The United States Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) has lifted the ban on the Hass variety of avocados and varieties of green tomatoes exported from the Dominican Republic as it does not consider them to be hosts of Medfly.
APHIS says that the export of Hass avocadoes will be conditional on being commercially produced and safeguarded after harvest from fruit flies before being exported.
The US phyto-sanitary body says it does not consider green tomatoes to be a fruit fly host, but to be considered green the surface of a tomato must be ‘less than 30% pink or red at the time of harvest’.
The ban was imposed on 18 March 2015 after the Dominican National Plant Protection Organization notified APHIS of confirmed Medfly detection at the Punta Cana International Airport on 13 March, which led the US authorities to suspend commercial shipments of fruit fly host material. While Medfly infected produce is not harmful for human consumption, it spreads and affects fruit and vegetable growth in plantations.
The ban still affects exports of peppers, ripe tomatoes, clementines, grapes, grapefruit, lemons, lychees, longans, sapote, mandarins, mangoes, oranges, papayas, pomeloes, tangelos, tangerines and cactus fruit.
Commercial shipments of mangoes from the Dominican Republic are still allowed entry under the conditions of the APHIS hot water treatment preclearance program.
The Ministry of Agriculture has requested the lifting of the ban on the grounds that no further detections have been reported in other parts of the country, and traps have been set in the 22km containment area near the Punta Cana International Airport.
Reportedly, the Medfly entered in a consignment in transit from Peru to Europe that was irregularly authorized by the Ministry of Agriculture itself. Losses to the farm industry are estimated at more than US$60 million this year.