2017 Ss 0405

Supporting Statement

Importation of Fresh Beans, Shelled or in Pods, From Jordan

Into the Continental United States

OMB No. 0579-0405

March 2017

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 (USDA), Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), 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 (CFR) 319.56, 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 the importation of commercial shipments of fresh beans, shelled or in pods (French, green, snap, and string) from Jordan into the continental United States. As a condition of entry, the beans have to be produced in accordance with a systems approach that includes requirements for packing, washing, and processing. The regulations also require a phytosanitary certificate for the beans, attesting that all phytosanitary requirements have been met and the consignment was inspected and found free of quarantine pests. This action allows for the importation of fresh beans, shelled or in pods, from Jordan into the continental United States while continuing to provide protection against the introduction of plant pests.

APHIS is asking the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to approve, for 3 additional years, its use of these information collection activities, associated with its efforts to prevent the spread of plant pests and plant diseases 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 that fresh beans from Jordan are grown in production areas that are registered and monitored by the North American Plant Protection Organization (NPPO) of Jordan.

Phytosanitary Certificate w/Declaration (Foreign Government and Business) 319.56.62(d)

Consignments of fresh beans need to be accompanied by a phytosanitary certificate issued by Jordan’s NPPO attesting that the proposed requirements have been met and that the consignment was inspected and found free of quarantine pests.

Packinghouse Registration (Foreign Government and Business) 319.56.62(a)

The beans must be packed in packing facilities that are approved and registered with Jordan’s NPPO.

Box Labeling (Business) 319.56.62(a)

Each shipping box must be marked with the identity of the packing facility.

Inspections (Foreign Government) (Business) 319.56.62(d)

The fresh beans would need to be inspected and found free of quarantine pests prior to packing.

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 phytosanitary certificates. However, APHIS is involved with the Government-wide utilization of the International Trade Data System (ITDS) via the Automated Commercial Environment (ACE) to improve business operations and further Agency missions.  This will allow respondents to submit the data required by U.S. Customs and Border Protection and its Partner Government Agencies (PGAs), such as APHIS, to import and export cargo, through a Single Window concept.  APHIS is also establishing a system known as e-File for CARPOL (Certification, Accreditation, Registration, Permitting, and Other Licensing) activities.  This new system will strive to automate some of these information collection activities.  The system is still being developed and business processes continue to be identified and mapped.

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 of 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.

APHIS estimates that 95 percent of the business 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 for the 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 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, governmental 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 statue 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 this program:

Dennis Nuxoll, Vice President

Federal Government Affairs

1800 K Street, NW, Suite 1124

Washington, DC 20006

[email protected]

202-296-0191 x7303

Lisa Lochridge, Director of Public Affairs

Florida Fruit & Vegetable Association 

P.O. Box 948153

800 Trafalgar Court, Suite 200

Maitland, FL 32794-8153

[email protected]

321-214-5200  

Faye Courneya

Northarvest Bean Growers Association

50072 E. Lake Seven Road

Frazee, MN 56544

[email protected]

218-334-6351 

On Wednesday, January 18, 2017, pages 5527-5528, 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 from the public.

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 NPPO and exporters in Jordan. The estimated annualized cost to respondents totaled $2,040.44. APHIS arrived at this figure by multiplying the total burden hours (58) by the estimated average hourly wage of the above respondents ($35.18)

58 X $35.18 = $2,040.44.

This estimated hourly wage was derived from the APHIS, International Services specialists.

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 $427. (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	5,050	0	5,025	0	0	25
Annual Time Burden (Hr)	58	0	43	0	0	15
Annual Cost Burden ($)	0	0	0	0	0	0

There is a program change increase of +5,025 responses resulting in an increase of +43 total burden hours. The increase is due to APHIS now accounting for burden of: Phytosanitary Certificates (business); Packinghouse Registration (Foreign Government); and Inspections (Foreign Government and business). These were erroneously omitted from the previous collection and are now being reported as a violation.

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 included 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.

B. Collections of Information Employing Statistical Methods

Statistical methods are not used in this information collection.