§ 319.56-80 - xxx

§ 319.56-80 Persimmons from New Zealand.

Cross Reference

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

Fresh persimmons (Diospyros kaki Thunb.) may be imported into the United States only under the conditions described in this section. These conditions are designed to prevent the introduction of the quarantine pests Colletotrichum horii B. Weir & P.R. Johnst., Cnephasia jactatana (Walker), Cryptosporiopsis actinidiae P.R. Johnst., M.A. Manning & X. Meier, Ctenopseustis herana (Felder and Rogenhofer), Ctenopseustis obliquana (Walker), Epiphyas postvittana (Walker), Planotortrix excessana (Walker), Sperchia intractana (Walker), and Stathmopoda skelloni (Butler).

(a) Operational workplan. The national plant protection organization (NPPO) of New Zealand must provide an operational workplan to APHIS that details the activities that the NPPO of New Zealand 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 quarantine pest survey intervals and other specific requirements as set forth in this section.

(b) Commercial consignments. Persimmons from New Zealand may be imported in commercial consignments only.

(c)

(1) Place of production requirements. All places of production that participate in the export program must be approved by and registered with the New Zealand NPPO in accordance with the requirements of the operational workplan.

(2) The NPPO of New Zealand or its approved designee must visit and inspect the places of production monthly beginning at blossom drop and continuing until the end of the harvest season for quarantine pests. Appropriate pest controls must be applied in accordance with the operational workplan. If the NPPO of New Zealand finds that a place of production is not complying with the requirements of this section, no fruit from the place of production will be eligible for export to the United States until APHIS and the NPPO of New Zealand conduct an investigation and appropriate remedial actions have been implemented.

(d)

(1) Packinghouse requirements. All packinghouses that participate in the export program must be approved by and registered with the New Zealand NPPO in accordance with the requirements of the operational workplan.

(2) During the time the packinghouse is in use for exporting persimmons to the United States, the packinghouse may only accept persimmons from registered approved places of production and the fruit must be segregated from fruit intended for other markets.

(3) All diseased or insect-infested fruit and fruit with surface pests must be culled either before or during packing and removed from the packinghouse. Culling must also include any damaged or deformed fruit.

(4) Boxes or other containers in which the fruit is shipped must be marked to identify the place of production where the fruit originated and the packinghouse where it was packed.

(5) The NPPO of New Zealand must monitor packinghouse operations to verify that the packinghouses are complying with the requirements of the systems approach. If the NPPO of New Zealand finds that a packinghouse is not complying with the requirements of this section, no fruit from the packinghouse will be eligible for export to the United States until APHIS and the NPPO of New Zealand conduct an investigation and appropriate remedial actions have been implemented.

(e) Sampling. Inspectors from the NPPO of New Zealand must inspect a biometric sample of the fruit from each consignment at a rate jointly agreed upon by APHIS and the NPPO of New Zealand. The inspectors must visually inspect for quarantine pests listed in the operational workplan required by paragraph (a) of this section and must cut fruit to inspect for the Lepidoptera pests of concern when visual signs of the internal feeders are present. If quarantine pests are detected in this inspection, the consignment will be prohibited entry into the United States.

(f) Treatment. Each consignment of persimmons must be subjected to a post-harvest treatment by either:

(1) Hot water treatment. The persimmons are held for 20 minutes in hot water at 50 °C (122 °F); or

(2) Modified atmosphere treatment. The persimmons are packed in semi-permeable polymeric bags and stored at 0 °C for a minimum of 28 days.

(g) Phytosanitary certificate. Each consignment of persimmons must be accompanied by a phytosanitary certificate of inspection issued by the New Zealand NPPO with an additional declaration stating that the fruit in the consignment were grown, packed, and inspected and found to be free of quarantine pests in accordance with the requirements of the systems approach.

(Approved by the Office of Management and Budget under control number 0579-0456)

[82 FR 45956, Oct. 3, 2017]