APHIS adds phytosanitary requirements for certain fresh citrus imports from Colombia

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service is adding phytosanitary requirements for certain fresh citrus imports from Colombia, which should allow importation of such fruits to resume.    The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) is adding phytosanitary requirements for certain fresh citrus imports from Colombia, which should allow importation of such fruits to resume, the agency announced.
   New regulations will be implemented Tuesday to mitigate pest threats to imports from Colombia of fresh sweet oranges, grapefruit, mandarin oranges, clementines and tangerines, APHIS said.
   The new regulations will allow the citrus imports from Colombia to resume, which had been suspended back in 2016 after new plant pests in South America were found.
   Based on its findings outlined in a recent pest risk assessment (PRA), APHIS is requiring the application of more pest risk management measures identified in a recent commodity import evaluation document (CIED) detailing methods to mitigate such risks.
   The measures are requirements for importation in commercial consignments only, production of fruit only in places of production registered and approved by the “national plant protection organization (NPPO)” of Colombia, effective fruit fly trapping programs in places of production, and “standard packinghouse procedures,” APHIS said.
   Further, every commercial consignment must be accompanied by a phytosanitary certificate with an additional declaration issued by Colombia’s NPPO.
   APHIS and the NPPO have agreed to a workplan that outlines how the risk management measures in the CIED will be carried out, subject to APHIS approval. APHIS will be “directly involved” with the NPPO in “monitoring and auditing” implementation of the workplan, APHIS said.
   More details about the new regulations can be found here.