0423 Ss 20180926

Supporting Statement

Importation of Apples from China

OMB No. 0579-0423

September 2018

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, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), is responsible for preventing plant diseases or insect pests from entering the

United States, preventing the spread of pests and noxious weeds not widely distributed in the United States, and eradicating imported pests when eradication is feasible. The Plant Protection Act authorizes the Department to carry out its mission.

Under the Plant Protection Act (7 U.S.C. 7701, et seq.) the Secretary of Agriculture is authorized to prohibit or restrict the importation, entry, or movement of plants and plant pests to prevent their introduction into the United States or their dissemination within 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 of fresh apples (Malus pumila) from China into the United States. As a condition of entry, apples from areas in China in which the Oriental fruit fly (Bactrocera dorsalis) is not known to exist will have to be produced in accordance with a systems approach that will include requirements for registration of places of production and packinghouses, inspection for quarantine pests at set intervals by the National Plant Protection Organization (NPPO) of China, bagging of fruit, safeguarding, labeling, and importation in commercial consignments.

Apples from areas in China in which Oriental fruit fly is known to exist will be imported into the United States if, in addition to these requirements, the apples are treated with fumigation plus refrigeration. All apples from China will also be required to be accompanied by a phytosanitary certificate with an additional declaration stating that all conditions for the importation of the apples have been met and that the consignment of apples has been inspected and found free of quarantine pests.

APHIS is asking OMB to approve, for an additional 3 years, its use of these information collection activities associated with its efforts to prevent the spread of fruit flies and other plant pests from entering into the United States.

2. Indicate how, by whom, and for what purpose the information is to be 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 collection activities to prevent the spread of fruit flies and other plant pests from entering into the United States.

Operational Workplan (foreign government) - 7 CFR 319.56.72(a)(1)

The NPPO of China must provide an operational workplan to APHIS that details the activities that the NPPO of China will, subject to APHIS’ approval of the workplan, carry out to meet the requirements of this section.

Production Site Registration (businesses and foreign government) - 7 CFR 319.56.72(a)(2)

The apples must be grown at places of production that are registered with the NPPO of China.

Packinghouse Registration (businesses and foreign government) - 7 CFR 319.56.72(c)(1)

During the time registered packinghouses are in use for packing apples for export to the United States, the packinghouses may only accept apples that are from registered places of production and produced in accordance with requirements.

Tracking System (businesses) - 7 CFR 319.56.72(c)(2)

Packinghouses must have a tracking system in place to readily identify all apples destined for export to the United States. The packinghouses are able to trace all apples back to their place of production.

Box Labeling (businesses) - 7 CFR 319.56.72(c)(5)

The apples must be packed in cartons that are labeled with the identity of the place of production and the packinghouse.

Phytosanitary Certificate (foreign government and business) - 7 CFR 319.56.72(e)

Each consignment of apples imported from China into the United States must be accompanied by a phytosanitary certificate issued by the NPPO of China with an additional declaration stating that the requirements of this section have been met and the consignment has been inspected and found free of quarantine pests.

Inspections (business and foreign government) - 7 CFR 319.56.72 (b)(3)

The NPPO of China must visit and inspect registered places of production prior to harvest for signs of infestation and/or infection.

Investigations of detection (business and foreign government) - 7 CFR 319.56.72 (b)(4)

If Monilia polystroma van Leeuwen or Monilinia fructigena is detected at a registered place of production, APHIS may reject the consignment or prohibit the importation into the continental United States of apples from the place of production for the remainder of the season. The exportation to the continental United States of apples from the place of production may resume in the next growing season if an investigation is conducted by the NPPO, and APHIS and the NPPO conclude that appropriate remedial action has been taken.

Handling procedures (business and foreign government) - 7 CFR 319.56.72 (c)(3)

Following the packinghouse inspection, the packinghouse must follow a handling procedure for the apples that is mutually agreed upon by APHIS and the NPPO of China.

