Bay, approximately 50
miles northwest of the port of Galveston. Houston is the largest U.S.
port in terms of trade volume (i.e., approximately 175 million short
tons of commodities in 2000). The port of Houston has 128,400 square
feet of covered dockside storage, 672,000 square feet of warehouse
storage, and a 200,000-square-foot waterfront refrigerated facility.
The waterfront refrigerated facility has refrigerator and freezer
rooms, a treatment facility, humidity-controlled storage, and enclosed
truck and rail bays.
We have considered these requests and have concluded that the risk
posed by allowing untreated oranges, tangerines, and grapefruit to
transit the United States for export at the ports of Corpus Christi and
Houston, TX, would be no different than the risk currently posed by in-
transit shipments of untreated oranges, tangerines, and grapefruit
moved from Mexico to Brownsville and Galveston, TX, for export. Based
on this finding, we are
[[Page 63005]]
proposing to amend the regulations to allow untreated oranges,
tangerines, and grapefruit from Mexico to be moved overland by truck or
rail to Corpus Christi and Houston, TX, for export to another country
by water.
Pest Safeguards for Trucks and Railcars
The regulations currently allow untreated oranges, tangerines, and
grapefruit from Mexico to be moved in trucks to a location shipside, or
to approved refrigerated storage pending lading aboard ship, in
Brownsville or Galveston, TX. Trucks may also be used to move untreated
oranges, tangerines, and grapefruit alongside refrigerator cars or
aircraft at approved ports of entry listed in Sec. 352.30(b)(2) for
movement to a foreign country. Trucks must be of the van-type and must
be kept closed from the time they enter into the United States until
unloading is to commence. Alternatively, the regulations provide that
loads of untreated oranges, tangerines, and grapefruit on trucks may be
covered with a tarpaulin that is tightly tied down and that may not be
removed or loosened from time of entry into the United States until
unloading is to commence.
We believe the regulations pertaining to trucks, as described
above, do not provide adequate protection against the introduction of
fruit flies into the United States, given that fruit flies are known to
exist in some areas in Mexico where oranges, tangerines, and grapefruit
are grown, and given that there are citrus-producing areas within the
areas that untreated oranges, tangerines, and grapefruit from Mexico
may transit while en route to a port of export. We are proposing to
revise those regulations to require that untreated oranges, tangerines,
and grapefruit being moved by truck from Mexico must be enclosed in
sealed, refrigerated containers of the type commonly used by the
maritime or commercial trucking industry. This requirement would help
to reduce the risk that fruit flies could be introduced into the United
States via in-transit shipments of untreated Mexican oranges,
tangerines, and grapefruit.
We are also proposing to amend the regulations in Sec. 352.30(b)(4)
to reflect the proposed addition of Corpus Christi and Houston, TX, as
ports approved to handle untreated oranges, tangerines, and grapefruit
from Mexico. The regulations currently provide that shipments of such
fruit may be entered at Nogales, AZ, only for direct rail routing to El
Paso, TX, after which they may traverse only the territory bounded on
the west by a line drawn from El Paso, TX, to Salt Lake City, UT, and
then to Portland, OR, and on the east by a line drawn from Brownsville,
TX, through Galveston, TX, and Kinder, LA, to Memphis, TN, and then to
Louisville, KY, and due east from Louisville. This area includes
railroad routes from Brownsville to Galveston, TX, and routes running
directly northward from Galveston. We are proposing to amend the
regulations to make it clear that the routing of such shipments may
also include railroad routes from Brownsville to Corpus Christi and
Houston, TX, and routes running directly northward from Houston.
Miscellaneous
We are also proposing to update the regulations in Sec. 352.30(e)
to reflect recent changes to the regulations in Sec. 319.56-2(h). The
regulations in Sec. 352.30(e) currently state that oranges, tangerines,
and grapefruit that are moving in transit to foreign countries may be
imported into the United States from certain municipalities in Sonora,
Mexico, that are listed in Sec. 319.56-2(h) of the regulations. Such
importations must be in accordance with applicable conditions in
Secs. 319.56 through 319.56-8 of the regulations.
The regulations in Sec. 319.56-2(h) list areas in Mexico that are
free of certain fruit flies. Currently, those areas include
municipalities in the States of Baja California Sur and Chihuahua in
addition to Sonora. When these additional States were added to
Sec. 319.56-2(h), their addition should have been reflected in
Sec. 352.30(e), but that did not occur. Therefore, we are proposing to
remove the reference to the State of Sonora from the regulations in
Sec. 352.30(e) in order to make it clear that oranges, tangerines, and
grapefruit that are moving in transit to foreign countries may be
imported into the United States from any municipality in Mexico that is
listed in Sec. 319.56-2(h) of the regulations.
Executive Order 12866 and Regulatory Flexibility Act
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.
