WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  G/SPS/GEN/527 
27 October 2004 
 
 (04-4571) 
Committee on Sanitary a nd Phytosanitary Measures Original:   Spanish 
  
 
ESTABLISHMENT OF AREAS FREE OF MEDITERRANEAN FRUIT FLY 
CERATITIS CAPITATA WIED  
 
Communication by Costa Rica
 
 
 
 The following communication, dated 26 October 2004, is being circulated at the request of the delegation of Costa Rica.  
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I. BACKGROUND 
1. Its agro-ecological conditions are such that Co sta Rica is a major producer and exporter of a 
wide variety of fruit.  These conditions nonetheless make  for the spread of various pests, above all the 
Mediterranean fruit fly Ceratitis capitata Wied and other species of the genus Anastrepha . 
2. The presence of this fruit fly is a barrier to trade in fruit, for which reason control is an 
immediate priority for Costa Rica.  Control of the pe st in the countryside and the harm caused to fruit 
increase producers' costs.  In addition, there are ot her costs related to post-harvest treatment in order 
to meet the quarantine regulations of importing countries. 
3. The International Plant Protection Conventi on and Article 6 of the Agreement on the 
Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measur es provide for the recognition of pest-free areas and 
areas of low-pest prevalence as acceptable phyt osanitary measures, and this has afforded new 
opportunities for Costa Rica. 
4. The declaration and maintenance of a pest-free area requires close coordination between the 
public and private sectors, at both the national and regional levels. 
5. On the basis of the technical experience of th e State Phytosanitary Service and with the help 
of a technical and economic c ooperation consortium set up in 2001 by the International Atomic 
Energy Agency, the Food and Agriculture Or ganization of the United Nations (FAO), the 
International Regional Organization for Plant a nd Animal Health (ORSA), the Inter-American 
Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) , the Mediterranean Fruit Fly Programme 
(MOSCAMED) and the USDA, Costa Rica initiated a project to create pilot fruit fly-free areas. 
6. This communication describes Costa Rica's e xperience in establishing the Inocentes area and 
adjacent areas as free of the Mediterranean fruit fly Ceratitis capitata Wied. 
II. REGULATORY FRAMEWORK 
7. The Regulatory Framework for establishing and declaring fruit fly-free areas is: G/SPS/GEN/527 
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 (a) Executive Decree.  Official Free Area Declaration  
• Executive Decree No. 31567-MAG, signed on 25 July 2003, officially declared the 
Inocentes and adjacent areas fre e of Mediterranean fruit fly Ceratitis capitata  Wied, 
was published in Official Journal No. 1252 of 31 December 2003. 
 
• The area free of C. capitata  consists of 24742.3 hectares in the canton of La Cruz, 
including the districts of La Cruz, Santa Cecilia, Garita, Provincia de Guanacaste, 
Chorotega Region.  Area located in the polygon within the coordinates:  -85.37891, 11.04710 and -85.47285, 10.97394. 
 
 (b) Technical Guidelines 
  The following Technical Guide lines have been issued by the State Phytosanitary Service for 
the technical activities:  
• Technical Guideline to implement the emerge ncy plan in areas free of fruit fly of the 
genus Ceratitis capitata  Wied. 
 
• Technical Guidelines for monitoring quality control. 
  (c) International Standards fo r Phytosanitary Measures (ISPMs): 
 
• ISPM No. 4.  Requirements for the establishment of pest-free areas. 
 
  Issued by the Food and the Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), it 
describes the requirements for the establishme nt and use of pest-free areas (PFAs) as 
a risk management option for phytosanitary certification of plants and plant products 
and other regulated articles exported from the PFA or to support the scientific 
justification for phytosanitary measures ta ken by an importing country for protection 
of an endangered PFA. 
 
• ISPM No. 8.  Determination of the test status in an area. 
 
  Issued by the FAO, it describes the contents  of a pest record, the use of such records 
and other information for determining an area's  pest status.  Descriptions are given of 
categories of pest status and recommendations for good reporting practices. 
 
• ISPM No. 10.  Requirements for the establishment of pest-free places of 
production and pest-free production sites. 
 
  Issued by the FAO, it describes the re quirements for the establishment and use of 
pest-free places of production as a risk management option, to meet phytosanitary 
requirements for imported plants, plant products and other regulated articles. 
 
III. PHYTOSANITARY MEASURES FOR MAINTAINING FREE AREAS 
8. The phytosanitary measures designed to mainta in an officially declared area as free of 
C. capitata  are established within an annual work pr ogramme approved by the Executive Directorate 
of the State Phytosanitary Service and based  on the regulatory framework described above.  G/SPS/GEN/527 
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 9. A trapping network is maintained in urban centres and places defined as strategic.  After 
two years and nine months of trapping for C. capitata , the work programme was changed from 
23 June 2003 onwards.  A total of  21 Jackson traps are baited with three attractants:  ammonium 
acetate, trimethylamine, as well as McPhail traps with torula.  They are serviced every two weeks and the attractants are changed every six weeks. 
10. The preventive trapping network for exotic fru it fly is maintained in the same way. 
IV. ACTION TO ESTABLISH THE INOCENTES AND ADJACENT AREAS AS FREE 
OF C. CAPITATA  
Technical feasibility study to establish pilo t fruit fly-free/low prevalence areas.  
Project RLA/5/045 OIEA, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Nicaragua and Panama.  Latin 
America and Western Asia section.  
Delimitation and agro-ecological features of the Work Area 
 
