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STC number: 216
Restrictions on Ya pears imports
Maintained by:
United States of America
Raised by:
China
Supported by:
European Union
First date raised:
March 2005 G/SPS/R/36/Rev.1, paras. 37-39
Dates subsequently
raised:
Number of times
subsequently raised:
Relevant
document(s):
Products covered:
0
Raised orally
0808 Apples, pears and quinces, fresh.
Primary subject
keyword:
Subject keywords:
Plant Health
Status:
Resolved
Solution:
Date reported as
resolved:
16 October 2013
Plant health; Undue delays
Extracts from SPS Committee Meeting summary reports
In March 2005, China reported that, at the end of 2003, the US Animal and Plant Health Inspection
Service (APHIS) had suspended imports of Ya pears from China on the grounds that new species
of the fungus Alternaria sp. had been found. The Chinese Government had undertaken cooperative
studies with the United States and finally obtained a result satisfactory to both Chinese and US
specialists. However, US authorities had not yet made any decision based on the above results and
imports of pears from China were still suspended.
The European Communities noted that it was also experiencing lengthy decision-making
procedures when trying to export some plant products to the United States, and invited the United
States to review its internal administrative procedures.
The United States clarified that imports of Ya pears from China were suspended in December 2003
due to repeated detections of the exotic fungus Alternaria sp.and that imports of these pears had
already been suspended in previous years for a similar problem. In May 2004, China had been
provided with a document describing the status of this organism as a pest of quarantine
significance and the United States had been working closely with China to develop conditions that
would allow the reopening of the market. After several bilateral discussions, agreement had been
reached in November 2004 on a work plan stipulating that Chinese scientists would cooperate with
US scientists to develop possible measures to mitigate the fungus. A protocol had been agreed in
December 2004 to enable a test shipment of Ya pears to be imported for research purposes into
the United States to evaluate the various mitigation measures.. Unfortunately, the collaborative
research showed that even with all the mitigation measures in place, the infestation rate still
significantly exceeded the one specified in the work plan of November 2004. Alternaria sp. was a
newly identified species not known to exist in the United States, and a better understanding of this
organism was necessary to develop appropriate mitigation measures. The United States would
continue work with China to identify measures to reduce the level of infestation to an acceptable
level so that the market might be reopened.