Effective immediately, the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) is amending the Federal Order (DA-2022-42) issued on December 29, 2022, which prohibited importing fresh bell peppers (Capsicum annuum) from Spain into the United States to prevent Mediterranean fruit fly (Ceratitis capitata or Medfly) introduction. The below amended Federal Order (DA-2024-01) allows the importation of fresh bell peppers from Spain to resume under the import requirements currently listed in the Agricultural Commodity Import Requirements (ACIR) database and the corrective actions listed in the below amended Federal Order.
The original action was taken after Customs and Border Protection (CBP) inspectors at John F. Kennedy Airport, New York, intercepted 5 live Medfly larvae and 1 pupa in commercial consignments of fresh bell peppers from Spain in December of 2022 and was necessary to prevent the entry of Medfly into the United States.
The National Plant Protection Organization (NPPO) of Spain traced the interceptions to 11 greenhouses in Almeria province. The NPPO found slight structural damage and minor tears in the plastic covers of 7 of the greenhouses. These greenhouses had passed official inspections in August of 2022. The NPPO reported rainstorms and strong winds had occurred in the Almeria region in the interim and concluded these weather events caused the structural damage and subsequent breaches of the greenhouses by Medfly. The NPPO immediately suspended all 11 non-compliant greenhouses from the pepper export program. Internal investigation of the registered packing houses associated with the 11 non-compliant greenhouses did not detect any non-compliance issues. Therefore, to prevent the recurrence of future infestations, the NPPO developed corrective measures aimed at strengthening the physical integrity of the greenhouses to minimize the risk of the greenhouses becoming compromised by severe weather events.
Read the entire article at aphis.usda.gov