Two Republican lawmakers from apple producing states have asked for a full pest and disease risk analysis of fruit imported from Poland, a nation that has not previously met U.S. requirements.

U.S. Representatives Dan Newhouse of Washington and Chris Collins of New York sent a letter today to Sonny Perdue, secretary of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, requesting the study by the Animal Plant Health Inspection Services, or APHIS.

In January last year, APHIS proposed making it easier for certain European Union countries to export fruit to the United States by replacing the current preclearance requirement with a systems approach. Poland, a large apple producer now banned from exporting to Russia after Russia’s embargo, was added to that list later.

The Congressmen favor leaving Poland on the more stringent policy. They made a similar request to APHIS Administrator Kevin Shea in July last year.

Click here to read the letter: http://newhouse.house.gov/sites/newhouse.house.gov/files/AGR.APHISPolandApple.pdf

Click here to read APHIS’s proposed regulations amendments:
https://www.regulations.gov/document?D=APHIS-2015-0073-0001