. /.   WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  G/SPS/N/USA/1925 
26 May 2009  
 (09-2513) 
Committee on Sanitary a nd Phytosanitary Measures Original:   English 
  
 
NOTIFICATION OF EMERGENCY MEASURES  
 
 
1. Notifying Member:  UNITED STATES
 
If applicable, name of local government involved:    
2. Agency responsible:  Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) of the US 
Department of Agriculture 
3. Products covered (provide tariff item number(s) as specified in national schedules 
deposited with the WTO; ICS numbers should be provided in addition, where 
applicable):  Plants for planting, except seed, of the following genera: 
Lycopersicon spp., Capsicum spp., Solanum (including Lycopersicon ) spp., Chenopodium 
spp., Polygonum spp., Atriplex spp., Halogetum spp., Nicotiana spp., Lepidium (synonyms 
Senebiera, Coronopus ) spp., Spergularia spp., Amaranthus spp., Malva spp.  
4. Regions or countries likely to be affected, to the extent relevant or practicable: 
[ X ] All trading partners except Canada  
[   ] Specific regions or countries:   
5. Title of the notified document:  Federal Order for Tomato Torrado Virus and Tomato 
Severe Leaf Curl Virus (dated 5 May 2009)  Language:  English  Number of pages:  3   
6. Description of content:  The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) is 
issuing a Federal Order pursuant to the regulatory authority provided by the Plant 
Protection Act of June 20, 2000, as amended, Section 412(a), 7 U.S.C. 7712(a), to prohibit 
the importation of plants used for planting (not including seed) that are hosts of Tomato torrado virus (ToTV) and Tomato severe leaf curl virus (ToSLCV) from all countries, except Canada.  To prevent the introduction and dissemination of these harmful plant 
pathogens into the United States, this Federa l Order is effective beginning 1 June 2009. 
Federal Orders will remain in effect until they  are revised by another Federal Order or until 
an interim rule on the subject is published. 
7. Objective and rationale:  [   ] food safety, [   ] animal health, [ X ] plant protection, [  
 ] protect humans from animal/plant pest or disease, [ X ] protect territory from other damage from pests.    G/SPS/N/USA/1925 
Page 2  
 
  8. Nature of the urgent problem(s) and reason for urgent action:  Recent scientific 
literature identified ToTV as a destructive plant pathogen that seriously reduces plant 
growth and yields on a number of hosts, including Solanum lycopersicum .  Tomato is also 
host to number of begomoviruses, including To SLCV, that are quarantine pests for the 
United.States and are major constraints to vege table production.  Both pests appear to be 
transmitted by and are likely persistent in the whitefly vector that could transmit the virus 
to a large number of host plants during the growing season.  ToTV and ToSLCV are not known to occur in the United States and are not known to be seed-transmitted.  Plant pathogens, including viruses and viroids are extr emely difficult to detect during a port of 
entry inspection of the host plants, particularly  in the absence of symptoms.  This action is 
necessary because APHIS has determined th at the introduction and establishment of 
Tomato torrado virus and/or Tomato severe leaf  curl virus poses a serious plant pest threat 
to the agriculture of the United States. 
9. Is there a relevant international standard ?  If so, identify the standard:  
[   ] Codex Alimentarius Commission (e.g.  title or serial number of Codex standard 
or related text)    
[   ] World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) (e.g. Terrestrial or Aquatic 
Animal Health Code, chapter number)    
[ X ] International Plant Protection Convention (e.g.  ISPM N°)     
[   ] None Does this proposed regulation conform to  the revelant international standard? 
 [ X ] Yes   [   ] No 
This notification complies with the Interna tional Standard on Phytosanitary Measures 
No.13 "Guidelines for the notification of non- compliance and emergency action".  This 
action is in accordance with the principles rela ted to emergency action of Article VII of the 
revised text of the International Plant Protection Convention.  
 If no, describe, whenever possible, how and why it deviates from the 
international standard:   
10. Other relevant documents and langua ge(s) in which these are available:  
http://www.aphis.usda.gov/import_export/plants/ plant_imports/federal_order/index.shtml    
11. Date of entry into force (dd/mm/yy)/period of application (as applicable):  1 June 2009   
[   ] Trading Facility measure  
12. Agency or authority designated to handle comments: [   ] National Notification 
Authority, [   ] National Enquiry Point.  Address, fax number and E-mail address (if 
available) of other body:  For additional information regard ing this Federal Order, please 
contact:  ppq.ippc.notification@aphis.usda.gov  
13. Texts available from: [ X ] National Notification Authority, [   ] National Enquiry 
Point.  Address, fax number and E-mail address (if available) of other body:  United 
States SPS National Notification Authority, USDA Foreign Agricultural Service, International Regulations and Standards Division (IRSD), Stop 1027, Washington D.C. 
20250;  Tel:  +(1 202) 720 1301;  Fax:  +(1 202) 720 0433;  E-mail:  us.spsenquirypoint@fas.usda.gov