82 FR 4798 - Importation of Hass Avocados From Colombia

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service

Federal Register Volume 82, Issue 10 (January 17, 2017)

We are reopening the comment period for a proposed rule to allow the importation of Hass avocados from Colombia into the continental United States. We are also notifying the public of the availability of a revised pest risk assessment and risk management document associated with the proposed rule. This action will allow interested persons additional time to prepare and submit comments.

[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 10 (Tuesday, January 17, 2017)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Page 4798]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2017-00672]


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Proposed Rules
                                                Federal Register
________________________________________________________________________

This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER contains notices to the public of 
the proposed issuance of rules and regulations. The purpose of these 
notices is to give interested persons an opportunity to participate in 
the rule making prior to the adoption of the final rules.

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Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 10 / Tuesday, January 17, 2017 / 
Proposed Rules

[[Page 4798]]



DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service

7 CFR Part 319

[Docket No. APHIS-2016-0022]
RIN 0579-AE29


Importation of Hass Avocados From Colombia

AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, USDA.

ACTION: Proposed rule; reopening of comment period.

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SUMMARY: We are reopening the comment period for a proposed rule to 
allow the importation of Hass avocados from Colombia into the 
continental United States. We are also notifying the public of the 
availability of a revised pest risk assessment and risk management 
document associated with the proposed rule. This action will allow 
interested persons additional time to prepare and submit comments.

DATES: The comment period for the proposed rule published on October 
27, 2016 (81 FR 74722) is reopened. We will consider all comments that 
we receive on or before February 16, 2017.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by either of the following methods:
     Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to http://www.regulations.gov/#!docketDetail;D=APHIS-2016-0022.
     Postal Mail/Commercial Delivery: Send your comments to 
Docket No. APHIS-2016-0022, Regulatory Analysis and Development, PPD, 
APHIS, Station 3A-03.8, 4700 River Road, Unit 118, Riverdale, MD 20737-
1238.
    Supporting documents and any comments we receive on this docket may 
be viewed at http://www.regulations.gov/#!docketDetail;D=APHIS-2016-
0022 or in our reading room, which 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) 799-7039 before coming.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. David B. Lamb, Senior Regulatory 
Policy Specialist, USDA/APHIS/PPQ, 4700 River Road, Unit 133, 
Riverdale, MD 20737-1236; (301) 851-2103; [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On October 27, 2016, we published in the 
Federal Register (81 FR 74722-74727, Docket No. APHIS-2016-0022) a 
proposed rule to authorize the importation of Hass avocados from 
Colombia into the continental United States.
    The pest risk assessment (PRA) that we used in order to draft the 
risk management document (RMD) associated with the rule, as well as the 
rule itself, considered Maconellicoccus hirsutus (Green), pink hibiscus 
mealybug, to be a pest of quarantine significance that could follow the 
pathway of Hass avocados from Colombia to the continental United 
States. However, this PRA was not the latest iteration that had been 
prepared. Rather, a subsequent iteration found that growing conditions 
for Hass avocados in Colombia, as well as standard packinghouse 
practices used in Colombia to prepare Hass avocados for export for 
commercial distribution, effectively preclude pink hibiscus mealybug 
from following the pathway of Hass avocados from Colombia to the 
continental United States.
    We are making the more recent version of the PRA available for 
public review and comment, as well as a revised version of the RMD that 
reflects this change. Because there were no pink hibiscus mealybug-
specific provisions in the proposed rule, however, we do not consider 
it necessary to modify the provisions of the proposed rule.
    Comments on the proposed rule were required to be received on or 
before December 27, 2016. We are reopening the comment period on Docket 
No. APHIS-2016-0022 for an additional 30 days. We will also consider 
all comments received between December 28, 2016, and the date of this 
notice. This action will allow interested persons additional time to 
review the new PRA and RMD, and prepare and submit comments.

    Authority:  7 U.S.C. 450, 7701-7772, and 7781-7786; 21 U.S.C. 
136 and 136a; 7 CFR 2.22, 2.80, and 371.3.

    Done in Washington, DC, this 9th day of January, 2017.
Kevin Shea,
Administrator, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
[FR Doc. 2017-00672 Filed 1-13-17; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3410-34-P