For growers, protection against imported plant pests starts well before a shipment reaches a port. The lemon rule published by the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service on December 23, 2016 ties access from northwest Argentina to controls in orchards and packinghouses. This Christmas-weekend account concerns that earlier decision, whose announced effective date was January 23, 2017. [2016-31013]

The route covers fresh lemons from Catamarca, Jujuy, Salta and Tucumán into the continental United States. Commercial shipments must come through registered production sites and packinghouses, with sanitation, pest controls, inspections and a phytosanitary certificate. Green harvest between April 1 and August 31 avoids the specified Mediterranean fruit fly treatment requirement; yellow fruit or harvest outside that window requires treatment. Other safeguards still apply. [2016-31013]

The May 10 proposal explains the division of work behind those protections. Argentina’s national plant protection organization would submit an operational workplan for APHIS approval, assigning responsibilities for the export program. That design makes prevention an organized activity in the exporting country, rather than a promise resting entirely on inspection when fruit arrives. [2016-10957]

For people whose livelihoods depend on healthy groves, the relevant question is whether that chain of controls works. For buyers, a conditional supply route is not evidence of cheaper lemons already on shelves. The proposal and final rule trace one agency proceeding; neither establishes actual shipments, eliminated pest risk or realized consumer savings as of this coverage date. [2016-31013][2016-10957]

Source documents

  1. Importation of Lemons From Northwest Argentinahttps://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2016-12-23/html/2016-31013.htm
  2. Importation of Lemons From Northwest Argentinahttps://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2016-05-10/html/2016-10957.htm