APHIS Proposes New Procedures for Changing Fruit and Veg Import Requirements
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service is proposing a change to its procedures for setting fruit and vegetable import requirements. Under the proposed rule, APHIS would no longer go through a normal rulemaking process for changes to import requirements. Instead, the agency would simply publish a notice in the Federal Register advising the public of the change. APHIS would still give the public a chance to comment before changes are made through publication of a “pest risk analysis” document detailing the agency’s scientific rationale. Comments on the proposed rule are due Nov. 10.
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APHIS says the proposed changes to its fruit and vegetable regulations would allow it to more nimbly adapt to new information about pests. Using a notice-based process, the agency would be able to change import requirements within five months, while a formal rulemaking process lasts an average of 18 months. APHIS already uses a notice-based process for setting import requirements that involve certain standard phytosanitary measures. Just as with current procedures for standard phytosanitary measures, the public would still have an opportunity to comment on a pest risk analysis document before the final notice is issued, said APHIS.
In addition to the move to a notice-based system, the proposed rule would also eliminate commodity- and country-based import requirements from the APHIS regulations. Instead, these requirements would be available through the FAVIR website and the Fruits and Vegetables Import Manual. Similarly, requirements for moving fruits and vegetables from Hawaii and U.S. territories to the Continental U.S. would be moved from the APHIS regulations to APHIS’s Hawaii and Puerto Rico/U.S. Virgin Islands fruits and vegetables manuals.
The proposed rule would also create a procedure for the agency to order emergency import bans. If APHIS finds the phytosanitary measures currently in place for a fruit or vegetable are no longer sufficient to mitigate pest risk, it would be able to prohibit or restrict importation by publishing a notice in the Federal Register that specifies any changes to import requirements and the effective date for the changes, and asks for public comments on the emergency restrictions, said APHIS.
(Federal Register 09/09/14)