The USDA is now allowing imports of Spanish bell peppers under certain conditions.
Effective immediately, USDA said it is amending a Dec. 29, 2022, federal order that prohibited importing fresh bell peppers (Capsicum annuum) from Spain into the U.S. to prevent Mediterranean fruit fly (Ceratitis capitata or Medfly) introduction, according to a news release.
The department said it amended the order to allow imports of fresh bell peppers from Spain to resume under the import requirements currently listed in the Agricultural Commodity Import Requirements database and the corrective actions listed in the below amended federal order.
The original action was taken after Customs and Border Protection inspectors at John F. Kennedy Airport in New York, intercepted five live Medfly larvae and one pupa in commercial consignments of fresh bell peppers from Spain in December 2022 and was necessary to prevent the entry of Medfly into the U.S., according to the release.
The National Plant Protection Organization of Spain traced the interceptions to 11 greenhouses in the Almeria province, the release said, and the NPPO found slight structural damage and minor tears in the plastic covers of seven of the greenhouses. The greenhouses had passed official inspections in August 2022, the USDA said.
The NPPO reported rainstorms and strong winds had occurred in the Almeria region in the interim and concluded these weather events caused the structural damage and subsequent breaches of the greenhouses by Medfly. The NPPO immediately suspended all 11 noncompliant greenhouses from the pepper export program. Internal investigation of the registered packing houses associated with the 11 non-ompliant greenhouses did not detect any noncompliance issues, the release said.
To prevent the recurrence of future infestations, the NPPO developed corrective measures aimed at strengthening the physical integrity of the greenhouses to minimize the risk of the greenhouses becoming compromised by severe weather events, according to the release.
In October 2023, an APHIS team conducted a site visit of the bell pepper-growing facilities in Almeria, Spain, to verify the Medfly mitigation measures in place met current U.S. import requirements, the release said. The USDA said the team inspected Medfly mitigation measures that included the greenhouses, Medfly traps set inside and outside of the greenhouses, the frequency of trap inspections, and Medfly trapping records. The Medfly mitigation measures were found to be compliant with current U.S. import requirements, the release said.
Though the site visit occurred outside the export season for Spain bell pepper, the team also inspected and noted packinghouses have the capacity to successfully implement existing import requirements such as safeguarding fruit and packing fruit within 24 hours of harvest, according to the release.
USDA said it has determined the phytosanitary import requirements for fresh bell pepper from Spain that have been outlined in this federal order will adequately mitigate the risk of Medfly introduction via this commodity pathway.
Therefore, APHIS is amending the federal order that prohibited imports of bell peppers from Spain to the U.S., effective immediately, and the importation of fresh bell peppers from Spain may resume under the import requirements currently listed in the Agricultural Commodity Import Requirements database and the additional requirements listed in DA-2024-01.
For additional information regarding this federal order, contact Regulatory Policy Specialist Mafalda Santos at 585-300-3558 or Mafalda.Santos@usda.gov.