In accordance with 5 U.S.C. 603, we have performed an initial
regulatory flexibility analysis, which is set out below, regarding the
economic effects of this proposed rule on small entities. Based on the
information we have, there is no basis to conclude that adoption of
this proposed rule would result in any significant economic effect on a
substantial number of small entities. However, we do not currently have
all of the data necessary for a comprehensive analysis of the effects
of this proposed rule on small entities. Therefore, we are inviting
comments on potential effects. In particular, we are interested in
determining the number and kind of small entities that may incur
benefits or costs from the implementation of this proposed rule.
Under the Plant Protection Act (7 U.S.C. 7701-7772), the Secretary
of Agriculture is authorized to regulate the importation of plants,
plant products, and other articles to prevent the introduction of
injurious plant pests.
The current regulations allow, among other things, untreated
oranges, tangerines, and grapefruit from Mexico to enter the United
States at six specified land border ports along the U.S.-Mexican border
and to be moved overland by truck to maritime ports in Brownsville and
Galveston, TX, for ocean export to third countries.
APHIS has received requests from the port authorities of Corpus
Christi and Houston to add the maritime ports of Corpus Christi and
Houston, TX, to the list of maritime ports authorized to receive
untreated oranges, tangerines, and grapefruit from Mexico that have
been trucked from land border ports along the U.S.-Mexican border for
ocean export to third countries.
Between 1994 and 1999, the volume of in-transit shipments of
untreated Mexican citrus was equivalent to a small percentage of the
total volume of Mexican citrus entering into U.S. commerce (see Table
1).
[[Page 63006]]
Table 1.--U.S. Imports of Fresh Citrus From Mexico 1994-1999
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Mexican citrus entering U.S. Mexican citrus in-transit through the United States
commerce -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Year --------------------------------
Value (in U.S. Quantity (in Quantity (in kilograms)
dollars) kilograms)
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1994.............................. 34,160,043 125,057,000 308,698 (0.25% of imports)
1995.............................. 34,874,375 148,652,000 435,021 (0.29% of imports)
1996.............................. 38,268,862 140,822,000 1,417,929 (1.01% of imports)
1997.............................. 42,790,699 164,587,000 45,951 (0.03% of imports)
1998.............................. 42,553,048 171,630,000 510,450 (0.30% of imports)
1999.............................. 84,408,899 211,197,000 519,878 (0.25% of imports)
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The availability of two additional maritime ports in Texas could
become an accommodating factor for Mexico's in-transit trade with third
countries, since, on average, more than 90 percent of untreated Mexican
citrus transiting through the United States between 1995 and 1999
entered the country through a Texas maritime, air, or land port (see
table 2).
Table 2.--Fresh Untreated Mexican Citrus in Transit Through the United
States
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Mexican citrus
Mexican citrus in transit in transit
Year entering a Texas port (in entering other
kilograms) ports (in
kilograms)
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1994..................... 282,021 (91%).............. 26,677
1995..................... 390,713 (90%).............. 44,308
1996..................... 1,290,013 (91%)............ 127,916
1997..................... 45,951 (100%).............. 0
1998..................... 483,032 (95%).............. 27,418
1999..................... 413,229 (80%).............. 106,649
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This proposed rule would benefit exporters and shippers in the area
around the ports of Corpus Christi and Houston, TX, and may provide the
local populations with additional income opportunities, the amount of
which would depend on the volume of the in-transit untreated Mexican
oranges, tangerines, and grapefruit exported from the ports of Corpus
Christi and Houston, TX. Mexican exporters and foreign importers of the
untreated oranges, tangerines, and grapefruit may benefit from the
availability of additional ports that could handle their shipments.
This proposed rule would also require that untreated oranges,
tangerines, and grapefruit from Mexico that are moving through
Brownsville, Corpus Christi, Galveston, or Houston, TX, for export by
water to another country be shipped in sealed, refrigerated containers.
We do not expect that this proposed requirement would have any
significant effects on exporters or shippers of citrus fruit from
Mexico because untreated citrus intended for export to another country
is almost always shipped from Mexico in refrigerated containers in
order to ensure that the quality of fruit is maintained during land
transit and movement by sea to a foreign destination.
Movement from Mexico to the fruits' final destination in a foreign
country can take several days, and sometimes more than a week,
depending on the destination. Since this proposed change reflects
current standard industry shipping practices, APHIS does not believe
that any entities would be adversely affected by the proposed
requirement. Nonetheless, we invite interested persons to submit
information regarding the potential economic effects of this proposed
requirement.
Economic Effects on Small Entities
The Regulatory Flexibility Act requires that agencies consider the
economic effects of their rules on small entities. Small entities at
the ports of Corpus Christi and Houston, TX, would be affected by the
proposed rule to the extent that they would benefit from handling in-
transit shipments of untreated oranges, tangerines, and grapefruit
arriving at their port. However, neither the number of firms that may
be affected nor the proportion that can be considered small is known.
Net benefits to U.S. firms overall are expected to be minimal because
it is unlikely that the availability of Corpus Christi and Houston, TX,
as export ports for untreated Mexican citrus would significantly affect
the volume of in-transit oranges, tangerines, and grapefruit from
Mexico moving through the United States.
