This subpart applies to requests filed with the Department of Agriculture under section 404 of the Trade and Tariff Act of 1984, Pub. L. 98-573, for emergency relief from imports of certain perishable products from Israel entering the United States at a reduced rate of duty or duty-free pursuant to a trade agreement between the United States and Israel entered into under section 102(b)(1) of the Trade Act of 1974, as amended.

Perishable product means:

(a) Live plants provided for in subpart A of part 6 of schedule 1 of the 1985 Tariff Schedules of the United States (the “TSUS”);

(b) Fresh or chilled vegetables provided for in items 135.03 through 138.46 of the TSUS;

(c) Fresh mushrooms provided for in item 144.10 of the TSUS;

(d) Fresh fruits provided for in items 146.10, 146.20, 146.30, 146.50 through 146.62, 146.90, 146.91, 147.03 through 147.44, 147.50 through 149.21 and 149.50 of the TSUS;

(e) Fresh cut flowers provided for in items 192.17, 192.18, and 192.21 of the TSUS; and

(f) Concentrated citrus fruit juice provided for in items 165.25, 165.29 and 165.36 of the TSUS.

A request under this subpart may be filed by an entity, including a firm, or group or workers, trade association, or certified or recognized union which is representative of a domestic industry producing a perishable product like or directly competitive with a perishable product that such entity claims is being imported from Israel into the United States at a reduced duty or duty-free under the provisions of a trade agreement between the United States and Israel entered into under section 102(b)(1) of the Trade Act of 1974, as amended, in such increased quantities as to be a substantial cause of serious injury, or the threat thereof, to such domestic industry.

A request for emergency action under section 404 of the Trade and Tariff Act of 1984 shall be submitted in duplicate to the Administrator, Foreign Agricultural Service, United States Department of Agriculture, Washington, DC 20250. Such request shall be supported by appropriate information and data and shall include to the extent possible:

(a) A description of the imported perishable product(s) allegedly causing, or threatening to cause, serious injury;

(b) Data showing that the perishable product allegedly causing, or threatening to cause, serious injury is being imported from Israel in increased quantities as compared with imports of the same product from Israel during a previous representative period of time (including a statement of why the period selected by the petitioner should be considered to be representative);

(c) Evidence of serious injury or threat thereof to the domestic industry substantially caused by the increased quantities of imports of the product from Israel; and

(d) A statement indicating why emergency action would be warranted under section 404 (including all available evidence that the injury caused by the increased quantities of imports from Israel would be relieved by the withdrawal of the reduction of the duty or elimination of the duty-free treatment provided to the product under the trade agreement). A copy of the petition and the supporting evidence filed with the United States International Trade Commission under section 201 of the Trade Act of 1974, as amended, must be provided with the request for emergency action.

If the Secretary of Agriculture has reason to believe that the perishable product(s) which is the subject of a petition under this subpart is being imported into the United States in such increased quantities as to be a substantial cause of serious injury, or the threat thereof, to the domestic industry producing a perishable product like or directly competitive with the imported perishable product and that emergency action is warranted, the Secretary, within 14 days after the filing of the petition under § 1540.23 shall recommend to the President that the President take emergency action. If the Secretary determines not to recommend the imposition of emergency action, the Secretary, within 14 days after the filing of the petition, will publish in the Federal Register a notice of such determination and will so advise the petitioner.

Persons desiring information from the Department of Agriculture regarding the Department's implementation of section 404 of the Trade and Tariff Act of 1984 should address such inquiries to the Administrator, Foreign Agricultural Service, United States Department of Agriculture, Washington, DC 20250.

The Office of Management and Budget has approved the information collection requirements contained in these regulations in accordance with 44 U.S.C. chapter 25, and OMB number 0551-0023 has been assigned.