The U.S. Department of Agriculture Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (USDA/APHIS) has drafted a pest risk assessment (PRA) that describes potential pests associated with importing fresh commercially produced citrus fruits from Botswana into the United States. The PRA evaluates pest risk presented by lemon, grapefruit, mandarin and sweet orange from Botswana for consumption.
The entry of these citrus fruits from Botswana into the United States currently is not authorized. The PRA was initiated in response to a request by the government of Botswana to change the federal regulation to allow entry of those fruits.
USDA APHIS used scientific literature, port-of-entry pest interception data and information from the government of Botswana to develop a list of pests with quarantine significance for the United States. These pests that occur in Botswana are listed in the PRA. They have a reasonable likelihood of following the commodity pathway and would likely cause unacceptable consequences if introduced into the United States. If a pest causes an unacceptable impact, that means it could adversely affect agricultural production by causing a yield loss of 10% or greater, by increasing U.S. production costs, by impacting an environmentally important host or by impacting international trade.
Stakeholders, industry, partners and the public are invited to share concerns and information with USDA APHIS related to the import of the four citrus varieties from Botswana. Comments will be considered for scientific and technical issues raised and may result in changes to the risk assessment.
The 30-day stakeholder risk assessment consultation period provides an early opportunity for the public to engage with USDA APHIS regarding this request. More information, including a link for submitting comments, is available here. Commenters should include the name of the commodity assessed (in this case: lemon, grapefruit, mandarin and sweet orange from Botswana) in the subject line of the emailed comment. The comment period for this pest risk assessment will be open until Nov. 4.
Source: USDA APHIS
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