APHIS bans Moroccan citrus from Berkane region

From:The Packer

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service has banned the importing of tangerines, clementines, mandarins and sweet oranges from the Berkane region of Morocco.

Fruit “produced in, packaged in, moved through or shipped from” the region is prohibited, according to a federal order sent via government delivery Dec. 23.

APHIS issued the order after U.S. Customs and Border Protection inspections at the port of entry in Philadelphia found live Medfly larvae Dec. 14 on clementines from the Berkane region.

Citrus products from other regions of the country will need to be accompanied by a phytosanitary certificate and a declaration the fruit were not in the Berkane region at any point along the supply chain, among other requirements, according to the order.

On-the-water shipments bound for the U.S. from the Berkane region will be allowed if they arrive at a port of entry north of 39 degrees latitude and east of 104 degrees longitude by Jan. 6, if they pass cold treatment, and if inspections determine the fruit presents no pest risk.

Before USDA issued the order, tangerines, clementines, mandarins and sweet oranges from all regions of Morocco were allowed to be imported to the U.S. “subject to an operational work plan that required orchard and packinghouse registration, Medfly trapping, packinghouse inspections (including fruit cutting), lot identification, cold treatment, and inspection upon arrival,” according to the order.

In January 2016, APHIS banned all Moroccan tangerines, clementines, mandarins and sweet oranges after finding live Medfly larvae on cold-treated clementines from the country. That order was rescinded Oct. 13 after APHIS determined that measures put in place since the discovery were effectively mitigating pest risk.

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