2015 SS 0284 updated

SUPPORTING STATEMENT

Importation of Baby Corn and Baby Carrots from Zambia

OMB No. 0579-0284

February 2016

NOTE: This is a Reinstatement of a previously approved information collection with changes.

A. JUSTIFICATION

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” (7 CFR 319.56, referred to below 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.

APHIS allows the importation into the continental United States of fresh, de-husked immature (baby) sweet corn and fresh baby carrots from Zambia. As a condition of entry, both commodities are subject to inspection at the port of first arrival and must be accompanied by a phytosanitary certificate with an additional declaration stating that the commodity had been inspected and found free of the quarantine pest listed in the certificate.

This collection allows for the importation of Zambian baby corn and baby carrots into the United States while continuing to provide protection against the introduction of quarantine pests.

APHIS is asking the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to approve, for 3 years, the use of this information collection activity, associated with its effort to prevent the spread of plant pests and diseases into the continental 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 activity to prevent the injurious spread of pests from entering the United States due to the importation of Zambian de-husked immature baby corn and baby carrots.

Phytosanitary Certificate (Foreign Government and Business) – (7 CFR 319.56-43(a)(4) & 43(b)(4)

Each consignment of baby corn from Zambia must be accompanied by a phytosanitary certificate issued by the National Plant Protection Organization (NPPO) of Zambia that includes an additional declaration stating that the corn has been inspected and found free of Phomopsis jaczewskii based on field and packinghouse inspections. Exporters/importers (businesses) request these phytosanitary certificates from NPPO.

Each consignment of baby corn from Zambia must be accompanied by a phytosanitary certificate issued by the NPPO of Zambia that includes an additional declaration stating that the carrots have been inspected and found free of Meloidogyne ethiopica based on field and packinghouse inspections. Exporters/importers (businesses) request these phytosanitary certificates from NPPO.

Inspections for corn and carrots (Foreign Government and Business) – (7 CFR 319.56-43(a)(1); (b)(1)

The production site, which is a field, where the corn has been grown must have been inspected at least once during the growing season and before harvest for Phomopsis jaczewskii. After harvest, the corn must be inspected by Zambia's NPPO and found free of Phomopsis jaczewskii before the corn may be shipped to the continental United States.

The production site, which is a field, where the carrots have been grown must have been inspected at least once during the growing season and before harvest for the following pest: Meloidogyne ethiopica. After harvest, the carrots must be inspected by the NPPO of Zambia and found free of Meloidogyne ethiopica before the carrots may be shipped to the continental

United States.

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 the phytosanitary certificate; however, APHIS is working with Customs and Border Protection (CBP) via the International Trade Data System (ITDS) Automated Commercial Environment (ACE) initiative to automate these certificates on our end. APHIS and CBP like receiving paper as it includes official seals, stamps, etc. to ensure legitimacy; however, APHIS intends to complete Partner Government Agencies (PGA) message sets to capture the information documented on the certificates. Collection of this data in message sets will support enhanced analysis for establishing importing policy in the future.

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 for preventing the entry of injurious plant pests, diseases, and noxious weeds and 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 is the minimum needed to protect the United States from destructive plant pests while increasing the number and variety of fruits and vegetables that can be imported from other countries. APHIS has determined that there are no small entities involved with this information collection.

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.

This information collection activity is critical to APHIS’ mission of ensuring that baby corn and baby carrots from Zambia are free of Phomopsis jaczewskii and Meloidogyne ethiopica; which could cause millions of dollars in damage to United States agriculture.

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 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.

APHIS held productive consultations with the following individuals concerning the information collection activities associated with its program to import baby corn and baby carrots from Zambia.

Thomas Olejubi

Zambia Export Growers Association (ZEGA)

Airfreight Village at Lusaka International Airport

P.O. Box 310-245

Lusaka 10101, Zambia

Tel: 260-1-271166

Fax: 260-1-271167

Dr. P.H. Sohati,

University of Zambia,

School of Agricultural Sciences

P.O. Box 32379

Great Road East

Lusaka, Zambia

260-211-250-587

Francis Mangeni

Director of Trade, Customs and Monetary Affairs

Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa

COMESA Secretariat

Ben Bella Road

Lusaka, Zambia

260-211-229-725/32

On Friday, October 2, 2015, pages 59723-59724, 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 from the public 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.

APHIS estimates the total annualized cost to these respondents to be $133.00 which is the estimated total burden hours (14) multiplied by the estimated average hourly wage ($9.50).

14 x $9.50 = $133.00

This estimated average hourly wage was developed by APHIS’ International Services specialists using historical data through discussions with growers, shippers, and foreign government officials.

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 $153.00. (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	10	0	10	0	0	0
Annual Time Burden (Hr)	14	0	14	0	0	0
Annual Cost Burden ($)	0	0	0	0	0	0

This is a reinstatement information collection resulting in a program change of +3 respondents, +10 total annual responses, and +14 total burden hours for this collection.

APHIS is now accounting for the businesses providing phytosanitary certificates, and the inspections for both foreign government and the businesses which were not accounted for in the previous 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 it collects.

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 involved in 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.