On November 21, 2019, in Cargo Systems Messaging Service (CSMS) #40723509, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) announced increased inspections on “imported tomato and pepper fruit, seed lots and transplants.” The increased inspections began on Friday, November 22nd and are the result of a Federal Order issued by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS).
APHIS is imposing restrictions on imports of tomato and pepper seed plots and transplants to prevent the introduction of Tomato Brown Rugose Fruit Virus. This virus is easily spread and can cause severe fruit loss in tomatoes and peppers. APHIS is requiring all imports to be tested and certified free of disease symptoms and all tomato and pepper fruit commercial shipments from Mexico, Israel, Canada, and the Netherlands to be inspected and certified disease free.
CSMS #40723509 can be found here:
“Federal Order for U.S. Imports of tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) and pepper (Capsicum spp.) hosts of Tomato brown reguse fruit virus (ToBRFV)” can be found here:
