Map expands control of fruit imported from nine countries

The Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Supply (Mapa) published this Monday (3), in the Official Gazette of the Union, a normative instruction that establishes phytosanitary requirements for the import of fruits or propagation materials from nine countries. The measure is aimed at plums, cherries, sour cherries, peaches, apricots and nectarines from Argentina, Chile, Spain, the United States, Portugal, Turkey, Italy, Israel and Iran.

Therefore, cargo must be accompanied by a phytosanitary certificate attesting that the products are free from the Plum Pox Virus pest. The inspection will be carried out at the destination of the shipment. If the presence of the pest is detected, the fruit will be destroyed or rejected. The objective of the requirement is to prevent the disease from entering Brazil via international trade.

According to the director of Mapa's Plant Health Department, Marcus Vinicius Coelho, Plum Pox Virus is one of the most devastating diseases in stone fruit production around the world, being responsible for high reductions in productivity and quality in orchards.

Veja here the full normative instruction 17.