SS Unshu 2017

July 2017

Supporting Statement

Importation of Unshu Oranges from the

Republic of Korea into the Continental United States

OMB NO. 0579-0314

NOTE: This is a reinstatement of a previously approved information collection with change.

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.

APHIS amended the regulations governing the importation of citrus fruit to allow fresh Unshu oranges from the Republic of Korea to be imported into the continental United States under certain conditions. As a condition of entry, the oranges have to be prepared for shipping using packinghouse procedures that include culling of damaged or diseased fruit and washing in a water bath and a surface sterilization treatment. In addition, the oranges have to be accompanied by a phytosanitary certificate with an additional declaration stating that the fruit was given a surface sterilization in accordance with 7 CFR Part 305 and was inspected and found free of Elsinoe australis. The packinghouse in which the surface sterilization treatment is applied and the fruit is packed must be registered with the National Plant Protection Organization (NPPO) of the Republic of Korea.

Currently, the regulations in 7 CFR 319.28 (referred to as the regulations) allow the importation of Unshu oranges (Citrus reticulate Blanco var. unshu Swingle) from Cheju Island, Republic of Korea, into certain areas of the United States after the specified safeguards have been met to prevent the introduction of sweet orange scab. This action allows for the importation of Unshu oranges from the Republic of Korea into the continental United States while continuing to provide protection against the introduction of quarantine pests.

APHIS is asking 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 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 allow fresh Unshu oranges from the Republic of Korea to be imported into the continental United States:

319.28 (c )(3) Phytosanitary Certificate (foreign government) (business) - APHIS requires that plants or plant products be accompanied by a phytosanitary inspection certificate that is completed by plant health officials in the originating or transiting country. APHIS uses the information on the certificate to determine the pest condition of the shipment at the time of inspection in the intensity of the inspection APHIS conducts when the shipment arrives. Without this information, all shipments would need to be inspected very thoroughly, thereby requiring considerably more time. This would slow the clearance of international shipments.

The fruit must be accompanied by a phytosanitary certificate issued by the NPPO of the Republic of Korea, which includes an additional declaration stating that the fruit was given a surface sterilization in accordance with 7 CFR Part 305 and was inspected and found free of Elsinoe australis.

319.28 (c )(2) Packinghouse Registration (foreign government) (business) - The packinghouse in which the surface sterilization treatment is applied and the fruit is packed must be registered with the NPPO of the Republic of Korea.

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 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.

The information APHIS collects in connection with its program is the minimum needed to protect the United States from plant pests and diseases from entering the United States. APHIS has determined that approximately 25 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.

This information collection activity is critical to APHIS’ mission in ensuring that Unshu oranges from the Republic of Korea are pest free of Elsinoe australis, a disease that affects citrus and could cause millions of dollars in damage to U.S. 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 recent productive consultations with the following individuals concerning this program:

Tom Fraker

Melissa’s World Variety Produce

5325 South Soto Street  

Vernon, CA 90058

800-588-1281

James Milne, The Oppenheimer Group

Citrus, Avocado and Marketing Director

724 Corporate Center Drive, Suite 200

Pomona, CA 91768

909-802-1700

Julie Manes
Director, Government Relations

United Fresh Produce Association

1901 Pennsylvania Ave., NW

Washington, D.C. 20011

202-303-3400

On Thursday, April 7, 2016, pages 20319-20320, 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 information 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.

The estimated annualized cost to respondents totaled $1,137.24.

These estimated hourly wage was developed using historical data, and through discussions with importers of Unshu oranges and APHIS’ International Services.

36 hours X $31.59 estimated hourly wage = $1,137.24.

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 $873.00. (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.

There is a program chance for this reinstatement totaling 36 burden hours, 67 responses, and 4 respondents.

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.