USDA allows Hass avocado imports from Peru

USDA allows Hass avocado imports from Peru    The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service will begin to allow Hass avocado imports, under certain conditions, from Peru, effective Feb. 3.
   The avocados must be produced under certain requirements including grove sanitation, trapping and surveys, and registration and monitoring of production places and packinghouses.
   In addition, the Hass avocados from Peru must be accompanied by a phytosanitary certificate with an additional declaration stating the avocados were grown, packed and inspected and found to be free of pests, such as the seed moth, in accordance with APHIS regulations.
   Previously, Hass avocados from Peru were not allowed into the United States because of the pest risk had not been studied by APHIS. However, the agency recently determined that by implementing the prescribed import measures the avocados would not pose a pest risk to American agriculture.