SSpeppers_0274

SUPPORTING STATEMENT

Importation of Peppers from Certain Central

American Countries

OMB NO. 0579-0274

A. JUSTIFICATION March 2012

1. Explain the circumstances that make the collection of information necessary. Identify any legal or administrative requirements that necessitate the collection.

The United States Department of Agriculture is responsible for preventing plant pests and noxious weeds from entering the United States, preventing the spread of plant diseases not widely distributed in the United States, and eradicating those imported pests and noxious weeds when eradication is feasible.

Under the Plant Protection Act (7 U.S.C. 7701 – et.seq.), the Secretary of Agriculture is authorized to carry out operations or measures to detect, eradicate, suppress, control, prevent, or retard the spread of plant pests new to the United States or not known to be widely distributed throughout the United States.

The regulations in “Subpart – Fruits and Vegetables” (Title 7, Code of Federal Regulations 319.56 through 319.56-47, referred to 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 that are new to or not widely distributed within the United States.

The fruits and vegetables regulations allow certain types of peppers grown in approved registered production sites in Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua to be imported, under certain conditions, into the United States without treatment while continuing to provide protection against the introduction of quarantine pests into the United States.

APHIS is asking the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to approve, for 3 years, its use of these information collection activities, associated with its efforts to prevent the spread of plant pests and plant diseases from entering into the United States.

2. Indicate how, by whom, and for what purpose the information is used. Except for a new collection, indicate the actual use the agency has made of the information received from the current collection.

APHIS uses the following information activities to verify whether types of peppers grown in approved registered production sites in Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua can be imported into the United States without treatment.

Inspection – (foreign government) - A pre-harvest inspection of the production site will be conducted by the National Plant Protection Organization (NPPO) for the detection of the Mediterranean Fruit Fly (Medfly). If Medfly is found to be generally infesting the production site, the NPPO will not allow export from that production site until it is determined that risk mitigation iss achieved. For other pests of concern, the production site will have to be inspected prior to harvest, and if any of these pests or any other quarantine pests are found to be generally infesting the area, the NPPO will not allow export from that production site until risk mitigation has been achieved.

Phytosanitary Certificate (foreign government) - The exporting country’s NPPO is responsible for export certification, inspection, and issuance of phytosanitary certificates. Each shipment of peppers must be accompanied by a phytosanitary certificate issued by the NPPO and bear the declaration, “These peppers were grown in an area recognized to be free of Medfly, and the shipment has been inspected and found free of the pests listed in the requirements.”

Labeling of Boxes (foreign government) - Boxes containing peppers from Certain Central American Countries must be labeled with the identity of the production site.

Trapping Records (foreign government) - The exporting country’s NPPO must maintain records of trap placement, checking of traps, and any Medfly captures. The exporting country’s NPPO must maintain an APHIS-approved quality control program to monitor or audit the trapping program. The trapping records must be maintained 3 years for APHIS’ review.

3. Describe whether, and to what extent, the collection of information involves the use of automated, electronic, mechanical, or other forms of information technology, e.g., permitting electronic submission of responses, and the basis for the decision for adopting this means of collection. Also, describe any consideration of using information technology to reduce burden.

APHIS has no control or influence over when foreign countries will automate their phytosanitary certificate.

4. Describe efforts to identify duplication. Show specifically why any similar information already available cannot be used or modified for use for the purpose described in item 2 above.

The information APHIS collects is exclusive to its mission to prevent the introduction of plant pests and plant diseases into the United States, and to prevent the spread of diseases within the United States. The information is not available from any other source.

5. If the collection of information impacts small businesses or other small entities, describe any methods used to minimize burden.

The information APHIS collects, in connection with this program, is the minimum needed to

protect the United States from insect pests such as the Medfly from entering the United States. Domestic producers and importers that may be affected by this information collection are predominantly small entities. APHIS estimates that 80 percent of the total number of 245 respondents are small entities.

6. Describe the consequences to Federal program or policy activities if the collection is not conducted or is conducted less frequently, as well as any technical or legal obstacles to reducing burden.

APHIS is the only Federal agency responsible for preventing the incursion or interstate spread of plant pests, diseases, and noxious weeds. The information APHIS is collecting is its only source of information and is not being collected through other forms or reports.

