APHIS amends Federal Order for U.S. Imports of tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) and pepper (Capsicum spp.) hosts of Tomato brown rugose fruit virus (ToBRFV)
June 2020:
USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service sent this bulletin at 06/05/2020 10:14 AM EDT
FOR INFORMATION AND ACTION
DA-2020-12
June 3, 2020
Subject: APHIS amends Federal Order for U.S. Imports of tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) and pepper (Capsicum spp.) hosts of Tomato brown rugose fruit virus (ToBRFV)
To: State and Territory Agricultural Regulatory Officials
Effective June 5, 2020, after issuance of this Federal Order, the USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) is amending the restrictions for the importation of tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) and pepper (Capsicum spp.) hosts of Tomato brown rugose fruit virus (ToBRFV). Specifically, APHIS is amending the import requirements for tomato and pepper fruit for consumption by adding restrictions for tomatoes and peppers from the Dominican Republic, France, and Spain. APHIS has detected ToBRFV in tomato fruit imported from the Dominican Republic, and received official reports of the disease in France and Spain. In addition, APHIS is removing a reference to obscured seed in the Federal Order to clarify that obscured tomato and pepper seed remain eligible for importation into the United States under the obscured seed program[1]. All other requirements in the November 15, 2019 (DA-2019-28) version of the Federal Order are unchanged.
