G/SPS/GEN/1436  
29 July 2015  
(15-3910)  Page: 1/2  
Committee on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures  Original: Spanish  
 
  PHYTOSANITARY EMERGENCY PLAN AGAINST FRUIT FLIES IN THE CITY 
OF VILLA REGINA, PROVINCE OF RIO NEGRO, ARGENTINA 
COMMUNICATION FROM ARGENTINA 
The following communication, received on 28 July 2 015, is being circulated at the request of the 
delegation of Argentina. 
 
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  1  BACKGROUND 
1.1.  The Argentine Patagonia region has been a fruit fly-free area since 2006. It is composed of 
the districts of Villarino and Patagones in the province of Buenos Aires, sections XXIV and XXV of the department of Puelén and section V of the department of Caleu Caleu in the province of 
La Pampa, and the provinces of Neuquén, Río Ne gro, Chubut, Santa Cruz, and Tierra del Fuego, 
Argentine Antarctica and the South Atlantic Islands. 
1.2.  The fruit fly-free status brings with it important advantages and benefits for the production 
and export sectors, as well as a series of obligations to ensure that this status is maintained. 
1.3.  Domestic legislation, through Resolution No. 152/2006 of the National Agriculture and 
Food Quality and Health Service (SENASA), sets out the procedures to follow in the event of the appearance of fruit flies in a free area. These pr ocedures form the "Phytosanitary Emergency Plan 
for Fruit Fly-Free Areas", which has two main aims: 
 to prevent the spread of the outbreak to th e rest of the free area, thereby maintaining 
its status; 
 to provide security to destination markets with regard to the host fruit marketed under 
the free-area status. 
2  EMERGENCY PLAN IN THE CITY OF VILLA REGINA 
2.1.  The fruit fly programme in the Argentine Patagonia region has a trapping network made up 
of 2,500 traps that are checked on a weekly basis. 
2.2.  On 17 March 2015, following the confirmation of repeated Mediterranean fruit fly catches in 
a trap in the urban area of Villa Regina, SENASA launched a Phytosanitary Emergency Plan by 
means of Resolution No. 98/2015. 
2.3.  A regulated area with a 7.2 km radius was established around the epicentre of detection 
(latitude = -39.1064649, longitude = -67.0850325) and field operations, quarantine control and 
production monitoring were initiated. 
2.4.  The trap network was strengthened, with the establishment of five concentric working areas 
over a total of 9,216 hectares. This enabled the de velopment of the outbreak to be observed and 
the monitoring activities to be managed. G/SPS/GEN/1436 
- 2 - 
  2.5.  Sterile fly release was stepped up, focusing on dwellings near the outbreak, and insecticide 
bait was applied to trees in urban and residential areas. Host fruit was intensely sampled to check for possible larval foci, and all potentially affected fruit within a radius of 200 metres was withdrawn and destroyed. 
2.6.  At the same time, the declaration of the emergency was publicized, along with the 
restrictions in force regarding the transportation of fruit applicable to producers and transporters and packing and/or refrigeration establishments in the regulated area. In addition, press releases 
targeted at the general community were issued. 
2.7.  Regarding the quarantine regulations, control posts have been established and the 
phytosanitary measures applicable to the host fruit produced in the regulated area have been d e f i n e d .  F u r t h e r m o r e ,  a n  I T  s y s t e m  ( S I G - T R A Z A )  ensures traceability of the origin of the host 
fruit, thereby reducing the risk of dispersion of th e pest to the rest of the free area and providing 
more solid guarantees to third countries. 
2.8.  During the first few weeks of the control efforts, intensified trapping led to the detection of 
more adult Mediterranean fruit flies, bring the total number of specimens to 88, and two larval 
samples were found at private addresses in urban areas. The most recent catch was recorded on 2 June 2015. 
2.9.  The 14 weeks that have elapsed since the start of the emergency have witnessed the 
release of a total of 27.6 million sterile pupae in the regulated area, the destruction of more than 7,000 kilograms of fruit from 149 urban addresses and the point-source application of low-environmental-impact insecticide bait. 
2.10.  The activities undertaken are set to continue until the theoretical life cycle of the insect, 
as set out in the regulations in force, is concluded and the Emergency Plan is lifted. 
2.11.  It should be noted that this Emergency Plan guarantees the phytosanitary safety 
of Argentine products and does not affect usual trade flows, including to markets that have 
fruit-fly restrictions in place.  
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