7. Explain any special circumstances that require the collection to be conducted in a manner inconsistent with the general information collection guidelines in 5 CFR 1320.5.

requiring respondents to report informa­tion to the agency more often than quarterly;requiring respondents to report informa­tion to the agency more often than quarterly;

Daily Log
For purposes of security, facility operators must maintain a daily log to record the entry and exit of all persons entering and leaving the facility while quarantine is in progress.  

requiring respondents to prepare a written response to a collection of infor­ma­tion in fewer than 30 days after receipt of it;

Licensees and permittees must immediately, but no later than 2 days, send stop distribution and sale notices to any jobbers, wholesalers, dealers, foreign consignees, or other persons known to have any such veterinary biological product in their possession, which instruct them to stop the preparations, distribution, sale, barter, exchange, shipment, or importation of any such veterinary biological product.  All notification shall be documented in writing by the licensee or permittee.

Shipments of live VHS-regulated fish must be presented for inspection at a port of entry.  For live fish entering through certain limited ports listed in APHIS’ regulations, the importer must notify the APHIS port veterinarian at least 72-hours in advance of the arrival in the United States of the shipment.  This notification is necessary to ensure APHIS is prepared for the arrival of the shipment at the port of entry, to ensure that inspectors and facilities are available for inspection in the United States, and to contact appropriate persons if any questions arise concerning the importation.  This prior notification to the port veterinarian may be made via phone, fax, or e-mail.

requiring respondents to submit more than an original and two copies of any docu­ment;
requiring respondents to retain re­cords, other than health, medical, governm­ent contract, grant-in-aid, or tax records for more than three years;

Testing records to support an aquaculture facility's claim of disease freedom from VHS virus must be maintained for a maximum of 4 years.  This recordkeeping will provide APHIS with historical documentation to determine the risk of spreading VHS from a given facility.  

APHIS is requiring herd owners to maintain their herd records for as long as the herd remains in the CWD program.  This time varies from herd to herd.

in connection with a statisti­cal sur­vey, that is not de­signed to produce valid and reli­able results that can be general­ized to the uni­verse of study;
requiring the use of a statis­tical data classi­fication that has not been re­vie­wed and approved by OMB;
that includes a pledge of confiden­tiali­ty that is not supported by au­thority estab­lished in statute or regu­la­tion, that is not sup­ported by dis­closure and data security policies that are consistent with the pledge, or which unneces­sarily impedes shar­ing of data with other agencies for com­patible confiden­tial use; or
requiring respondents to submit propri­etary trade secret, or other confidential information unless the agency can demon­strate that it has instituted procedures to protect the information's confidentiality to the extent permit­ted by law.

 requiring respondents to report information to the agency more often than quarterly;

 requiring respondents to prepare a written response to a collection of information in fewer than 30 days after receipt of it;

 requiring respondents to submit more than an original and two copies of any document;

 requiring respondents to retain records, other than health, medical, government contract, grant-in-aid, or tax records for more than three years;

 in connection with a statistical survey, that is not designed to produce valid and reliable results that can be generalized to the universe of study;

 requiring the use of a statistical data classification that has not been reviewed and approved by OMB;

 that includes a pledge of confidentiality that is not supported by authority established in statute or regulation, that is not supported by disclosure and data security policies that are consistent with the pledge, or which unnecessarily impedes sharing of data with other agencies for compatible confidential use; or

 requiring respondents to submit proprietary trade secret, or other confidential information unless the agency can demonstrate that it has instituted procedures to protect the information's confidentiality to the extent permitted by law.

No special circumstances exist that would require this collection to be conducted in a manner inconsistent with the general information collection guidelines in 5 CFR 1320.5.

8. Describe efforts to consult with persons outside the agency to obtain their views on the availability of data, frequency of collection, the clarity of instructions and recordkeeping, disclosure, or reporting form, and on the data elements to be recorded, disclosed, or reported. If applicable, provide a copy and identify the date and page number of publication in the Federal Register of the agency's notice, soliciting comments on the information collection prior to submission to OMB.

