Effective Dec. 29, 2022, the Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service has prohibited imports of fresh bell peppers (Capsicum annuum) for consumption from Spain to prevent the introduction of the Mediterranean fruit fly. APHIS has also prohibited overland in-bond transit movements of such peppers south of 39° latitude and west of 104° longitude.
APHIS imposed this prohibition in response to multiple medfly detections during customs inspections of commercial consignments of fresh bell peppers from Spain. It will remain in place until APHIS investigates and determines that such imports do not pose a risk to U.S. agriculture.
APHIS states that other Capsicum species currently allowed entry from Spain are not affected by this order, except that the phytosanitary certificate accompanying each consignment must include the full botanical name (genus and species) of the pepper in the consignment. Listing the genus name only is not acceptable.
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