USDA seeks comments on Brazilian Hass avocados, Argentine kiwifruit PRAs
The USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) has drafted two pest risk assessments - one of Brazilian Hass avocados and the other of Argentine kiwifruit.
The drafts come in response to the Latin American countries' requests to authorize the importation of the fresh fruits into the U.S. There, the products will be meant for consumption, says the USDA.
Additionally, Brazil also aims to export its Hass avocados to other regions including Hawaii, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
The pest risk assessments list potential pests likely to remain on the avocados and kiwifruit upon importation if receivers don't apply mitigations.
As with all such assessments, APHIS shares draft pest risk assessments to determine whether stakeholders have feedback to share.
Depending on the comments it receives, the service says it's possible that it will revise the draft assessments. This way, the drafts could reflect any important information in its pest mitigations.
From there, the APHIS will proceed with the commodity import approval process, it notes.
The drafted pest risk assessments of the fruits will be available for review and comment for 30 days.
To view the assessment or submit comments, go to https://www.aphis.usda.gov/
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