Costa Rica Drafts Pest-Free Rules for Blueberry and Pomegranate Plant Imports

Costa Rica’s Servicio Fitosanitario del Estado has established phytosanitary measures for importing rooted blueberry and pomegranate plants for propagation from multiple source countries.

Costa Rica’s State Phytosanitary Service has drafted import rules for young blueberry plants from Mexico, Peru and Spain, and pomegranate plants from France.

The State Phytosanitary Service (SFE, for Servicio Fitosanitario del Estado) is Costa Rica’s plant-health agency. It wrote four draft resolutions, one for each pair of plant and origin country. Each draft says it takes effect when it is signed¹.

In short, a nursery in Costa Rica can bring in these rooted plants only with an import permit and a plant-health certificate that names specific pests. The plants must arrive without soil or flowers, and inspectors will check and sample them on arrival².

Which plants and countries do the SFE drafts cover?

All four drafts deal with rooted plants for propagation. These are young plants with roots, sold to growers who will plant them to produce new crops or more plants. They are not fruit for eating.

The drafts cover these four trade routes:

• Blueberry plants from Mexico (Vaccinium corymbosum), in draft resolution No. 0021-2026-CV-ARP-SFE³.
• Blueberry plants from Peru, in draft resolution No. 022-2026-CV-ARP-SFE².
• Pomegranate plants from France (Punica granatum), in draft resolution No. 0019-2026-CV-ARP-SFE¹.
• Blueberry plants from Spain, in a draft listed as PR17-2026⁴.

Each draft applies only to its own plant and its own country of origin. A blueberry plant from Spain must meet the Spanish rules, not the Mexican ones. The four drafts share a common structure, but the pest lists and extra conditions differ.

Why did Costa Rica’s plant-health agency act?

In each case, an importer asked the SFE to set entry rules for the plants. The requests came in mid-2026. The request for Spanish blueberry plants arrived on June 20, 2026, as request No. 11135⁴. The request for Mexican blueberry plants arrived on June 26, 2026³. The request for Peruvian plants came the same day².

The request for French pomegranate plants arrived on July 29, 2026, as request No. 11181¹. Without such rules, these plants cannot legally enter Costa Rica. A Costa Rican decree says nobody may bring in plants under plant-health rules without entry requirements issued by the SFE³.

For each request, a pest risk analyst wrote a technical report. The report on Spain is dated July 27, 2026⁴. The report on France is dated Aug. 25, 2026¹. The report on Mexico is dated Aug. 28, 2026³. The report on Peru is dated Sept. 1, 2026².

Each report listed the pests present in the exporting country that can travel with the plants. The SFE found that such pests exist in each country³. It then chose the pests that appear on Costa Rica’s list of regulated quarantine pests, which are pests the country wants to keep out.

Which pests must Mexican blueberry plants be free of?

The Mexican draft names four pests and one virus for the certificate. The plants must be free of Choristoneura rosaceana, Grapholita packardi, Scirtothrips citri, Scirtothrips dorsalis and Tobacco ringspot virus³.

The SFE explains why Grapholita packardi matters. It cites a European Food Safety Authority panel finding that infested fruit and nursery plants can spread this pest³. Larvae can hide in twigs and pupae in cracks in the bark, and both are hard to find.

The Mexican plants also need a treatment. The certificate must state that the plants were treated with a residual insecticide, a pest spray that keeps working for some time after use³.

What do Peruvian blueberry plants need?

The Peruvian draft has the shortest pest list but the strictest rules on growing material. The certificate must say the plants are free of Scirtothrips dorsalis, Xiphinema americanum and Xiphinema rivesi².

The certificate must also carry a second statement. It must say that the growing material packed with the plants is free of Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. cubense tropical race 4 (Foc R4T)². This statement covers the material around the roots, not the plants alone.

The Peruvian draft limits what the roots can sit in. Only inert growing material, peat moss or sphagnum moss is allowed². The material must not contain coconut. Soil and coconut fibre are both banned as growing material.

There are further conditions for Peru. The plant nursery must be registered with Peru’s plant-health authority, the national plant protection organisation of the exporting country². Shipments must not contain flowers, seeds or weed plants, and must be free of snails and slugs. The Mexican and Spanish drafts have no nursery registration rule, and the Peruvian draft has no insecticide treatment.

What do Spanish blueberry plants need?

