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

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Introduction: The current regulations 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 production in a pest-exclusionary structure (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 

prevalence 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 an area where fruit flies 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 current fruit and vegetable regulations allow the importation 

of red or pink tomato from various countries when grown in pest-exclusionary structures 
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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 the 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 

effective 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 limited 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:
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Ceratitis 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 this 

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 Medfly 

traps baited with trimedlure, or other approved protein bait, inside the pestexclusionary 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. Traps must 

also be placed outside 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 from that registered PES until the source of the 

infestation is determined, the infestation has been eradicated, and measures are 

taken to preclude future infestation. Exports will not be reinstated until APHIS 

and DPVCTRF mutually determine that risk mitigation 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 must 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 pestexclusionary structure and within a 1-month time period will necessitate 

Malathion bait sprays in 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 quality control program to monitor 

or audit the trapping program. The trapping records must be maintained for one 

year for APHIS review. 
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6) The tomatoes must be packed within 24 hours of harvest and must be pink at the 

time of packing. The tomatoes must be safeguarded 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 transit 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 additional declaration, 

“These tomatoes were grown in registered pest-exclusionary structures in SoussMassa-Draa Province, Morocco, and were pink at the time of packing.”

Summary:

Since 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 in 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-MassaDraa 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 incorporating several additional mitigation measures

such as increased trapping and prohibiting fruit fly host material within 50 meters of pestexclusionary structures.

The requirement for production in a pest-exclusionary 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 from 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 facilities. 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 60% pink. 
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These inspections double the number of inspections 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 also 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 Mediterranean Fruit Fly Control (MFF) – Ceratatis Capitata Souss-MassaDraa Area, Morocco (English translation of French original). PIM Document 

Management Database.

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

_____ DISAPPROVED

_____ APPROVED

Justification

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Signature (name) Date