United States Department of Agriculture Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service Plant Protection and Quarantine



## Commodity Import Evaluation Document (CIED)



### Count r y of Origin : Argentina 

### Date of Request : March

. 16 , 200 9



### Commodity : All Anastrepha fraterculus (South American fruit fly ) host

material from the southern part of Mendoza that is currently enterable to the United States from other provinces of Argentina without mitigations for fruit flies. Mitigations for other pests are still required.

Common name (s ) : N/A

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### Recognition of additional P rovinces as Anastrepha fraterculus Pest

- Free

Area s (PFA) for Argentina

Currently, fruit fly host materials without treat ment from Argentina may be imported into

the United States from areas in Argentina that are free of the South American fruit fly (SAFF) ( Anastrepha fraterculus ) [Wiedemann] and other fruit flies

, or from areas with A.fraterculus after an approved APHIS tre atment is used to mitigate the pest. APHIS currently recognizes the Patagonia region of Argentina, including those areas along the valleys of the Rio Colorado and Rio Negro rivers and also including the provinces of Neuquen, Rio Negro, Chubut, Santa Cruz, and Tierra del Fuego

, in Argentina as free of Anastrepha spp. fruit flies

.

I n 200 4

, t he National Food Safety and Quality Service ( Servicio Nacional de Sanidad y

Calidad Ag roa limentaria

, S ENASA ) of Argentina requested an increase to the areas that

may ex port fruit f ly host material (fruit) to the United States. In response to S ENASA ’ s request, APHIS conducted site visit s (APHIS, 200 5 ; 2009) to the Province of Mendoza to
evaluate the fruit fly program and pest survey protocols

, and the phytosanitary risks

associated with importing fruit from t he additional area declared by Argentina to be pest

free

. Survey and detection protocols must be evaluated and approved by APHIS before the PFA is recognized by APHIS. Before host commodities associated with the PFA can be imported into the United States, the requirements of 7 CFR 319.56

- 5 must be met

. This includes following the criteria for establishing and maintaining a PFA in the International Standards for Phytosanitary Measures No.4: “ Requirements for the

Estab lishment of Pest free areas ” (IPPC, 1995)

.2 Du ring the 2009 APHIS site visit, S ENAS A provided survey data and information relating to the establishment and management of the pest

- free area know n as the Southern

and Central Oases in the Southern half of the Province of Mendoza

. This geographical

area is a well de fined area. There are natural barriers acting as buffer zones between populations of fruit flies in the northern part of Mendoza and other areas of Argentina

, and S ENASA has a cooperative program w ith ISCAMEN ( Instituto de Sanidad y Calidad Agropecuaria Mendoza )

, the provincial phytosanitary agency of the Pro vince of

Mendoza

, to reduce and eradicate populations of fruit flies in the northern part of

Mendoza Province . S ENASA and ISCAMEN operate effe ctive barrier stations at all border points

, road stations, and airports to prevent the entry of quarantine pests and to

protect pest

- free areas. In addition, there are no native hosts , and no fruit trees are found outside of cultivated or dooryard areas. Outside of irrigated areas, the entire region is a

scrub desert with very low rainfall and little or no natural vegetation.

The program to establish and maintain the Province of Mendoza as free of SAFF followed the same guidelines, protocols and manuals as the other areas of Argentina that are currently recognized as fruit fly free.

S ENASA follows international protocols for fruit fly trapping and control programs. The trap types, baits and lures, density of traps and servicing intervals are all in ac cordance

with IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) and APHIS protocols for eradication and maintenance of fruit fly pest free areas. S EN A SA maintain s maps of traps and places of production. S ENAS A has an extensive program manual that explicitly descr ibes how the program is to be operated. In Mendoza Province

, S ENAS A maintains 2 8 trap
networks with 4,728 traps . S ENAS A maintain s quality controls over the trapping

program. In addition to the extensive trapping program, S ENAS A samples fruit for fruit fly larvae. S ENAS A indicated during high er risk seasons, the fruit fly t rap lines increased and other personnel were added to the laborator ies to handle the increased

workload.