In 2011, APHIS held productive consultations with the following individuals concerning the information collection activities associated with its program to import peppers from Central American countries:

Avenida Reforma 7-01, Zona 10
Guatemala City, Guatemala 01010Physical Location:
Avenida Reforma 7-01, Zona 10
Guatemala City, Guatemala 01010Marco V. Gonzalez,

Especialista Agrícola

USDA, APHIS, IS

100 Metros Norte,

75 Este Casa de Oscar Arias,

Rohrmoser, San José, Costa Rica

Luis A. Caniz

Especialista Agrícola

United States Embassy, Guatemala

Avenida Reform, 7-01

Zona 10

Guatemala City, Guatemala, 01010Avenida Reforma 7-01, Zona 10
Guatemala City, Guatemala 01010Avenida Reforma 7-01, Zona 10
Guatemala City, Guatemala 01010Avenida Reforma 7-01, Zona 10
Guatemala City, Guatemala 01010

Jose Antonio Ortiz,

Especialista Agrícola

USDA, APHIS, IS

United States Embassy - Honduras

Avenida La Paz

Tegucigalpa, Honduras

On Friday, December 16, 2011, page 78231, APHIS published in the Federal Register, a 60-day notice seeking public comments on its plans to request a 3-year renewal of this collection of information. No comments were received.

9. Explain any decisions to provide any payment or gift to respondents, other than remuneration of contractors or grantees.

This information collection activity involves no payments (other than appropriate, program-related payments) or gifts to respondents.

10. Describe any assurance of confidentiality provided to respondents and the basis for the assurance in statute, regulation, or agency policy.

No additional assurance of confidentiality is provided with this information collection. Any and all information obtained in this collection shall not be disclosed except in accordance with

5 U.S.C. 552a.

11. Provide additional justification for any questions of a sensitive nature, such as sexual behavior and attitudes, religious beliefs, and others that are considered private. This justification should include the reasons why the agency considers the questions necessary, the specific uses to be made of the information, the explanation to be given to persons from whom the information is requested, and any steps to be taken to obtain their consent.

This information collection activity asks no questions of a personal or sensitive nature.

12. Provide estimates of the hour burden of the collection of information. Indicate the number of respondents, frequency of response, annual hour burden, and an explanation of how the burden was estimated.

• Indicate the number of respondents, frequency of response, annual hour burden, and an explanation of how the burden was estimated. If this request for approval covers more than one form, provide separate hour burden estimates for each form and aggregate the hour burdens in Item 13 of OMB Form 83-I.

See APHIS Form 71 for hour burden estimates.

• Provide estimates of annualized cost to respondents for the hour burdens for collections of information, identifying and using appropriate wage rate categories.

Respondents are the Central American countries NPPOs. The total burden hours to the respondents are 2,999. APHIS arrived at this figure by multiplying the total hours by the estimated average hourly wage of $13.00 for the above respondents.

2,999 X $13.00 = $38,987

The hourly rate is derived from the U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics

May 2009 Report – Occupational Employment and Wages in the United States. See http://www.bls.gov/oes/

13. Provide estimates of the total annual cost burden to respondents or recordkeepers resulting from the collection of information, (do not include the cost of any hour burden shown in items 12 and 14). The cost estimates should be split into two components: (a) a total capital and start-up cost component annualized over its expected useful life; and (b) a total operation and maintenance and purchase of services component.

There is zero annual cost burden associated with capital and start-up costs, maintenance costs, and purchase of services in connection with this program.

14. Provide estimates of annualized cost to the Federal government. Provide a description of the method used to estimate cost and any other expense that would not have been incurred without this collection of information.

The estimated cost for the Federal Government is $197,065. (See APHIS Form 79)

15. Explain the reasons for any program changes or adjustments reported in Items 13 or 14 of the OMB Form 83-1.

ICR Summary of Burden:

	Requested	Program Change Due to New Statute	Program Change Due to Agency Discretion	Change Due to Adjustment in Agency Estimate	Change Due to Potential Violation of the PRA	Previously Approved
Annual Number of Responses	790,530	0	0	0	0	790,530
Annual Time Burden (Hr)	2,999	0	0	0	0	2,999
Annual Cost Burden ($)	0	0	0	0	0	0

There is no change in burden for this 3-year renewal information collection.

16. For collections of information whose results are planned to be published, outline plans for tabulation and publication.

APHIS has no plans to tabulate or publish the information collected.

17. If seeking approval to not display the expiration date for OMB approval of the information collection, explain the reasons that display would be inappropriate.

There are no USDA forms associated with this information collection.

18. Explain each exception to the certification statement identified in the "Certification for Paperwork Reduction Act."

APHIS is able to certify compliance with all the provisions in the Act.

B. Collections of Information Employing Statistical Methods

Statistical methods are not used in this information collection.