Please be advised that the Canadian Food Inspection Agency’s (CFIA’s) directive D-10-01: General Phytosanitary Import Requirements for Fresh Pepper and Tomato Fruit from the World has been updated, following a stakeholder consultation carried out in 2015.
The following changes have been made as part of this revision:
• The phytosanitary requirements related to Tuta absoluta (tomato leaf miner) for fresh tomatoes and related to Thaumatotibia leucotreta (false codling moth) for fresh peppers have changed: options for pest free areas (PFA), systems approaches (SA), and treatment in the country of origin have been added.
• The list of countries regulated for T. absoluta and T. leucotreta has been updated.  See Appendix 1 for the list of affected countries.
• For countries from which tomatoes or peppers are permitted, but where T. absoluta or T. leucotreta are not present, a plain phytosanitary certificate is now required; no particular additional declarations or treatment details are needed. See Appendix 1 for the list of affected countries.
• Appendix 1 now provides specific lists of countries from which fresh tomatoes and fresh peppers are permitted. Importation from any other country requires prior approval from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA).
The effective date of the updated directive is March 23, 2016. Â A phase-in period is in effect during which the new requirements will not be enforced. Â Until the end of this phase-in period on Monday, April 4, 2016 shipments may meet either the updated requirements or the previous requirements. Â For reference, the previous requirements can be consulted at the following link.
If you have a shipment that is currently being held or have one held between now and April 4th, the above noted message from CFIA Plant Health should be provided to the CFIA National Import Service Centre (NISC)