Announcement of the General Administration of Customs on the Prevention of the Introduction of Tomato Brown Rugose Fruit Virus with Seeds of the Solanum Lycopersicum and Capsicum spp. ([2021] No. 91)

G/SPS/N/CHN/1223, notified on 16 July 2021, and G/SPS/N/CHN/1223/Add.1, notified on 21 October 2021, have been approved as "Announcement of the General Administration of Customs on the Prevention of the Introduction of Tomato Brown Rugose Fruit Virus with Seeds of Solanum Lycopersicum and Capsicum spp. ([2021] No. 91)" on 12 November 2021.The announcement shall take effect on 1 January 2022 and Regions or countries likely to be affected are "Countries or regions exporting seeds of the Solanum lycopersicum and Capsicum spp. to China".The details are as follows:Seeds of Solanum lycopersicum and Capsicum spp. exported to China shall meet the following phytosanitary requirements for source control:I. If the Tomato brown rugose fruit virus (ToBRFV) does not occur in the country or area of origin, the competent phytosanitary authority shall state it in the additional declaration on the Phytosanitary Certificate: "This consignment of seeds is originated from___ (country or area), where is free of ToBRFV."II. If the ToBRFV occurs in the country or area of origin, but the seeds come from a pest free area for ToBRFV in accordance with the International Standards for Phytosanitary Measures No. 4, Requirements for the Establishment of Pest Free Areas (ISPM No. 4), the competent phytosanitary authority shall state it in the additional declaration on the Phytosanitary Certificate: "This consignment of seeds is originated from pest free area for ToBRFV."III. If the ToBRFV occurs in the country or area of origin and the pest free area has not been established, the competent phytosanitary authority shall carry out a field survey to confirm that no ToBRFV has occurred in the growth period in the planting areas, and take at least 3,000 (at least 10% for the seeds in small batches) representative samples of the seeds in the batch for testing by RT-PCR or Real-time PCR to confirm that no ToBRFV is present before export. The competent phytosanitary authority shall state in the additional declaration on the phytosanitary certificate: "Field survey was carried out during the growth period of this consignment of seeds, no ToBRFV occurred in the planting area. Prior to export, this consignment of seeds has been tested by RT-PCR (or real-time RT-PCR) and found free of ToBRFV."Seeds harvested before 1 January 2022 may be exempted from the field survey requirement, which shall be stated in the additional declaration on the Phytosanitary certificate: "This consignment of seeds was harvested before 1 January 2022, tested by RT-PCR (or real-time RT-PCR) prior to export, and found free of ToBRFV."IV. Seeds of the Solanum lycopersicum and Capsicum spp. exported to China via a third country or area shall be accompanied by an original Phytosanitary Certificate issued by the competent phytosanitary authority of the country or area of origin with corresponding additional declarations, or a copy confirmed by the competent phytosanitary authority of a third country or area, in accordance with the requirements of the International Standards for Phytosanitary Measures No. 12 Guidellines forPhytosanitary Certificates (ISPM No. 12), and at the same time:(i) If the seeds are only stored or assembled with other goods in a third country or area and are not contaminated by pests, the competent phytosanitary authority of the third country or area shall issue a Phytosanitary Certificate for re-export;(ii) If the seeds in this consignment are contaminated by pests, the competent phytosanitary authority of the third country or area shall carry out pre-export testing and issue a Phytosanitary Certificate and state it in the additional declaration: "Prior to export, this consignment of seeds has been tested by RT-PCR (or real-time RT-PCR), and found free of ToBRFV."