U.S. tightens import requirements on Chilean fruit imports
A spate of Mediterranean fruit fly (Medfly) detections in Chile has led U.S. authorities to toughen their stance against imports from the South American country, with rules ordering the cold treatment of host commodities from quarantine areas. 
The amendments announced by the U.S. Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) on July 31 build on a pre-clearance program that was already in place for clementines, grapes, lemons, mandarins, pomegranates, and tangerines grown in these zones.
The big difference now is that these fruits and others on the list must be treated under the T107-a cold treatment schedule, while some crops - such as cherimoyas, feijoas, figs and passion fruit - will be impossible to export to the U.S. if grown in quarantine areas, due to the lack of APHIS-approved facilities.
Since detections were made in February, Chile's Agriculture and Livestock Service (SAG) has been active in its efforts to eradicate the pest, which has been discovered in the townships of Iquique and Alto Hospicio in the Tarapaca region; the townships of La Serena and Coquimbo in the Coquimbo region; and the townships of San Esteban, Los Andes, Calle Larga, Santa Maria and San Felipe in the Valparaiso region.
"Due to the pest risk, APHIS has determined that additional entry requirements are immediately necessary to prevent the entry of Medfly into the United States on all Medfly host commodities," the service said, stating the pest posed a serious threat to U.S. agriculture.
Growers producing fruit outside the quarantine zones will need to have a SAG-issued phytosanitary certificate with an additional declaration saying the crop was grown in a Medfly-free area.
The U.S. is not the only country that has upped the ante on Chile in response to its detections. In April, China designated the entire Coquimbo region as a quarantine zone, with SAG pushing for the zone to be reduced to radii of 27.2km from detection areas. In contrast, APHIS applies quarantine radii of 7.2km from detection points.
Photo: www.shutterstock.com
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