Irradiation for Chilean grapes imported into the US

Currently, table grapes from Chile into the United States of America must be fumigated with methyl bromide to mitigate for the Chilean false red mite, Brevipalpus chilensis, and the European Grapevine Moth, Lobesia botrana.  APHIS is proposing that table grapes from areas in which the moth is either absent or at very low prevalence could be imported into the United States under a systems approach or irradiation.  The systems approach would provide an alternative to the current import requirement of mandatory treatment with methyl bromide fumigation.

APHIS prepared a pest risk assessment and a commodity import evaluation document.  The commodity import evaluation identifies the phytosanitary measures that could be applied to table grapes from new areas of Chile without increasing the risk of introducing pests.

Comments on the pest risk assessment and the commodity import evaluation document detailing the conditions under which table grapes from Chile may be imported into the United States can be submitted to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) until January 17, 2023.

Source: USDA APHIS Weekly Digest Bulletin