S ENAS A has an emergency response plan for fruit flies (including SAFF and

e conomically important Anastrepha species) . Any time there is an outbreak (defined as captures of more than one fly or larvae) the plan is activated. The plan is very detailed

about handling suspicious fruit fly capture s and how the program will respond. A grid is

created around the capture location and additional traps are installed. Fruit sampling and eradication activities are initiated. A regulated area is established and reg ulated fruit must be treated before it may be moved from the area. The eme rgency program will continue through three life c ycles of the pest (as calculated by degree days ) . If there are

no captures during this period the eradication is considered complete and the normal fruit fly program resumes.

In summary, a ctivities perform ed to support the pest

- free area in the southern part of

Mendoza included the following risk management measures: surveillance, audits of trap placement, trap methods, trap records, diagnostic tests, post

- harvest packing procedures, interception and sampli ng data from destructive analysis, record keeping, and training of personnel to maintain phytosanitary security of the importing country (such as3 safeguarding, buffer maintenance, signage, integrity of exclusionary facility, consignment integrity, and pest identification skills). Establishment and maintenance of this of pest

free area for fruit flies conformed to International Standards for Phytosanitary Me asures (ISPM) # 4 and (ISPM) # 26, which include systems to establish freedom, phytosanitary

measures to maintain freedom, and checks to verify freedom has been maintained. These PFA components where achieved through data assembly, trapping surveys (delimiting, detection and monitoring), regulatory controls, audits and documentation.

In April, 2009, SENAS A provided APHIS with a description of the geographic boundaries of the portion of Mendoza that is to be included in the pest free area. There is no evidence that other fruit flies of economic importance are in the area to be added. In

December , 20 1 0, S E NAS A provided confirmation to APHIS that it has been over one year since any Anastrepha species fruit flies of economic importance have been found in

the South and Central Oases in the Province of Mendoza

. In fact SENASA has trapped in the proposed PFA fo r over 10 years without trapping any SAFF . SENASA maintains that climatic conditions in the Mendoza province are unsuitable for establishment and maintenance of populations of Anastrepha species of economic importance

, such as

SAFF

. SENASA has detected o ne species of Anastrepha

, Anastrepha alveatoides

Blanchard

, in the Province of Mendoza. This species is associated with fruits that are not of economic importance.

After reviewing the trip report s from site visit s and additional information provided by

S ENASA , as summarize d above, I have concluded the southern part of the province of

Mendoza meet s the requirements of 7 CFR 319.56

- 5 for establishing and maintaining

pest

- free areas. In addition, the survey and emergency action protocols used to determine

an d maintain pest

- free status in the province of Mendoza meet APHIS’s approval.

Recommendations :

Based on their review of the survey data, other infor mation and the findings of the

J anuary

- February 200 5 and March 2009 site visit s APHIS has concluded tha t the southern part Mendoza province in Argentina can be recognized as free of all economically important fruit flies in the genus Anastrepha

. The southern part of the province of Mendoza should be added as a fruit fly free area to the existing Medfly Pes t

Free A reas of Argentina

. This action would recognize portions of provinces of Argentina

as fr ee of all economically important Anastrepha spp. and allow the importation of Anastrepha spp. fruit fly host material (fruit) into the United States from these a reas of Argentina without additional mitigations or requirements for Anastrepha spp. fruit flies

when Anastrepha spp. fruit flies are the only pest s of concern.

References

7 CFR 319.56

- 5

. 2008. Code of Federal R egulations. Title 7. Part 319

- 5 Pest

- free areas. Office of Federal R egister, National Archives and Records Administration, Washington DC, USA

.4 APHIS. 200 5 . APHIS fruit fly review trip report, Mendoza, Argentina , J anuary 30

- February 5 , 200 5

. W. Snell , APHIS, 12 pp.

APHIS. 2009. Medfly free s tatus of Mendoza, Argentina , trip report, March 0 4

- 20 , 200 9

with addendum

. W. P. Gould, APHIS

- PPQ. 2 7 pp.

IPPC. 1995. International Standards for Phytosanitary Measures No. 4. Requirements for

the Establishment of Pest Free A reas. Secretariat of Internat ional Plant Pr otection Convention. FAO. 4 pp.

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### __ X ___ APPROVED

Conditions of Entry : 

### M ust meet requirements of 7 CFR 3 19.56

- 5

_____ DISA P PROVED

Justification

Meredith Jones November 19 , 2009

___________________________
_________________ Signature (name) Date