The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) has reportedly suspended fresh pepper imports from the Netherlands and restricted access for supplies from Canada following the discovery of false codling moth on Dutch arrivals.
According to a press release from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA), the USDA will only grant access for fresh peppers from Canada provided they are accompanied by a CFIA-issued certificate of origin which shows the peppers were not grown in the Netherlands.
“The US has suspended the import of fresh peppers from the Netherlands and has further increased precautionary measures by requiring that shipments of peppers from Canada are accompanied by a certificate of origin,” the CFIA said.
The CFIA added that it will work closely with industry to ensure that the new US import requirements are met and that Canadian growers can continue to export their peppers to the US.
Canadian officials will also continue to work with their Dutch and US counterparts, the press release continued, as well as the Canadian industry, to identify and develop alternative risk mitigation approaches.
Although the CFIA continues to allow fresh peppers to be imported from the Netherlands into Canada, the agency said it has increased inspection rates to 100 per cent for these shipments to ensure they do not contain false codling moth.
In addition, the CFIA now requires that phytosanitary certificates accompany these shipments to specify that they are free from false codling moth.
Although in many countries, false codling moth is considered a key pest since it is capable of damaging a wide variety of plants, CFIA said it is not considered a quarantine pest in Canada.
