Part 1. TEXAS DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Subchapter A. CITRUS QUARANTINES
The Texas Department of Agriculture (the department) proposes amendments to §21.1 and §21.8 concerning citrus quarantines. The amendments are proposed to add orange jasmine (also known as orange jessamine) (including both Murraya exotica L. and M. paniculata (L.) Jack.) to the list of regulated articles; consequently, growers, sellers or distributors of orange jasmine would be required to adhere to the same labeling and recordkeeping requirements for citrus plants.
Section 21.1 defines terms used in Chapter 21, Subchapter A, and is amended to modify the definition of the term "regulated article" and to clarify reference language in the first paragraph of §21.1.
Section 21.8 defines the labeling requirements necessary to track and identify regulated articles, provides for an alternative to the labeling requirement, specifies administrative penalties that apply for non-compliance, and specifies requirements for record keeping to ensure that the regulated articles can be easily identified and stop-distribution, temporary seizure and destruction orders can be carried out as produced in Texas as specified in the Texas Agriculture Code §71.009 and §71.010. The amended labeling requirement will restrict conditions under which a non-rebuttable presumption is made that tag or label requirements have been violated and facilitate determination of whether any given orange jasmine were produced in Texas. An exemption is also added to clarify the department's intent that labeling requirements do not apply to a retail buyer, homeowner or end user grower. Citrus greening is one of the most threatening diseases of citrus and has seriously affected citrus production in a number of countries. In the United States, the disease was first detected in Florida in 2005. The proposed amendments will assist in keeping the citrus greening from entering Texas. Orange jasmine is not commonly grown in Texas, and apparently only 3 to 4 nurseries grow a few of these plants for sale.
Dr. Robert Crocker, Coordinator for Pest Management, Citrus and Biotechnology Programs, has determined that for the first five-year period the proposed amendments are in effect, there is no anticipated fiscal impact on state or local governments as a result of administration and enforcement of the sections.
Dr. Crocker also has determined that for each year of the first five years the proposed amendments are in effect, the public benefit anticipated as a result of administering and enforcing the amended sections will be the availability of a process for quickly determining if the orange jasmine plants were produced in Texas. Labeling of the orange jasmine plants would aid in enforcement of citrus quarantines to prohibit entry of plants from genus Murraya into Texas. Orange jasmine is the preferred host of an insect, called Asian citrus psyllid, Diaphorina citri Kuwayama (Homoptera: Psyllidae), which spreads the bacterium that causes the citrus greening disease. Orange jasmine also has been identified as a host of citrus greening.
There will be a cost to growers and retailers required to comply with the amendments. These costs cannot be determined at this time due to the variable record keeping and identification practices used in the industry. Most commercial nurseries currently label plants with some of the required information and can include additional information that may be required on the same label. Making changes/additions to labels may be accomplished at little or no additional cost. Nurseries also have the option of identifying the plants during production as prescribed within a "plan" as developed by the grower and approved by the department, in lieu of an identification tag or label. Most growers and retailers maintain sufficient information to meet record keeping requirements. Costs for additional record keeping cannot be determined because of the wide range of record keeping systems maintained by growers and retailers.
Comments on the proposal may be submitted to Dr. Robert L. Crocker, Coordinator for Integrated Pest Management, Citrus and Biotechnology Programs, Texas Department of Agriculture, P.O. Box 12847, Austin, Texas 78711. Comments must be received no later than 30 days from the date of the publication of the proposal in the Texas Register.
The amendments to §21.1 and §21.8 are proposed in accordance with the Texas Agriculture Code (the Code), §73.002, which provides for the state to use all constitutional measures to protect the citrus industry from destruction by pests and diseases; §71.009, which provides the department with the authority to adopt rules as necessary for the seizure, treatment, and destruction of plants, plant products, and other substances for the effective enforcement and administration of Chapter 71, relating to general control of horticultural diseases and pests.
The code that is affected by the proposal is Texas Agriculture Code, Chapters 71 and 73.
§21.1.Definitions.
In addition to the definitions set out in Texas Agriculture Code, Chapter 71 and this chapter of the Texas Administrative Code, the following words and terms, when used in this subchapter, shall have the following meanings, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise.
(1) - (5) (No change.)
(6) Regulated article--
Orange jasmine (also known as orange
jessamine) (including both
Murraya exotica L. and M. paniculata (L.) Jack.) or any [
Any] citrus plant or grown for the purpose of sale or distribution.
(7) - (10) (No change.)
§21.8.Labeling Requirements and Non-Rebuttable Presumption.
(a) General.
(1) (No change.)
(2) Unless satisfactory records that readily identify
the articles as having been produced in Texas are provided, the [The
] absence of a tag or label required by subsection (a) of this section
creates a non-rebuttable presumption that the regulated article is a quarantined
article and shall be destroyed in accordance with the applicable provisions
of section 71.0091 of the Code.
(3) - (5) (No change.)
(b) Exemptions.
(1) (No change.)
(2) Identification. In lieu of identification tags during production,
a nursery may develop a
regulated article
[
citrus
] identification
plan, as approved by the department, that defines procedures and methods used
to identify the
regulated articles
[
citrus plants
] under
production at the location. Identification tags, as provided in this section,
will be required once the
regulated articles
[
citrus plants
] are sold or distributed.
(3) (No change.)
(4) Retail buyers and end users are exempt from the requirements of this section.
This agency hereby certifies that the proposal has been reviewed by legal counsel and found to be within the agency's legal authority to adopt.
Filed with the Office of the Secretary of State on March 26, 2007.
TRD-200701162
Dolores Alvarado Hibbs
Deputy General Counsel
Texas Department of Agriculture
Earliest possible date of adoption: May 6, 2007
For further information, please call: (512) 463-4075