The Spanish draft names four pests for the certificate. The plants must be free of Cacoecimorpha pronubana, Scirtothrips aurantii, Scirtothrips dorsalis and Xiphinema rivesi⁴.

The SFE notes that Cacoecimorpha pronubana is found on young blueberry shoots⁴. That is why it follows the trade in plants for planting.

Unlike the Mexican draft, the Spanish draft does not require an insecticide treatment on the certificate⁴. The plants must still grow in soil-free material, arrive without soil or flowers, and be free of snails.

What do French pomegranate plants need?

The French draft has the longest pest list. The certificate must say the plants are free of seven pests¹:

• Brevipalpus lewisi
• Cryptoblabes gnidiella
• Icerya seychellarum
• Lobesia botrana
• Platynota stultana
• Spodoptera littoralis
• Thrips flavus

Each of these is a regulated pest in Costa Rica, the draft says¹. Like the Mexican blueberry plants, the French pomegranate plants must be treated with a residual insecticide, and the certificate must record it.

The general rules for growing material also apply. Only soil-free growing material is allowed. The plants must arrive without soil or flowers, and free of snails and slugs¹.

How will a shipment enter Costa Rica?

The steps are the same in all four drafts. An importer must follow them in this order:

1. Get an import permit from the SFE before the plants are shipped. The drafts call this the plant-health requirements form³.
2. Make sure the exporting country’s plant-health authority issues an official plant-health certificate for the shipment. It must carry the pest-free statements in its additional declarations section.
3. Where the draft requires it, make sure the certificate’s treatment section records the residual insecticide.
4. Ship the plants without soil, flowers or snails, in the growing material the draft allows.
5. Present the shipment for inspection and sampling when it arrives in Costa Rica².

The certificate is the key paper. It comes from the authority in the exporting country, not from the seller. A missing pest statement on the certificate means the shipment does not meet the rule. Inspectors on arrival may also take samples to check for pests¹.

Who is affected by the blueberry and pomegranate rules?

Costa Rican nurseries and fruit growers who want new blueberry or pomegranate plants are the main buyers. Each of them, or an import agent, must hold the permit before the plants leave the exporting country.

Nurseries in Mexico, Peru, Spain and France are the sellers. They need their own plant-health authority to inspect the plants and issue a certificate with the right wording. Peruvian nurseries must also be registered with that authority².

Growers in Mexico and France must plan for the insecticide treatment before shipping³. Peruvian growers must change their growing material if they use coconut fibre, because the draft bans it². Spanish growers face no treatment step, but must still meet the pest list⁴.

When do the new plant import rules start?

All four documents are drafts. Each says the resolution will take effect on signature³. The drafts do not give a signing date.

After signature, the SFE will add the requirements to its database of plant-health import requirements⁴. Each draft also orders the SFE to notify the World Trade Organization (WTO) and its own departments².

How do these drafts rest on Costa Rican law?

The SFE bases the drafts on Costa Rica’s Plant Protection Law, No. 7664³. That law makes plant-health measures mandatory and in the public interest. It gives the SFE the job of keeping new plant pests out of the country.

The drafts also cite two international agreements that Costa Rica has adopted as law. One is the International Plant Protection Convention, which lets countries set conditions on imported plants⁴. The other is the WTO agreement on food safety and plant-health measures, which requires such rules to rest on science and a risk assessment¹.

The Plant Protection Law also says the SFE must choose the least trade-restrictive measure that still protects plants³. That explains why the conditions differ by country. Each draft targets only the pests the SFE found in that exporting country.

Key points on Costa Rica’s blueberry and pomegranate plant rules

The table sets out the main facts from the four drafts.

The four resolutions take effect when the SFE signs them. From then, shipments of these plants that lack the permit or the correct certificate wording will not meet Costa Rica’s entry rules.

Sources

1. ↩ 26_04600_00_s.pdf https://members.wto.org/crnattachments/2026/SPS/CRI/26_04600_00_s.pdf
2. ↩ 26_04741_00_s.pdf https://members.wto.org/crnattachments/2026/SPS/CRI/26_04741_00_s.pdf
3. ↩ 26_04740_00_s.pdf https://members.wto.org/crnattachments/2026/SPS/CRI/26_04740_00_s.pdf
4. ↩ 26_04083_00_s.pdf https://members.wto.org/crnattachments/2026/SPS/CRI/26_04083_00_s.pdf