11. To the south is the Orosí volcano, 1,487 metr es high, which is the northern edge of the 
Guanacaste mountain range.  The volcano forms part  of the Guanacaste National Park and it is the 
highest elevation adjacent to the Work Area.  To the north are some elevations no higher than 
500 metres above sea level that run parallel to  the border with Nicaragua and alongside 
Lake Nicaragua.  To the west is the Santa Rosa Natio nal Park with dry tropical forest and the Pacific 
Ocean, and to the east a very inaccessible semi-tropical rain forest. 
12. These orographic and geographical features mean that the Work Area is a natural forest 
protected by some pasture and crop land, a farm with  an ecology-type hotel;  a citrus farm (more than 
6,000 hectares largely planted with Valencia-t ype oranges and pineapples);  a village of 
approximately 15,000 inhabitants (Santa Cecilia) and 3 villages with under 500 inhabitants.  These 
villages have a variety of fruit trees as well as back  garden vegetables.  The natural forests bordering 
on the Work Area can be classified as secondary dry tr opical forest to the west and south and primary 
semi-rain forest on the slopes of the Orosí volcano.  There is sub-tropical rain forest to the north and 
east. 
13. The Work Area covers approximately 511 km
2.  The only commercial-type farming is citrus 
crops with more than 600,000 hectares under cultivation.   There is small-scale farming, such as cattle 
breeding and crops like maize, vegetables, roots and tubers. 
14. The Work Area's plant cover can be estim ated as 30,000 hectares of natural forest, 
10,000 hectares of grassland with pasture and sm all bushes, 7,000 hectares that host fruit fly, 
including 6,500 with cultivated c itrus and 500 with mixtures of fruit trees and shade trees typical of 
hamlets in the area. 
15. Some 90 to 94 per cent of orange production is used for juice and concentrates, while the 
remainder, which they call waste, is for fresh c onsumption locally and for traders who take it to 
nearby Nicaragua.  Along the border with Nicaragua there are villages in both  countries that have 
coffee trees and the product is used for private consumption. 
16. These houses and small farms are practically isolated  or there is little road or vehicle access.  
Items are transported across the border on foot or on horseback. 
17. Other fruit fly hosts can be found widely scatte red through hamlets in the natural forest, 
chiefly in trees of the genus Spondia sp.  G/SPS/GEN/527 
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 Work Plan to establish a pilot area free of Mediterranean fruit fly, Ceratitis capitata Wied . 
 
Phase I 
 
 Seven trapping routes with a total of 108 Jacks on traps with trimedlure, serviced every week 
and placed 2 km apart. 
 Objective : 
  Detection of Ceratitis capitata  Wied. 
 
Activities : 
  Jackson traps with trimedlure were set up c overing fruit production areas, villages and access 
roads.  The traps are distributed ov er seven different routes as follows: 
 
Place No. of 
traps to be 
serviced 
Finca Oro Este 22 
Finca Oro Oeste 12 
Finca YAFA I 17 
Finca YAFA II 19 
Road (Santa Cecilia, Argentina and La Virgen) 23 
Garita (Village) 3 
Planta Del Oro (vicinity) 6 
Total 102 
 
 They are serviced every 7 days and the devi ce and attractants are changed every 6 weeks. 
  Date of implementation, from 19 September 2001.  
Phase II 
 
Objective: 
 
 Detection of other genera and species of fruit fly.  
Strategy: 
 
 Reduced trapping and increased traps and attractants.  Activities : 
 Trapping: 
 
 A year after Jackson traps + trimedlure we re used, the following changes were made: 
  In accordance with the recommended percenta ge model, 64 Jackson and McPhail traps were 
baited with:  trimedlure, trimethylamine, ammonium acetate, putrescine and torula. 
  G/SPS/GEN/527 
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  No. of 
traps to be 
serviced No. of 
Jackson 
traps Attractants No. of 
McPhail 
traps Attractants 
   TMD 3A  3A Torula 2A 
Total 64 37 19 18 27 8 11 8 
TMD = trimedlure 
3A = trimethylamine+putre scine+ammonium acetate 
2A = putrescine + ammonium acetate 
Torula = hydrolyzed protein 
 
 They were serviced every 2 weeks and the attractants and devices were changed every 
6 weeks.   Date of implementation, from 14 September 2002.  
Phase III 
 
Objective: 
 
 Maintenance of the area declared free of Ceratitis capitata . 
 Activities: 
 
Trapping: 
 
 Two years and nine months after trapping for Ceratitis capitata , the work plan was changed 
as follows: 
  A total of 20 traps, using Jackson traps with 3 attractants:  ammonium acetate, trimethylamine and putrescine, and McPhail traps with torula.   The traps are placed as follows: 
 
Place No. of traps to 
be serviced No. of 
Jackson traps No. of 
McPhail 
traps 
Road 6 3 3 
La Garita 2 1 1 
Hotel Los Inocentes 2 1 1 
Finca Del Oro 4 3 2 
Finca YAFA 2 1 1 
Santa Cecilia  4 2 2 
Total 21 11 10 
 3A = 10 Jackson traps 
 Trimedlure = 1 Jackson trap 
 Torula = 10 McPhail traps 
 
 The traps are serviced every 2 weeks and the devices changed every 6 weeks. 
 
 Date of implementation:  from 23 June 2003.   Further information is available with the Stat e Phytosanitary Service:  www.protectnet.go.cr 
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