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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 215 / Wednesday, November 10, 2021 / Rules and Regulations accepted for importation into the continental United States. Commercial consignments, as defined in 319.562, are consignments that an inspector identifies as having been imported for sale and distribution. Such identification is based on a variety of indicators, including, but not limited to:
Quantity of produce, type of packing, identification of grower or packinghouse on the packaging, and documents consigning the fruits or vegetables to a wholesaler or retailer. The size of the farm 2 of origin is not a factor in determining whether or not a given consignment is commercial.
One commenter stated that Federal and State resources intended to protect domestic agriculture production have not kept pace with the growing volume of fruit and vegetable imports, placing strain on the system.
APHIS has reviewed its resources and consulted with U.S. Customs and Border Protection and believes there is adequate coverage across the United States to ensure compliance with APHIS
regulations, including the importation of pummelo from Thailand, as established by this action. The commenter did not provide any evidence of shortfalls in State resources that would prevent APHIS from carrying out the provisions of this action.
A commenter said that the economic analysis that accompanied the proposed rule did not reflect the potential financial impacts of pummelo producers in Florida. The commenter said that allowing for the importation of fresh pummelo fruit from Thailand at the same time of year that domestic fruit comes to market would result in negative economic impacts for Florida growers.
The commenter cited the importation of fresh pummelo fruit from Southeast Asia into Canada as an example of what may happen to the U.S. fresh pummelo market, stating that imported fruit in Canada has been marketed at a price far lower than U.S. domestic growers can achieve. The commenter predicted that the price of fresh pummelo fruit in the Canadian market is an indicator of future U.S. prices for imported pummelos and consequently greatly harm domestic growers.
While our trade decisions are made based on science rather than economic factors, we note that we stated in the economic analysis that accompanied the 2 The $350,000 figure is a standard used by USDAs Economic Research Service in the course of their own research as the dividing line between small and midsize domestic farms. APHIS does not use this measure; we instead rely on Small Business Association standards to identify small entities potentially affected by our rules.

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proposed rule that information on pummelo production in Arizona, Florida, and Texas was not available. In addition, U.S. import and export data specific to pummelo are also not available because pummelo is grouped with grapefruit in Department of Commerce trade statistics Harmonized Tariff Schedule 080540. As always, APHIS welcomes informed comment on the size and scope of any industry for which we do not have data.
In response to the commenters concerns, we examined the market for fresh pummelo fruit in Canada and determined that Canada imported an average of 36,379 metric tons per year during the period 2017 through 2020. Of this, 44 percent originated in the United States, and 0.003 percent or 124 metric tons originated from Thailand. During that period, the average price Canadian importers paid overall for fresh pummelo fruit was $990 per metric ton, the average price Canadian importers paid for fresh pummelo fruit from the United States was $989 per metric ton, and the average price Canadian importers paid for fresh pummelo fruit from Thailand was $2,030 per metric ton. Based on this data, we do not agree with the commenters claim that U.S.
pummelo fruit is at a competitive price disadvantage in the Canadian market in relation to imported fresh pummelo fruit from Thailand. Our available Canadian data suggests Thailands share of the domestic pummelo market within the United States will be minimal, compared to domestic production, and Thailand will not be able to market the fruit at a price point below that of domestic producers.
Finally, we note that the proposed rule was issued prior to the October 15, 2018, effective date of a final rule 3 that revised the regulations in 319.564 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 regionor 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 FAVIR database. With those changes to the regulations, we cannot issue the final regulations as contemplated in our March 2018 proposed rule and are therefore discontinuing that rulemaking without a final rule. Instead, it is 3 83 FR 46627 September 14, 2018. To view the final rule, go to https www.regulations.gov and enter APHIS20100082 in the Search field.

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necessary for us to finalize this action through the issuance of a notification.
Therefore, in accordance with the regulations in 319.564c3iii, we are announcing our decision to authorize the importation into the continental United States of fresh pummelo fruit from Thailand subject to the following phytosanitary measures, which will be listed in FAVIR, available at https epermits.aphis.usda.gov/
manual:
The fresh pummelo fruit must be shipped in commercial consignments only.
The fresh pummelo fruit must be treated with irradiation in accordance with 7 CFR part 305.
Prior to packing, the fresh pummelo fruit must be washed, brushed, disinfested, submerged in surfactant, treated for Xanthomonas citri Gabriel et al. with an APHIS-approved surface disinfectant, and treated for Phyllosticta citriasiana and Phyllosticta citricarpa with an APHIS-approved fungicide.
Each shipment of fresh pummelo fruit must be accompanied by a phytosanitary certificate issued by the NPPO of Thailand. If the fresh pummelo fruit was irradiated in Thailand, each consignment of fruit must be inspected jointly in Thailand by APHIS and the NPPO of Thailand, and the phytosanitary certificate must contain an additional declaration attesting to irradiation of the fresh pummelo fruit in accordance with 7 CFR part 305. If the fresh pummelo fruit will be irradiated upon arrival into the continental United States, joint inspection in Thailand and an additional declaration on the phytosanitary certificate are not required.
Consignments of fresh pummelo fruit from Thailand are subject to inspection at ports of entry in the continental United States.
In addition to these specific measures, fresh pummelo fruit from Thailand will be subject to the general requirements listed in 319.563 that are applicable to the importation of all fruits and vegetables.
Paperwork Reduction Act In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 44 U.S.C. 3501
et seq., the burden and recordkeeping requirements associated with this action are covered under the Office of Management and Budget control number 05790049, which is updated every 3 years during the required renewal period. We estimate the total annual burden to be 24 hours.

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