Hass Avocados From Mexico; Importation Into the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico and Other Changes

We are amending the regulations governing the importation of fruits and vegetables to provide for the importation of Hass avocados from Mexico into Puerto Rico under the same systems approach currently required for the importation of Hass avocados into all States of the United States from Michoac[aacute]n, Mexico. The systems approach requirements include trapping, orchard certification, limited production area, trace back labeling, pre-harvest orchard surveys for all pests, orchard sanitation, post-harvest safeguards, fruit cutting and inspection at the packinghouse, port-of-arrival inspection, and clearance activities. This action will allow for the importation of Hass avocados from Michoac[aacute]n, Mexico, into Puerto Rico while continuing to provide protection against the introduction of quarantine pests. In addition, we are amending the regulations to provide for the Mexican national plant protection organization to use an approved designee to inspect avocados for export and to suspend importation of avocados into the United States from Michoac[aacute]n, Mexico, only from specific orchards or packinghouses when quarantine pests are detected, rather than suspending imports from the entire municipality where the affected orchards or packinghouses are located. These changes will provide additional flexibility in operating the export program while continuing to provide protection against the introduction of quarantine pests.