APHIS Amends Restrictions Related to Imports of Tomatoes and Peppers
USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service has amended restrictions for importing tomatoes and peppers to reflect recent study findings on how the tomato brown rugose fruit virus (ToBRFV) gets transported.
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Specifically, APHIS has rescinded the import requirements for tomato and pepper fruit designated for consumption, but it has kept all other requirements related to the import of propagative plant material for tomatoes and peppers, per Federal Order DA-2020-12. The changes are effective June 17.
APHIS had targeted U.S. imports of tomatoes (Solanum lycopersicum) and peppers (Capsicum spp.) because both were determined to be hosts of ToBRFV. The virus first appeared in tomatoes in Israel in 2014 and has since spread to China, the Dominican Republic, France, Germany (eradicated), Greece, Italy, Jordan, Mexico, the Netherlands, Peru, Spain, Turkey and the U.K., according to APHIS. Infected tomato fruits can be unmarketable or reduced in quality, and necrosis can occur on susceptible pepper fruit, APHIS said.
However, the introduction of the virus to U.S. soil “via tomato and pepper fruit for consumption is unlikely,” according to APHIS. The agency based its decision to revise restrictions on two pathway analyses that looked at how the virus could be introduced to the U.S.
APHIS added that ToBRFV continues to be a “serious threat to U.S. agriculture,” with imported plant propagative material, including seeds, being considered as likely pathways for introduction into U.S. tomato and pepper fruit production, APHIS said. Because of this, APHIS will maintain restrictions on importing tomato and pepper plant propagative material. The plant material must be free from ToBRFV either based on diagnostic testing or by sourcing the material from an area free of the pest, and be accompanied by the appropriate phytosanitary certificate.