Emergency Action Notification PPQ Form 523 (business) - 7 CFR 319.77-5 

If a single live fruit fly in any stage of development is found, the consignment will be held until an investigation is completed and appropriate remedial actions have been implemented. Inspectors will complete the PPQ form 523 when there is an interception of a pest and will fax it to the importer for signature and quarantine action.

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 considerations of using information technology to reduce burden.

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

APHIS permits both paper and electronic recordkeeping systems for trapping records. Compliance Agreements can either be mailed or emailed to APHIS.

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.

The Agricultural Quarantine Activity System (AQAS) records quarantine activities conducted by Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Customs and Border Protection (CBP), and APHIS PPQ employees at the ports of entry into the United States. AQAS also records trade-related activities conducted inside the US. AQAS aids the free flow of agricultural goods into the country by collecting agricultural risk data that ultimately help to minimize the impact of quarantine activities on trade. The Emergency Action Notification (EAN) PPQ Form 523 is generated by DHS and PPQ officers throughout the country when an actionable violation is detected related to prohibited pests and agricultural products found in cargo, market places, or domestic sites.

PPQ 523 (Emergency Action Notifications) are issued at the port of entry if there is a pest interception. It is used by Customs and Border Protection.

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

The information APHIS collects is exclusive to its mission of preventing the spread of plant pests 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 90 percent of the respondents are considered 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.

Failing to collect this information would cripple APHIS’ ability to ensure that apples from China are not carrying plant pests. If plant pests were introduced into the United States, growers would suffer hundreds of millions of dollars in losses.

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.

The following individuals were consulted regarding this program:

Danielle Marsden

US Apple Export Council
2025 M. Street, NW, Suite 800
Washington, DC 20036
202-367-1154

Korenna Wilson

Director, Consumer Health and Media Relations
US Apple Association

8233 Old Courthouse Road, Suite 200

Vienna, VA 22182

703-442-8850

[email protected]

Jim Nelson,

Commissioner

Washington Apple Commission
2900 Euclid Avenue
Wenatchee, WA 98801

509-663-9600

On Friday, July 27, 2018, pages 35605-35606, 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 decision to provide any payment or gift to respondents, other than reenumeration of contractors or grantees.

This information collection activity involves no 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.

(SORN) APHIS-10: APHIS Comprehensive Electronic Permitting System (ePermits)

FR Doc E8-9407[Federal Register: April 30, 2008 (Volume 73, Number 84)]

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 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 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 respondents to be $18,765.60. APHIS arrived at this figure by multiplying the total burden hours (1,117) by the estimated average hourly wage of the above respondents ($15.).

1,117 total burden hours X $16.80 estimated average hourly wage of respondents = $18, 765.60

The estimated average hourly wage was derived from APHIS’ International Services liaison specialists located in China.

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 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 the 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 to the Federal Government is $19,436.65. (See APHIS Form 79.)

15. Explain the reasons for any program changes or adjustments reported in Items 13 or 14 of the OMB 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	51,125	0	664	0	0	50,461
Annual Time Burden (Hr)	1,117	0	717	0	0	400
Annual Cost Burden ($)	0	0	0	0	0	0

There is a program changes increase of +5 respondents and +2664 responses resulting in an increase of +717 burden hours. This increase is due to APHIS now accounting for the following burden items:

(1) Production Site Registration (foreign government), (2) Packinghouse Registration (foreign government), (3) Phytosanitary Certificate (business), (4) Inspections (foreign government and business), Investigation of Detection (foreign government and business), (5) Handling Procedures (foreign government and business), and (6) Emergency Action Notification (PPQ 523) (business). This burden was erroneously left off of the previous consolidated information collection and APHIS is reporting 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.

PPQ Form 523 is included in multiple information collections; therefore, it is not practical to include an OMB expiration date because of the various expiration dates for each information collection. APHIS is seeking approval to not display the OMB expiration date on this form; however, APHIS is considering these forms into common forms.

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 under the Act.

B. Collections of Information Employing Statistical Methods.

Statistical methods are not used in this information collection.