811.612Oranges/Spain/—: Telegram
The Secretary of State to the Ambassador in Spam (Moore)
75. Your 75 [76], December 9, 11 p.m. Permits were formerly granted for entry to this country of Spanish oranges under the “general” clause on page 2 of amendment 4 of Plant Quarantine 56,12 conditional upon the presentation of evidence satisfactory to the Department of Agriculture that such fruits were not attacked in the country of origin by injurious insects, including fruit flies and melon flies. However, last year it was found that Spanish oranges were in fact quite heavily infested with the Mediterranean fruit fly and in consequence further permits were refused and the importers were notified accordingly.
The Department of Agriculture states that the importations under permit were very trivial amounting to a few shipments of Seville oranges per year for the use of two small marmalade factories near New York and that practically none of the principal crop of Spanish oranges grown about Valencia ever came to this country even when importation was unrestricted.
[Paraphrase.] The concluding sentence of your telegram seems to indicate that the Spanish Government may have under consideration steps which might prove harmful to American interests in Spain as a method of influencing the American Government’s attitude regarding Plant Quarantine 56, especially in connection with the importation of Almerian grapes. If this proves to be the case, you should [Page 715] report the attitude of the Spanish Government and the character of the steps proposed. [End paraphrase.]
- An embargo on the importation of oranges, grapes, and other fruits from regions where the Mediterranean fruit fly was present (including the Spanish province of Almeria), was laid by the Federal Horticultural Board in 1923 in Plant Quarantine No. 56. Amendment 4 was issued Feb. 6, 1925.↩