WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  G/SPS/GEN/815 
14 January 2008 
 
 (08-0140) 
Committee on Sanitary and 
Phytosanitary Measures Original:   Spanish 
 
 
 
AREAS FOUND TO BE FREE OF STENOMA CATENIFER  (LEPIDOPTERA-
OECOPHORIDAE) ON THE BASIS OF SURVEY WORK ON THIS PEST 
CONDUCTED IN PERUVIAN COASTAL AREAS WHERE AVOCADO 
(PERSEA AMERICANA ) IS PRODUCED 
 
Communication from Peru  
   The following communication, received on 9 January  2008, is being circulated at the request 
of Peru
. 
 
_______________ 
  1. Since 2000, Peru's National Agrarian Health Service (SENASA) has been implementing a 
survey of Stenoma catenifer  (Lepidoptera:  Oecophoridae), as part  of a process to improve agrarian 
health conducted with the support of the Asoc iación Peruana de Productores de Palta "Hass" 
(Prohass) (Peruvian Association of Hass Avocado Producers).  The objective is to confirm that the areas on the Peruvian coast where avocado ( Persea americana ) is produced are free from occurrence 
of this pest and to provide a technical/scientific b asis for justification of the phytosanitary status of 
producing departments so as to secure access for avo cados to the international markets where the pest 
in question has quarantine status. 
2. To achieve this objective, a handbook of procedures for surveying Stenoma catenifer  was 
prepared in 2000.  At the same time, survey ac tivities were initiated in avocado-producing areas that 
have export activity or export potential, in the depa rtments of Ica, Lima and La Libertad, which were 
joined by Moquegua and Ancash in 2001, and by Arequipa in 2006. 
3. The Handbook of Procedures was updated in 2006 to incorporate changes highlighting the 
work of sampling of the most susceptible varieties of fruits used for pollination purposes, on the basis 
of the degrees of infestation found in avocados grow n in the Peruvian forest, the natural habitat for 
this pest.  Samples of commercial varieties of th e fruit, such as "Hass" and "Fuerte", nevertheless 
continued to be taken, albeit on a smaller scale. 
4. By the end of 2007 a total of 41,073 hectares of avocado pear trees had been surveyed (on the 
understanding that the same areas are to be worked  each year), and more than 216,000 fruits were 
sampled/observed during the period 2000-2007.  Of those fruits, 139 were considered suspect, but 
after they were taken to specially designed recovery chambers, no specimen of Stenoma catenifer  or 
any other Lepidoptera was detected.  The damage to  the suspect fruits was caused by machinery and 
birds. 
5. As a result of this work, in 2006 Peruvian avocados gained access to the Chilean market, 
where S. catenifer  is considered a quarantine pest.  C onsequently, SENASA is taking appropriate G/SPS/GEN/815 
Page 2  
 
  action to secure access to other markets, such as those of the United States, Mexico and China, which 
also regulate this pest. 
6. It should be noted that the areas of natural o ccurrence of the pest in Peru are tropical areas 
located in the departments of Junín and Pasco, which have an average temperature and average 
precipitation of around 30°C and 1,800 mm., respec tively.  For decades, thousands of tonnes of 
avocado have been transported from these areas to th e Peruvian coast for marketing, but despite that 
fact the survey reports detected zero incidence of this pest in the areas covered by the survey.  The 
inference that can be drawn is that, despite th e length of time during whic h avocados have been 
delivered to the Peruvian coast, weather cond itions have prevented the establishment of any 
population of S. catenifer  in avocado fruit originating in th e areas affected, since the average 
temperature on the coast is 18°C, with almost no precipitation. 
7. SENASA thus provides an adequate level of phy tosanitary protection for Peruvian avocado 
exports from the areas in which S. catenifer  survey work has been conducted. 
8. The volume of avocados inspected for export purposes over the last three years amounts to 
approximately 90,000 tonnes, and no incidence of S. catenifer  has been detected.  Similarly, SENASA 
has at no time been notified by the national ph ytosanitary protection agencies of the importing 
countries about the interception of this pest in destination markets.  G/SPS/GEN/815 
 Page 3 
 
 
  Surveyed areas of Peru with no incidence of Stenoma catenifer  
 
 
 
__________ 
 Tropical areas with natural incidence of 
S. catenifer  SENASA survey area with no incidence of 
Stenoma catenifer