§ 319.56-74 - Peppers from Ecuador.

§ 319.56-74 Peppers from Ecuador.

Cross Reference

Link to an amendment published at 83 FR 46639, Sept. 14, 2018.

Fresh peppers (Capsicum annum L., Capsicum baccatum L., Capsicum chinense Jacq., Capsicum frutescens L., and Capsicum pubescens Ruiz & Pav.) from Ecuador may be imported into the continental United States only under the conditions described in this section. These conditions are designed to prevent the introduction of the following quarantine pests: Andean potato mottle virus; Anastrepha fraterculus (Wiedemann), South American fruit fly; Ceratitis capitata (Wiedemann), Mediterranean fruit fly; Neoleucinodes elegantalis (Guenée), a fruit boring moth; Puccinia pampeana Speg., a pathogenic fungus that causes pepper and green pepper rust; Spodoptera litura (Fabricius), a leaf-eating moth; Thrips palmi Karny, an arthropod; and Tuta absoluta (Meyrick) Povolny, South American tomato moth, tomato leaf miner.

(a) General requirements. The national plant protection organization (NPPO) of Ecuador must provide an operational workplan to APHIS that details activities that the NPPO of Ecuador will, subject to APHIS' approval of the workplan, carry out to meet the requirements of this section. The operational workplan must include and describe the specific requirements as set forth in this section.

(b) Commercial consignments. Peppers from Ecuador may be imported in commercial consignments only.

(c) Production site requirements.

(1) Pepper production sites must consist of pest-exclusionary structures, which must have double self-closing doors and have all other windows, openings, and vents covered with 1.6 mm (or less) screening.

(2) All production sites that participate in the pepper export program must be registered with the NPPO of Ecuador.

(3) The production sites must be inspected prior to each harvest by the NPPO of Ecuador or its approved designee in accordance with the operational workplan. If any quarantine pests are found to be generally infesting or infecting the production site, the NPPO of Ecuador will immediately prohibit that production site from exporting peppers to the continental United States and notify APHIS of this action. The prohibition will remain in effect until the NPPO of Ecuador and APHIS agree that the pest risk has been mitigated. If a designee conducts the program, the designation must be detailed in the operational workplan. The approved designee can be a contracted entity, a coalition of growers, or the growers themselves.

(4) The registered production sites must conduct trapping for the fruit flies A. fraterculus and C. capitata at each production site in accordance with the operational workplan.

(5) If a single A. fraterculus or C. capitata is detected inside a registered production site or in a consignment, the NPPO of Ecuador must immediately prohibit that production site from exporting peppers to the continental United States and notify APHIS of the action. The prohibition will remain in effect until the NPPO of Ecuador and APHIS agree that the risk has been mitigated.

(6) The NPPO of Ecuador must maintain records of trap placement, checking of traps, and any quarantine pest captures in accordance with the operational workplan. Trapping records must be maintained for APHIS review for at least 1 year.

(7) The NPPO of Ecuador must maintain a quality control program, approved by APHIS, to monitor or audit the trapping program in accordance with the operational workplan.

(d) Packinghouse procedures.

(1) All packinghouses that participate in the export program must be registered with the NPPO of Ecuador.

(2) The peppers must be packed within 24 hours of harvest in a pest-exclusionary packinghouse. The peppers must be safeguarded by an insect-proof mesh screen or plastic tarpaulin while in transit to the packinghouse and while awaiting packing. The peppers must be packed in insect-proof cartons or containers, or covered with insect-proof mesh or plastic tarpaulin, for transit into the continental United States. These safeguards must remain intact until arrival in the continental United States or the consignment will be denied entry into the continental United States.

(3) During the time the packinghouse is in use for exporting peppers to the continental United States, the packinghouse may only accept peppers from registered approved production sites.

(e) Phytosanitary certificate. Each consignment of peppers must be accompanied by a phytosanitary certificate issued by the NPPO of Ecuador bearing the additional declaration that the consignment was produced and prepared for export in accordance with the requirements of this section. The shipping box must be labeled with the identity of the production site.

(Approved by the Office of Management and Budget under control number 0579-0437)

80 FR 64309, Oct. 23, 2015, as amended at 81 FR 20528, Apr. 8, 2016]