G/SPS/N/USA/2513/Add.1  
 
13 January 2014  
(14-0135)  Page: 1/2  
Committee on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures  Original: English  
 
  NOTIFICATION 
Addendum 
The following communication, received on 10 January 2014, is being circulated at the request of 
the Delegation of the United States of America. 
 
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 Final rule: Importation of Avocados from Continental Spain (Docket No. APHIS-2012-0002) 
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) is amending the fruits and vegetables 
regulations to allow the importation of avocados from continental Spain (excluding the Balearic 
Islands and Canary Islands) into the United States. As a condition of entry, avocados from Spain will have to be produced in accordance with a systems approach that includes registration of 
production locations and packinghouses, pest monitoring, sanitary practices, chemical and 
biological controls, and phytosanitary treatment. The fruit will have to be imported in commercial consignments, with each consignment identified throughout its movement from place of production 
to the port of entry in the United States. Consignments will have to be accompanied by a 
phytosanitary certificate issued by the national plant protection organization of Spain certifying that the fruit is free from all quarantine pests and has been produced in accordance with the systems approach. Consignments of avocados other than the Hass variety would also have to be 
treated for the Mediterranean fruit fly either prior to moving to the United States or upon arrival 
prior to release. This action will allow for the importation of avocados from continental Spain while continuing to protect against the introduction of plant pests into the United States. 
This notice is available in English at: http://www.regulations.gov/ #!documentDetail;D=APHIS-
2012-0002-0031 . 
Federal Register, Vol. 78, No. 251, Tuesday, 31 December 2013, pages 79568-79573. 
On 30 January 2013, the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) published in the 
Federal Register (78 FR 6222-6227, Docket No. APHIS-2012-0002), a proposal to amend the fruits 
and vegetables regulations to allow the importation of avocados from continental Spain (excluding the Balearic Islands and Canary Islands) into the United States subject to a systems approach and 
treatment. We proposed to allow the importation of avocados from continental Spain only if they 
were produced in accordance with a systems approach jointly agreed upon in a bilateral workplan between APHIS and the national plant protection  organization (NPPO) of Spain. The systems 
approach addresses one pest of quarantine signific ance present in continental Spain that could be 
introduced into the United States through the importation of avocados. That pest is Ceratitis 
capitata  (Wiedemann), the Mediterranean fruit fly. We solicited comments concerning our proposal 
for 60 days ending 1 April 2013. We reopened and extended the deadline for comments until 
13 June 2013, in a document published in the Federal Register on 29 May 2013 (78 FR 32183-32184, Docket No. APHIS-2012-0002). We received 20 comments by that date. G/SPS/N/USA/2513/Add.1 
 
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  This addendum concerns a: 
[ ] Modification of final date for comments 
[X] Notification of adoption, publication or entry into force of regulation 
[ ] Modification of content and/or scope of  previously notified draft regulation 
[ ] Withdrawal of proposed regulation 
[ ] Change in proposed date of adoption, publication or date of entry into force 
[ ] Other:   
Comment period: (If the addendum extends the scope of the previously notified 
measure in terms of products and/or potent ially affected Members, a new deadline for 
receipt of comments should be provided, norm ally of at least 60 calendar days. Under 
other circumstances, such as extension of or iginally announced final date for comments, 
the comment period provided in the addendum may vary.)  
[ ] Sixty days from the date of circulation of the addendum to the notification and/or 
(dd/mm/yy) : Effective date: 30 January 2014. 
Agency or authority designated to handle co mments: [ ] National Notification Authority, 
[ ] National Enquiry Point. Address, fax nu mber and e-mail address (if available) of 
other body: 
For further information contact: Ms Meredith C. Jones, Senior Regulatory Policy Specialist, 
Regulatory Coordination and Compliance, PPQ, APHIS, 4700 River Road Unit 156, Riverdale, MD 20737-1231; +(301) 851 2018.  
Text available from: [X] National Notificati on Authority, [ ] National Enquiry Point. 
Address, fax number and e-mail addre ss (if available) of other body: 
United States SPS National Notification Authority, USDA Foreign Agricultural Service, International 
Regulations and Standards Division (IRSD), Stop 1014, Washington D.C. 20250; Tel: +(1 202) 
720 1301; Fax: +(1 202) 720 0433; E-mail: us.spsenquirypoint@fas.usda.gov  
 
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