United States Department of Agriculture Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service Plant Protection and Quarantine



## Commodity Import Evaluation Document (CIED)



### County of Origin : Morocco

, Souss

- Massa

- Draa Region Date of Request : 2003/08/03



### Commodity : Scientific name : Solanum lycopersicum Common name (s ) : Tomato

_______________________________________________________________________ Introduction: The c urrent regulati on s in 7 CFR § 319.56

- 28 (c) ( CFR

, 2009 ) permit tomatoes from Morocco and Western Sahara to be imported into the United States in accordance with a systems approach. This systems approach requires tomato production in an area of low prevalence and product ion in a p est

- e xclusionary s tructure (PES) to mitigate Ceratitis capitata (Medfly). Under this systems approach, tomato production is limited to the provinces of El Jadida or Safi in Morocco and the province of Dahkla in Western Sahara.

In August, 2003, the Morocco Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development requested APHIS consider approving the Souss

- Massa

- Draa region to ship tomatoes to the United States.

Since the pest pressure in the Souss

- Massa

- Draa region is outside of the areas of low prevalence for Medflies

, and different from other areas currently exporting tomatoes to the United States (Morocco Ministry of Agriculture, 2007)

, APHIS has revised the existing systems approach with several additional mitigation measures

, in lieu of the low prevale nce requirement.

Current regulations: The fruit and vegetable regulations in 7 CFR 319.56 (CFR, 2009) currently permit the entry of red or pink tomato from Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Israel, Morocco, Nicaragua, Panama, and Spain. The entry requirements vary, but if the consignment is from an area where fruit fly is known to occur, or the consignment transits a n area where fruit fl ies have become established in the environment , the consignment must be enclosed in insect proof cartons or cartons covered with an insect proof tarpaulin which must be intact upon arrival at the U.S. port of entry.

Summary of findings: The c u rrent fruit and vegetable regulations allow the importation of red or pink tomato from various countries when grown in pest

- exclusionary structures2 under a standard systems approach. The systems approach requires that production occurs in NPPO approved production sites The systems approach also requires a trapping protocol for pest detection both inside and outside of t he production facility, as well as safeguarded transit (i.e. covered with insect

- proof mesh screen or plastic tarpaulin) to packing facilities. Finally, the systems approach limits the commodities received by the packinghouse while the commodity is being packaged for export to the United States. The NPPO of the exporting country is responsible for export certification

, inspection

, and issuance of phytosanitary certificates.

Recommendations : The aforementioned risk management measures have been proven ef

fective in preventing the introduction of pests of concern when the systems approaches have been adhered to as written.

Conditions of Entry Tomato exports will be restricted to production facilities in the Souss

- Massa

- Draa region. Exports will be limite d to tomatoes that are pink at the time of the export certification inspection. The surface area of a pink tomato is more than 30 percent but not more than 60 percent pink and/or red.

We are proposing the following set of mitigation measures:3 Cera titis capitata (Medfly) currently occurs in the Souss

- Massa

- Draa region of Morocco and is a quarantine pest in the continental United States (USDA, 1995)

. PES must be used to grow host commodities to prevent infestation. Trapping must occur in the regions where Medfly occurs. The following protocol must be used:

1) Tomatoes must be grown in a PES in approved production sites. Initial approval of the production sites will be completed jointly by Morocco’s Ministry of Agriculture

, Division of Plant Protection , Inspection, and Enforcement (DPVCTRF) and APHIS. The DPVCTRF will visit and inspect the production sites beginning two months before harvest and continuing through the end of the shipping season. APHIS can monitor the production sites anytime during th is period.

2) The tomatoes may be shipped from Souss

- Massa

- Draa only between December 1 and April 30, inclusive

. 3) Beginning 2 months prior to the start of the shipping season and continuing through the end of the shipping season, DPVCTR must set and maintain M edfly traps baited with trimedlure, or other approved protein bait, inside the pest

exclusionary structures. For the province of Souss

- Massa

- Draa in Morocco, 8 traps/hectare must be used, with a minimum of 4 traps in each PES. T raps must also be placed o utside registered PESs within a 2

- kilometer radius at a rate of 4 traps per square kilometer. There may be no Medfly host material within 50 meters of entry door of the PES or the packinghouse. All traps must be checked every 7 days.

