IMMEDIATE UPDATE: FAVIR Database and Fruits and Vegetables Manual 5/7/2018--126

This notice is to alert you to changes in the FAVIR Database and the Fruits and Vegetables Manual.

The changes are a result of a rule change in the Code of Federal Regulations (Docket No. APHIS-2015-0051) regarding fresh lemons from Chile. APHIS is amending the fruits and vegetables regulations to list lemon (Citrus limon (L.) Burm. f.) from Chile as eligible for importation into the continental United States subject to a systems approach. Under this systems approach, the fruit will have to be grown in a place of production that is registered with the Government of Chile and certified as having a low prevalence of Brevipalpus chilensis. The fruit will have to undergo preharvest sampling at the registered production site under the direction of Chile's National Plant Protection Organization (NPPO). Following post-harvest processing, the fruit will have to be inspected in Chile at an APHIS-approved inspection site. Each consignment of fruit will have to be accompanied by a phytosanitary certificate with an additional declaration stating the fruit had been found free of B. chilensis based on field and packinghouse inspections. This final rule will allow for the safe importation of lemons from Chile using mitigation measures other than fumigation with methyl bromide. The rule is effective May 7, 2018.

The specific FAVIR Database and Fruits and Vegetables Manual changes are listed below.

FAVIR Database: Lemon (fruit) from Chile into Ports as Specified in the Import Requirements changes commodity import requirements page (CIR) has been revised

Fruits and Vegetables Manual: Table 3-52 Chile changes language has been revised in footnotes #18, 19, and 20 of the table

Amy L. Frevert
Writer, USDA-APHIS-PPQ-IRM
(240) 529-0352
amy.l.frevert@aphis.usda.gov