The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) of the United States Secretary of Agriculture announced the complete lifting of the Federal Order banning certain fruits and vegetables from the Dominican Republic into the United States. Earlier, the ban had been partially lifted. The full lifting of the ban was announced after no medflies have been trapped in the Dominican Republic since 9 January 2017.
The full lifting of the ban (DA-2017-38) was issued on 12 December 2017, and is signed by Osama El-Lissy, deputy administrator of the Plant Protection and Quarantine Department.
The ban had been instated on 18 March 2015 in response to detections of live Mediterranean fruit fly (Medfly) in the Punta Cana region in order to prevent dissemination of the plant pest in the US.
The ban caused millionaire losses to Dominican farmers. It had affected the export of many fruits and vegetables, including avocado, clementine, grape, grapefruit, lemon, litchi, longan, mamey (sapote), mandarin, mango, orange, papaya, pepper, pummel, tangelo, tangerine, tomato, tuna (cactus fruit).
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USDA
Listin Diario
18 December 2017
