Sustainable Agriculture

Proposed Rule Change for Export of Hawaiian Fruits and Vegetables

We are proposing to revise and reorganize the regulations pertaining to the interstate movement of fruits and vegetables from Hawaii and the territories to consolidate requirements of general applicability and eliminate redundant requirements, update terms and remove outdated requirements and references, and make various editorial and nonsubstantive changes to the regulations to make them easier to use. We are also proposing to make substantive changes to the regulations including establishing criteria within the regulations that, if met, would allow us to approve certain new fruits and vegetables for interstate movement in the United States and to acknowledge pest-free areas in Hawaii and U.S. territories expeditiously, and removing the listing in the regulations of some specific commodities as regulated articles. These changes are intended to simplify and expedite our processes for approving certain regulated  articles for interstate movement and pest-free areas while continuing to allow for public participation in the processes. This proposal, if adopted, would not allow for the interstate movement of any specific new fruits or vegetables, nor would it alter the conditions for interstate movement of currently approved fruits or vegetables. These proposed changes would make our domestic interstate movement regulations more consistent with our fruits and vegetables import regulations. The proposed changes would not alter the manner in which the risk associated with a regulated article interstate movement request is evaluated, nor would it alter the manner in which those risks are ultimately mitigated.