Hass avocados from Mexico to Puerto Rico
The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service has proposed to amend its fruits and vegetables regulations to allow the import of Hass avocados from Mexico into Puerto Rico.
The proposed rules are the same required for Hass avocado imports into the continental United States from Michoacan, Mexico, the agency said.
The proposed rules call for a 'systems approach,' which includes trapping, orchard certification, limited production area, trace back labeling, pre-harvest orchard surveys for all pests, orchard sanitation, post-harvest safeguards, fruit cutting and inspection at the packinghouse, port-of-arrival inspection and clearance activities.
APHIS said the measures would provide protection against the introduction of quarantine pests from Mexico to Puerto Rico.
In addition, APHIS has proposed to amend its regulations to provide for the Mexican national plant protection organization to use an approval designee to inspect avocados for export and to suspend imports of avocados into the United States from Michoacan only from specific orchards or packinghouses when quarantine pests are detected, rather than suspending imports from the entire municipality.
APHIS will accept comments regarding its proposed rule through July 13. For more details, see the Federal Register notice.
