. /.  WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  G/SPS/GEN/930 
12 June 2009 
 
 (09-2874) 
Committee on Sanitary a nd Phytosanitary Measures Original:   Spanish 
  
 
INFORMATION ON MEASURES TO BE TAKE N TO PREVENT THE ENTRY OF THE 
HUANGLONGBING (HLB) BACTERIUM THAT ATTACKS CITRUS FRUIT 
 
Communication from Costa Rica
 
 
 
 The following communication, received on 11 June 2009, is being circulated at the request of 
the delegation of Costa Rica . 
 
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 1. The Phytosanitary Technical Commission of th e State Phytosanitary Service (SFE) of the 
Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock (MAG) of Costa Rica has drawn up a series of measures aimed at preventing the entry into the country of th e bacterial disease known as "Yellow Dragon Disease" or 
Huanglongbing (HLB). 
2. These steps are being taken pursuant to the Declar ation of Phytosanitary Emergency issued by 
the International Regional Organization for Plant and Animal Health (OIRSA) for the region of 
Central America, Mexico and the Dominican Rep ublic following the recent identification of the 
disease in Belize.  The disease has also been de tected in Caribbean islands, Brazil, and Miami 
(United States). 
3. The Commission agreed on the following i mmediate steps to prevent the disease: 
(a) A decree will be drawn up by the MAG for the prevention and control of HLB. 
(b) Resources will be assigned from the SFE's Pest  Prevention Fund to help finance the 
measures taken. 
(c) Inspection of citrus material at entry points  into the country will be intensified, since 
the bacterium is transmissible by grafti ng through infected buds and the use of 
reproductive materials originating in countri es or locations where the pest is present. 
(d) A group of field and laboratory technicians will be trained in countries with 
experience in managing this pest, such as Brazil, Cuba and the United States, to 
become specialists in identifying the vector and its different stages in the field and in 
the laboratory. 
(e) The group of technicians will be in charge of the overall strategy for training the 
different government and private technicians and producers in the citrus growing areas. 
(f) Insect sampling:  the HLB bacterium is transmitted from tree to tree by vector insects 
known as psillids;  in Asia and America, the vector is Diaphorina citri .  In view of G/SPS/GEN/930 
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  the high population of psillids in the main  citrus growing areas, thorough sampling of 
this vector will be conducted for processing by  the official laboratories to ensure that 
they are not carriers of the HLB bacterium.  These samples will be taken in all of the 
citrus plantations, private orchards, and other possible host plants throughout the 
country.  The activity of these insects peaks during the period of new citrus shoots, 
and that is where they need to be collected. 
(g) The country's laboratories will be assessed to  determine their capacity for diagnosis 
of this pest so that any shortcomings can be overcome. 
(h) A dissemination campaign will be conducted using printed materials as well as radio 
and television. 
4. Urgent measures need to be taken to protect the Costa Rican citrus sector.  According to data 
from the Executive Secretariat for Agricultural Planning (SEPSA) for 2008, there are a total of 
25,000 hectares of citrus plantations which gene rate an added value of 4,129,000,000 colones. 
5. The symptoms of the disease include yellowing of the branches, mottling of the leaves, and 
deformed fruit with a bitter taste.  Once the plants have been infected, there is no way to control or 
cure the disease, so that the trees must be el iminated to prevent the disease from spreading. 
 
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