4) Capture of a single Medfly inside a registered PES during the two months prior to export and continuing through the duration of the harvest, or detection of a Medfly in a consignment which is traced back to a registered PES , will result in immediate cancellation of exports fr om that registered PES until the source of the infestation is determined, the infestat ion has been eradicated , and measures are taken to preclude future infestation. Exports will not be reinstated until APHIS and DPVCTRF mutually determine that risk mitig ation has been achieved. Capture of a single Medfly within 200 meters of a registered pest

- exclusionary
structure will necessitate increasing trap density in order to determine whether there is a reproducing population in the area. Six additional traps m ust be placed within a radius of 200 meters surrounding the trap where the Medfly was captured. Capture of two Medflies within 200 meters of a registered pest

exclusionary structure and within a 1

- month time period will necessitate Malathion bait sprays i n the area every 7 to 10 days for 60 days to ensure eradication

5) DPVCTRF must maintain records of trap placement, trap maintenance, and any Medfly captures and make the records available to APHIS upon request . The DPVCTRF must maintain an APHIS approved qu ality control program to monitor or audit the trapping program. The trapping records must be maintained for one year for APHIS review.4 6) The tomatoes must be packed within 24 hours of harvest and must be pink at the time of packing . The tomatoes must be s afeguarded by an insect

- proof mesh screen or plastic tarpaulin while in transit to the packinghouse and while awaiting packing. Tomatoes must be packed in insect proof cartons or containers or covered with insect

- proof mesh or plastic tarpaulin for transi t to the airport or ship and export to the United States. These safeguards must be intact upon arrival in the United States. Sea containers must be kept closed if stored within 20 meters of Medfly host prior to loading.

7) During the time the packinghouse is in use for exporting fruit to the United States, the packinghouse may only accept fruit from registered production sites.

8) The Moroccan Ministry of Agriculture, Fresh Produce Export (EACCE) is responsible for export certification inspection and issuance of phytosanitary certificates. Each consignment of tomatoes must be accompanied by a phytosanitary certificate issued by EACCE and bearing the a dditional d eclaration, “These tomatoes were grown in registered pest

- exclusionary structures in Souss

Massa

- Dra a Province, Morocco, and were pink at the time of packing .”

Summary:

S ince 1997, APHIS has allowed the importation of tomatoes from registered production sites in the provinces of El Jadida and Safi in Morocco and the province of Dahkla in Western Sahara i n accordance with the systems approach codified in 7 CFR § 319. 56

- 28(c) . This systems approach has also been used effectively for tomato imports from Spain, France, and Chile.

The above mitigation measures will permit exports of pink tomato from the Souss

- Massa

Draa region of Morocco subject to a systems approach similar to that in place for the provinces of El Jadida and Safi in Morocco and the province of Dahkla in Western Sahara. However, as the Souss

- Massa

- Draa region of Morocco is not an area of low prevalence for fruit flies, we are i ncorporat ing several additional mitigation measures such as increased trapping and prohibiting fruit fly host material within 50 meters of pest

exclusionary structures

. The requirement for production in a pest

- exclusion ary structure diminishes the likelihood of quarantine pests following the pathway as does restricting the importation of tomatoes from the Souss

- Massa

- Draa region of Morocco to commercial consignments only.

The requirement of a phytosanitary certificate fr om Morocco’s EACCE would document that the importation is a product of Morocco. A phytosanitary certificate also provides phytosanitary security by requiring Morocco’s DPVCTRF to conduct inspections for pests as well as trapping in the production faciliti es. Therefore, APHIS will require each consignment to be accompanied by a phytosanitary certificate with an additional declaration verifying that the consignment has been produced in registered PESs within the Souss

- Massa

- Draa region and is no more than 6 0% pink.5 These inspections double the number of inspection s each tomato receives by requiring phytosanitary inspections in addition to the normal packinghouse quality inspections. Importations of tomato from the Souss

- Massa

- Draa region of Morocco would a lso be subject to inspection at the port of entry into the United States.

Author:

Devaiah A. Muruvanda , PhD Senior Risk Manager

References:

Code of Federal Regulations, 2009. Title 7, Part 319.56

- 28, Tomatoes from certain countries. United States Government.

Morocco Ministry of Agriculture, 2007. Vegetable Production and Packaging Systems Efficacy of Mediterr anean Fruit Fly Control (MFF)

– Ceratatis Capitata Souss

- Massa

Draa Area, Morocco (English translation of French original). PIM Document Management Database.

USDA, 1995. Risk Analysis Lycopersicon esculentum Tomatoes from Morocco. 34 pp.



### _____ DISA P PRO VED

_____ APPROVED

Justification

___________________________ _________________ Signature (name) Date