Brazil's Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Supply (MAPA) has issued new import rules for stonefruit imports from nine different countries in a bid to keep farms free of the plum pox virus (ppv).

The new measures will require whole fruit or propagating material imported from Argentina, Chile, Spain, the United States, Portugal, Turkey, Italy, Israel or Iran to be accompanied by a certificate attesting the product is free of the disease.

The stricter controls will be placed on plums, sweet cherries, sour cherries, peaches, apricots and nectarines from these countries. 

Inspections will be undertaken in the loading destination, and if the presence of the pest is detected the fruit will be destroyed or rejected.

MAPA Plant Health Department Director Marcus Vinicius Coelho said ppv was one of the most devastating diseases to affect stonefruit production around the world, reducing productivity and quality in orchards.

According to data provided by Brazilian statistics service Aliceweb, last year the country imported 55,972 metric tons (MT) of stonefruit from the supplying nations covered under the new measure, with plums as the most relevant crop volume-wise at 31,516MT.

Chile was the leading supplier of plums with almost half the volume, and was also the major source of apricots, nectarines and sweet cherries. Spain came close behind Chile in exporting plums to Brazil, and was the leading source of peaches and sour cherries.

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