U.S. proposes Panamanian pepper import rule

U.S. proposes Panamanian pepper import rule    The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service has proposed to allow, under certain conditions, the import of commercial pepper shipments from Panama into the United States without treatment.
   These conditions, which include Medfly and Mexfly trapping, pre-harvest inspection and shipping procedures, are designed to prevent the introduction of quarantine pests into the United States, the agency said.
   According to APHIS, Panama exported an average of 20 metric tons of peppers to the United States annually from 1998 to 2001. The United States has not imported peppers from Panama since 2001.
   Comments for the proposed rule are due to APHIS by Aug. 2. For more details, see the Federal Register notice .