November 25, 2019 – The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA’s) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), Veterinary Services (VS), issued a Federal Order on November 15, 2019, imposing restrictions on imports of tomato and peppers (including seed lots, transplants, and fruit) from all countries where tomato brown rugose fruit virus exists.
Effective November 22, 2019, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) will be increasing inspections of tomato and pepper seed lots and transplants from all countries as well as restrictions on tomato and pepper fruit consignments imported from Canada, Mexico, Israel, and the Netherlands.
APHIS will require:
· All tomato and pepper seed lots imported from countries where the virus exists must be officially tested and certified free of the disease.
· All tomato and pepper transplants imported from countries where the virus exists must be officially tested and certified free of the disease.
· All tomato and pepper fruit imported from Mexico, Israel, and the Netherlands must be inspected at the point of origin to ensure it is free of disease symptoms.
· Canada must inspect all tomato and pepper fruit prior to export to the United States to ensure it is free of disease symptoms.
If you have any questions regarding Increased inspections of tomato and pepper seed, plant, and fruit imports, Livingston can help! Please contact either your Livingston account manager or our regulatory affairs group at [email protected]