Cold Treatment Regulations

We are amending the phytosanitary treatment regulations by making several changes to the requirements for cold treatment enclosures and the requirements for conducting cold treatment. The changes include: Adding more specific and stringent requirements for precooling fruit prior to cold treatment, requiring the use of temperature recording devices that are password-protected and tamperproof, adding requirements to increase the effectiveness of cold treatment conducted in vessel holds, and providing for officials authorized by the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service to conduct audits of the cold treatment process. We are making these changes in response to the results of external and internal reviews of the cold treatment requirements that have been in place. The changes we are making will improve the effectiveness of cold treatment and thus will help to prevent the introduction of quarantine plant pests into the United States.