The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) will extend the comment period on a pest risk assessment and a commodity import evaluation document detailing the conditions under which table grapes from Chile may be imported into the United States. The public will have an additional 30 business days to provide comments on the documents in response to requests to extend the comment period beyond December 16, 2022. APHIS will now consider all comments received by January 17, 2023.
Currently, table grapes from Chile must be fumigated with methyl bromide to mitigate for the Chilean false red mite, Brevipalpus chilensis, and the European Grapevine Moth, Lobesia botrana. APHIS is proposing that table grapes from areas in which the moth is either absent or at very low prevalence could be imported into the United States under a systems approach or irradiation. The systems approach would provide an alternative to the current import requirement of mandatory treatment with methyl bromide fumigation.
APHIS prepared a pest risk assessment and a commodity import evaluation document. The commodity import evaluation identifies the phytosanitary measures that could be applied to table grapes from new areas of Chile without increasing the risk of introducing pests.
To view the documents and comment, go to www.regulations.gov, and enter APHIS-2021-0078 in the search field.
Original source can be found here.
