After nearly a quarter century of negotiations between Chile and the U.S, the USDA has announced it will allow exporters who send fruit to the U.S. from Chile’s Atacama, Coquimbo and part of Valparaíso an alternative to methyl bromide fumigation.
A pre-publication version of the Federal Register announcement was available on July 18, with the official version published July 19. The long-sought approval of an inspection-based alternative to methyl bromide fumigation will benefit fruit quality for approved exporters, industry leaders say.
The U.S. is the leading destination market for Chilean table grapes, with more than 322,000 metric tons shipped to the U.S., representing 61% of the total volume exported by Chile in the last 2023-24 season, according to Andrés Rodríguez, Chilean agricultural attaché to the U.S. and Canada.
“This agreement will allow growers from the regions of Atacama, Coquimbo, and Valparaíso who meet the established requirements regarding the absence of pests, to access exports without fumigation with methyl bromide, replacing it with different actions contemplated by the Systems Approach,” Rodríguez said. “Chile arrives in the off-season with a growing supply of new varieties and, from now on, with the potential to make shipments without fumigation with methyl bromide.”
He said the entire chain in the United States will benefit commercially and with a safe product. “In addition to the rigorous mitigation measures contemplated by the Systems Approach, this product will only be exported from areas that have demonstrated the absence of pests and are, therefore, eligible for access to this mechanism,” Rodríguez said.
“We hope it will be an excellent new season for the table grape producers of Atacama, Coquimbo, and Valparaíso, who have been waiting for this great news, for the whole supply chain in the United States, and for the consumer, who will be able to count on an excellent product in local stores in counter-season,” he said.
The requirement for methyl bromide fumigation for imports of Chilean grapes was first adopted in 1960 as a risk mitigation measure against the Chilean false red mite (Brevipalpus chilensis), subsequently revised to apply only if quarantine pests were intercepted, and, following frequent pest interceptions, reinstated in 1996 for all shipments, the USDA said.
In August 2008, the agency issued a proposed rule that would have allowed fresh Chilean table grapes to be imported into the U.S. under a systems approach.
However, following an outbreak of European grapevine moth (Lobesia botrana, EGVM) in Chile that same year, and subsequent public comments on the proposed rule regarding the outbreak, the USDA elected not to finalize the proposed rule at that time, as the proposed systems approach did not include EGVM-specific measures.
Subsequently, the USDA said the national plant protection organization (NPPO) of Chile, Servicio Agrícola y Ganadero (SAG) requested that the USDA revise the import requirements for grapes from Chile to the U.S. to allow the export of table grapes from areas of Chile where EGVM is either absent or at very low prevalence (the Arica and Parinacota, Tarapacá, Antofagasta, Atacama, Coquimbo, and Valparaíso regions of Chile) under an APHIS preclearance program for a systems approach in Chile, or irradiation treatment.
“We have determined that, in addition to the existing option of methyl bromide fumigation for EGVM and Chilean false red mite (Brevipalpus chilensis), grapes from Chile may be safely imported under a systems approach or irradiation for EGVM and B. chilensis,” the USDA said.
The USDA asked for comments on its revised pest risk assessment in 2022, and the agency received 45 comments. Thirty-four commenters expressed support for the rule and two opposed it; with nine other commenters raised questions about the USDA analysis.
The systems approach approval for Chilean grape exporters in select regions will only marginally increase U.S. imports of Chilean table grapes, the USDA said. Not all grape-producing areas in Chile are eligible for the systems approach, and, within a particular region, places of production and packinghouses will have to meet stringent requirements in order to participate, the agency said.
“While [USDA] has received word of widespread interest among Chilean producers in participating in the systems approach, there is significant uncertainty regarding the volume that will actually be imported under its terms,” the USDA said.
