SAG sets phytosanitary requirements for importing stone fruit plants from the USA.

The Agricultural and Livestock Service (SAG) established the phytosanitary requirements for the importation of plants and cuttings of stone fruit species originating from the United States of North America, through exempt resolution No. 7,781, dated August 13, 2026, published in the Official Gazette of the Republic of Chile No. 44,532, on Monday, August 24, 2026, in Section I of General Norms (official reference CVE 2857392). The regulation was signed by the National Director of SAG, Domingo Rojas Philippi, and will enter into force 60 days after its publication.

The resolution, issued by the Ministry of Agriculture through the Undersecretariat of Agriculture, unifies into a single legal body the import requirements for eleven species of the genus Prunus: apricot, sweet cherry, myrobalan plum, sour cherry, European plum, almond, mahaleb cherry, peach, nectarine, Japanese plum, and Japanese cherry. Consequently, the requirements that governed Prunus serrulata since resolution No. 5,073 of 2012, which is hereby amended, are transferred to the new regulation, and resolution No. 136 of 2021 is repealed.

Certification Requirements and Pest Control

Shipments must be covered by a Phytosanitary Certificate issued by the official organization of the United States (USDA/APHIS), with additional declarations certifying that the material originates from a nursery or germplasm center under official control and is free from an extensive list of quarantine arthropods and pathogens. Among the regulated pests, the following stand out:

• Erwinia amylovora, Xylella fastidiosa, and Xanthomonas arboricola pv. pruni, which affect several stone fruit species.
• ‘Candidatus phytoplasma pruni’ (Peach X disease), peach mosaic virus, and other phytoplasmas and viruses.
• Mites of the Eriophyidae family (Eriophyes insidiosus, Phytoptus emarginatae, and Acalitus phloeocoptes), the detection of which requires the opening of dormant bud scales under a microscope.

The regulation also updates the list of quarantine pests: Pseudomonas syringae pv. morsprunorum and Little cherry virus 1, already present in the country, are removed, and Epiphyas postvittana is reclassified as a non-quarantine pest in the United States.

Entry, Quarantine, and Treatments

Plant material may only enter through the SAG Foreign Trade Office of the Arturo Merino Benítez International Airport, in the Metropolitan Region, where each shipment will be inspected. Shipments must undergo a disinfestation treatment by immersion or spraying with authorized products, and comply with conditions such as being free of soil, leaves, flowers, and fruits, and using first-use packaging.

All material must undergo a Post-Entry Quarantine regime, during which SAG will verify the absence of latent or difficult-to-detect pests. The importer must previously obtain authorization for the quarantine site and, if the material is intended for propagation, comply with the mandatory Plum Pox virus (PPV) control and nursery regulations.

Scope and Validity

The resolution modifies No. 5,073 of 2012 by removing Prunus serrulata from its scope, and repeals No. 136 of 2021. Stone fruit species not included will require a Pest Risk Analysis before SAG, and interspecific hybrids must comply with the sum of the declarations of all species involved.

The new regulation directly impacts Chilean importers and fruit producers by reinforcing sanitary barriers against pests of high economic impact such as Erwinia amylovora and Xylella fastidiosa, which could be mobilized through propagation material. By unifying and updating the requirements, SAG seeks to protect the country’s phyto- and zoosanitary heritage and provide regulatory certainty to a key sector of national agriculture.

Source: Official Gazette of the Republic of Chile, No. 44,532, August 24, 2026, Section I, General Norms, pgs. 1-7 (official reference: CVE 2857392).