SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

On June 15, 2018, the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) published in the Federal Register (83 FR 27918-27922, Docket No. APHIS-2016-0099) a proposed rule ^[1] to authorize the importation of commercial fresh avocado from continental Ecuador into the continental United States.

The proposed rule was based on a pest risk assessment (PRA) that found four quarantine pests to be candidates for pest risk management. The quarantine pests were the fruit flies Anastrepha fraterculus (Wiedemann), Anastrepha serpentina (Wiedemann), Anastrepha striata (Schiner), and Ceratitis capitata (Wiedemann). All avocado varieties except the Hass variety are hosts for these quarantine pests. Consequently, APHIS proposed to allow the importation of avocados from Ecuador into the United States under a systems approach that included phytosanitary measures to safeguard against these pests for all varieties of avocado except the Hass variety.

During the public comment period, we received information from a commenter that led us to add the avocado seed pest Stenoma catenifer to a revised PRA. The revised PRA determined that Stenoma catenifer was a candidate for pest risk management for all varieties of avocado imported from continental Ecuador. In light of this change, we revised the risk management document (RMD) to include pest risk management measures for Stenoma catenifer for all avocado varieties. We are making the more recent version of the PRA available for public review and comment, as well as the revised version of the RMD that reflects this change.

Based on the findings of the revised PRA, we are proposing that commercial fresh avocado fruit may be imported into the continental United States from continental Ecuador subject to the conditions outlined in the June 2018 proposed rule, as well as additional conditions designed to safeguard against Stenoma catenifer. These additional conditions are:

• Avocados must be grown in pest free places of production for the avocado seed pestStenoma catenifer that are established and maintained in accordance with international standards. APHIS must approve the survey protocol used by the National Plant Protection Organization (NPPO) of Ecuador to determine and maintain pest free status.
• If the avocados are grown in a municipality free ofStenoma catenifer, the municipality must be surveyed every 6 months (twice a year) for the pest. Representative areas of the municipality where there are avocado trees, including production sites and urban areas, must be sampled.
• If the avocados are grown in a municipality not completely free ofStenoma catenifer, the NPPO of Ecuador can certify individual places of production as pest free. The surveys for pest free places of production must include representative areas from all parts of each registered place of production and a buffer zone of 1 kilometer. The places of production and buffer zone must be surveyed monthly for Stenoma catenifer from 2 months before harvest until harvest is completed.
• If one or moreStenoma catenifer are detected during a survey or during any other monitoring or inspection activity, the place of production will be prohibited from exporting avocados to the continental United States until APHIS and the NPPO of Ecuador jointly agree that the risk has been mitigated.
• The NPPO of Ecuador must keep records ofStenoma catenifer detections for each place of production, and update the records each time the places of production are surveyed. The records must be maintained for at least 1 year and provided for APHIS' review, if requested.

These conditions are described in further detail in the revised RMD. The ( printed page 20038) NPPO of Ecuador would also have to enter into an operational work plan with APHIS that details the daily procedures the NPPO will take to meet these and all conditions.

Comments on the proposed rule were required to be received on or before August 14, 2018. We are reopening the comment period on Docket No. APHIS-2016-0099 for an additional 30 days. This action will allow interested persons additional time to review the revised PRA and RMD, and prepare and submit comments.

Finally, we note that the proposed rule was issued prior to the October 15, 2018, effective date of a final rule ^[2] that revised the regulations in 7 CFR 319.56-4 by broadening an existing performance standard to provide for approval of all new fruits and vegetables for importation into the United States using a notice-based process. That final rule also specified that region- or commodity-specific phytosanitary requirements for fruits and vegetables would no longer be found in the regulations, but instead in APHIS' Fruits and Vegetables Import Requirements database (FAVIR). With those changes to the regulations, we will be unable to issue the final regulations as contemplated in our June 2018 proposed rule. Instead, following this reopened comment period, if we finalize this action, it will be through the issuance of a notification.

Authority: 7 U.S.C. 1633, 7701-7772, and 7781-7786; 21 U.S.C. 136 and 136a; 7 CFR 2.22, 2.80, and 371.3.

86 FR 20037