Fresh avocados (Persea americana P. Mill.) may be imported into the United States from continental Spain (excluding the Balearic Islands and Canary Islands) only under the conditions described in this section. These conditions are designed to prevent the introduction of the quarantine pest Ceratitis capitata (Wiedemann), the Mediterranean fruit fly.
(a) General requirements. (1) The national plant protection organization (NPPO) of Spain must provide a workplan to APHIS that details the activities that the NPPO of Spain will, subject to APHIS' approval of the workplan, carry out to meet the requirements of this section. The NPPO of Spain must also establish a trust fund in accordance with Sec. 319.56-6.
(1) The national plant protection organization (NPPO) of Spain must provide a workplan to APHIS that details the activities that the NPPO of Spain will, subject to APHIS' approval of the workplan, carry out to meet the requirements of this section. The NPPO of Spain must also establish a trust fund in accordance with Sec. 319.56-6.
(2) The avocados must be grown at places of production in continental Spain that are registered with the NPPO of Spain and that meet the requirements of this section.
(3) The avocados must be packed for export to the United States in packinghouses that are registered with the NPPO of Spain and that meet the requirements of this section.
(4) Avocados from Spain may be imported in commercial consignments only.
(5) Avocados other than Hass variety from continental Spain must be treated for C. capitata in accordance with part 305 of this chapter.
(b) Monitoring and oversight. (1) The NPPO of Spain, or an authorized person designated in the workplan, must visit and inspect registered places of production monthly, starting at least 1 month before harvest and continuing until the end of the shipping season, to verify that the growers are complying with the requirements of paragraph (c) of this section and follow pest control guidelines, when necessary, to reduce quarantine pest populations.
(1) The NPPO of Spain, or an authorized person designated in the workplan, must visit and inspect registered places of production monthly, starting at least 1 month before harvest and continuing until the end of the shipping season, to verify that the growers are complying with the requirements of paragraph (c) of this section and follow pest control guidelines, when necessary, to reduce quarantine pest populations.
(2) In addition to conducting fruit inspections at the packinghouses, the NPPO of Spain must monitor packinghouse operations to verify that the packinghouses are complying with the requirements of paragraph (e) of this section.
(3) If the NPPO of Spain finds that a place of production or packinghouse is not complying with the requirements of this section, no fruit from the place of production or packinghouse will be eligible for export to the United States until APHIS and the NPPO of Spain conduct an investigation and appropriate remedial actions have been implemented.
(4) The NPPO of Spain must retain all forms and documents related to export program activities in groves and packinghouses for at least 1 year and, as requested, provide them to APHIS for review.
(c) Grove sanitation. Avocado fruit that has fallen from the trees must be removed from each place of production at least once every 7 days, starting 2 months before harvest and continuing to the end of harvest. Fallen avocado fruit may not be included in field containers of fruit brought to the packinghouse to be packed for export.
(d) Harvesting requirements. Harvested avocados must be placed in field cartons or containers that are marked with the official registration number of the place of production. The place of production where the avocados were grown must remain identifiable when the fruit leaves the grove, at the packinghouse, and throughout the export process. The fruit must be moved to a registered packinghouse within 3 hours of harvest or must be protected from fruit fly infestation until moved. The fruit must be safeguarded by an insect-proof screen or plastic tarpaulin while in transit to the packinghouse and while awaiting packing.
(e) Packinghouse requirements. (1) During the time registered packinghouses are in use for packing avocados for export to the United States in accordance with the requirements of this section, packing lines must be cleared of all other articles and plant debris prior to packing such avocados, and such avocados must be stored in a room separate from any other fruits, plant articles, and other potential C. capitata hosts while the avocados are at the packinghouse.
(1) During the time registered packinghouses are in use for packing avocados for export to the United States in accordance with the requirements of this section, packing lines must be cleared of all other articles and plant debris prior to packing such avocados, and such avocados must be stored in a room separate from any other fruits, plant articles, and other potential C. capitata hosts while the avocados are at the packinghouse.
(2) Avocados must be packed within 24 hours of harvest in an insect-exclusionary packinghouse. All openings to the outside of the packinghouse must be covered by screening with openings of not more than 1.6 mm or by some other barrier that prevents pests from entering. The packinghouse must have double doors at the entrance to the facility and at the interior entrance to the area where the avocados are packed.
(3) Before packing, all avocados must be cleaned of all plant debris.
(4) Boxes or cartons in which avocados are packed must be labeled with a lot number that provides information to identify the orchard where grown and the packinghouse where packed. The labeling must be large enough to clearly display the required information and must be located on the outside of the boxes to facilitate inspection.
(5) Avocados must be packed in insect-proof packaging, or covered with insect-proof mesh or a plastic tarpaulin, for transport to the United States. These safeguards must remain intact until arrival in the United States.
(6) Shipping documents accompanying consignments of avocados from continental Spain that are exported to the United States must include the official registration number of the place of production at which the avocados were grown and must identify the packing shed or sheds in which the fruit was processed and packed. This identification must be maintained until the fruit is released for entry into the United States.
(f) NPPO of Spain inspection. Following any post-harvest processing, inspectors from the NPPO of Spain must inspect a biometric sample of fruit at a rate determined by APHIS. Inspectors must visually inspect the fruit and cut a portion of the fruit to inspect for C. capitata. If any C. capitata are detected in this inspection, the place of production where the infested avocados were grown will immediately be suspended from the export program until an investigation has been conducted by APHIS and the NPPO of Spain and appropriate mitigations have been implemented.
(g) Phytosanitary certificate. Each consignment of avocados imported from Spain into the United States must be accompanied by a phytosanitary certificate issued by the NPPO of Spain.
(1) The phytosanitary certificate accompanying Hass variety avocados must contain an additional declaration stating that the avocados are Hass variety and were grown in an approved place of production and the consignment has been inspected and found free of C. capitata.
(2) The phytosanitary certificate accompanying non-Hass avocados must contain an additional declaration stating that the avocados were grown in an approved place of production and the consignment has been inspected and found free of C. capitata. If the consignment has been subjected to treatment for C. capitata prior to export in accordance with 7 CFR part 305, the additional declaration must also state this. (Approved by the Office of Management and Budget under control number 0579-0400) [78 FR 79572, Dec. 31, 2013]