Summary
This proposed rule would benefit the Mexican exporters and the
foreign importers of untreated oranges, tangerines, and grapefruit, as
well as the ports of Corpus Christi and Houston, TX, which could handle
in-transit shipments of Mexican oranges, tangerines, and grapefruit. It
is likely that small entities at the ports of Corpus Christi and
Houston, TX, may share in these benefits, but their number and the
extent to which they may benefit are not known. Overall, U.S. firms
would benefit to the extent that the trade is not simply a diversion
from one maritime port to another, but rather that additional in-
transit trade in untreated Mexican oranges, tangerines, and grapefruit
occurs.
This proposed rule contains no new information collection or
recordkeeping requirements (see ``Paperwork Reduction Act'' below).
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.
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 352
Customs duties and inspection, Imports, Plant diseases and pests,
Quarantine, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements, Transportation.
Accordingly, we propose to amend 7 CFR part 352 as follows:
PART 352--PLANT QUARANTINE SAFEGUARD REGULATIONS
1. The authority citation for part 352 would continue to read as
follows:
[[Page 63007]]
Authority: 7 U.S.C. 2260, 7711-7714, 7731, and 7734; 21 U.S.C.
136 and 136a; 31 U.S.C. 9701; 7 CFR 2.22, 2.80, and 371.3.
2. Section 352.30 would be amended as follows:
a. By revising paragraphs (b)(3)(iii) and (b)(4)(i).
b. In paragraph (c)(1), by removing the words ``or Galveston'' and
adding in their place the words ``Corpus Christi, Galveston, or
Houston''.
c. By revising paragraph (c)(3).
d. By revising paragraph (e).
Sec. 352.30 Administrative instructions: Certain oranges, tangerines,
and grapefruit from Mexico.
* * * * *
(b) * * *
(3) * * *
(iii) Trucks. Trucks may be used to haul such fruit from Mexico to
shipside, or to approved refrigerated storage pending lading aboard
ship, in Brownsville, Corpus Christi, Galveston, or Houston, TX, or
alongside refrigerator cars or aircraft at the ports named in paragraph
(b)(2) of this section for movement to a foreign country. The fruit
hauled in such trucks must be enclosed in sealed, refrigerated
containers of the type commonly used by the maritime or commercial
trucking industry.
(4) Bonded rail movement--(i) Routing. Shipments of such fruit may
move by direct route, in Customs bond and under Customs seal, without
diversion or change of Customs entry en route, from the port of entry
to the port of exit en route to Canada or to an approved North Atlantic
port in the United States for export to another foreign country, as
follows: The fruit may be entered at Nogales, AZ, only for direct rail
routing to El Paso, TX, after which it shall traverse only the
territory bounded on the west by a line drawn from El Paso, TX, to Salt
Lake City, UT, and then to Portland, OR, and on the east by a line
drawn from Brownsville, TX, through Galveston, TX, and Kinder, LA, to
Memphis, TN, and then to Louisville, KY, and direct northward routes
therefrom. Such fruit may also enter the United States from Mexico at
any port listed in paragraph (b)(2) of this section for direct eastward
rail movement in Customs bond and under Customs seal, without diversion
en route, for reentry into Mexico.
* * * * *
(c) * * *
(3) Exportation from Brownsville, Corpus Christi, Galveston, or
Houston by water. (i) Such fruit laden in refrigerated holds for export
from Brownsville, Corpus Christi, Galveston, or Houston, TX, must be
stowed in closed compartments if the ship is to call at other Gulf or
South Atlantic ports in the United States. The compartments are not to
be opened while the ship is in such other Gulf or South Atlantic ports.
(ii) Such fruit for export from Brownsville, Corpus Christi,
Galveston, or Houston, if not laden in refrigerated holds, must be
stowed in closed compartments separate from other cargoes. Bulkheads of
such compartments shall be kept closed. The hatches of compartments
containing such fruit shall be closed and the tarpaulin battened down
and sealed with Plant Protection and Quarantine Programs seals. The
seals must remain unbroken while the ship is in any Gulf or South
Atlantic port in the United States or its waters. Vents and ventilators
leading to compartments in which the fruit is stowed must be screened
with fine mesh screening. Advance notice of arrival of ships carrying
untreated Mexican oranges, tangerines, or grapefruit shall be given to
the inspector at such Gulf or South Atlantic port of call.
* * * * *
(e) Untreated fruit from certain municipalities in Mexico. Oranges,
tangerines, and grapefruit in transit to foreign countries may be
imported from certain municipalities in Mexico listed in Sec. 319.56-
2(h) of this chapter in accordance with the applicable conditions in
Secs. 319.56 through 319.56-8 of this chapter.
* * * * *
Done in Washington, DC, this 28th day of November, 2001.
W. Ron DeHaven,
Acting Administrator, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
[FR Doc. 01-30000 Filed 12-3-01; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-34-U
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