[Federal Register: October 22, 2002 (Volume 67, Number 204)]
[Notices]
[Page 64862-64863]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr22oc02-37]
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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service
[Docket No. 02-081-1]
Availability of Draft Pest Risk Assessment for the Importation of
Clementines, Mandarins, and Tangerines From Chile
AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, USDA.
ACTION: Notice of availability and request for comments.
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SUMMARY: We are advising the public of the availability of a draft pesk
risk assessment concerning the importation of clementines, mandarins,
and tangerines from Chile. This draft pest risk assessment is
accompanied by a risk management document entitled, ``Measures
Suggested for Quarantine Pest Risk Management in Clementines, Mandarin
Oranges and Tangerines Exported from Chile to the Market of the United
States of America.'' These documents have been prepared in relation to
a proposed rule currently under consideration that would allow the
importation of clementines, mandarins, and tangerines from Chile into
the United States. We are making the draft pest risk assessment and the
risk management document available to the public for review and
comment.
DATES: We will consider all comments that we receive on or before
December 23, 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. 02-081-1, 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. 02-081-1. 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.
02-081-1'' on the subject line.
You may read any comments that we receive on the draft pest risk
assessment 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: Dr. Ronald A. Sequeira, National
Science Program Leader, Risk & Pathway Analysis, Center for Plant
Health Science and Technology, PPQ, APHIS, 1017 Main Campus Drive,
Suite 2500, Raleigh, NC 27606-5202; (919) 513-2128.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
[[Page 64863]]
Background
The regulations in ``Subpart-Fruits and Vegetables'' (7 CFR 319.56
through 319.56-8, 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, including fruit flies, that are new to or
not widely distributed within the United States.
At the request of the Government of the Republic of Chile, the
Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) is considering
amending the regulations to allow the importation of clementines,
mandarins, and tangerines from Chile into the United States. To
evaluate the risks associated with the importation of clementines,
mandarins, and tangerines from Chile, a draft pesk risk assessment
entitled, ``Importation of Fresh Commercial Citrus Fruit: Clementine
(Citrus reticulata Blanco var. ``Clementine''), Mandarin (Citrus
reticulata Blanco), and Tangerine (Citrus reticulata Blanco) from Chile
into the United States: A Pathway Initiated Plant Pest Risk
Assessment'' (Revised July 2002), has been prepared. We are making the
draft pest risk assessment available to the public for review and
comment.
In addition to the draft pest risk assessment, we are also making a
risk management document entitled, ``Measures Suggested for Quarantine
Pest Risk Management in Clementines, Mandarin Oranges and Tangerines
Exported from Chile to the Market of the United States of America''
(March 2002), available for comment. This risk management document was
prepared in Chile by the Fundacion para el Desarrollo Fruiticola. We
expect that we would consider the risk management measures examined in
that document during the development of any proposed rule concerning
the importation of clementines, mandarins, and tangerines from Chile.
You may view the draft pest risk assessment and the risk management
document on the Internet at http://www.aphis.usda.gov/ppq/pra/, or in
our reading room (information on the location and hours of the reading
room is provided under the heading ADDRESSES at the beginning of this
notice). You may also request a copy of either document from the person
listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT.
Authority: 7 U.S.C. 166, 450, 7711-7714, 7718, 7731, 7732, and
7751-7754; 21 U.S.C. 136 and 136a; 7 CFR 2.22, 2.80, and 371.3.
Done in Washington, DC, this 16th day of October 2002.
Peter F[eacute]rnandez,
Acting Administrator, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
[FR Doc. 02-26813 Filed 10-21-02; 8:45 am]
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