United States Department of Agriculture

Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service

Plant Protection and Quarantine

Allowing a new cold treatment facility at Mascoutah, Illinois, 

located outside the area currently authorized1 

Treatment Evaluation Document

Date: August 2012

Treatment Type: Cold Treatment 

Commodity: Any commodity approved to receive cold treatment

Country of origin: Various

Objective: To provide supporting information and justification for allowing a new cold 

treatment facility to be located at Mascoutah, Illinois. When approved, the facility would 

operate under conditions that are similar to those required for other facilities located outside the 

permitted area, and equivalent to those under which irradiation facilities in the southern United 

States would operate. 

Overview: The current regulations on cold treatment, 7CFR 305.6, allow the establishment of 

cold treatment facilities for phytosanitary applications in certain specific areas of the United 

States as follows: For articles that are imported or moved interstate from Hawaii or U.S. 

territories, cold treatment facilities may be located on the mainland United States either in the 

area that is north of 39olatitude and east of 104olongitude, or under special conditions at one of 

the following ports: The maritime ports of Wilmington, NC; Seattle, WA; Corpus Christi, TX; 

and Gulfport, MS; Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, Seattle, WA; and Hartsfield-Atlanta 

International Airport, Atlanta, GA. These regulations are in place primarily to prevent spread of 

tropical fruit flies in the family Tephritidae from fruit and vegetable hosts. The special 

conditions vary for each port or airport, but essentially include requiring that the facility must 

agree in advance on the route by which shipments are allowed to move between the vessel on 

which they arrive and the cold treatment facility; untreated articles may not be removed from 

their packaging prior to treatment under any circumstances; black light or sticky paper must be 

used within the facility, and other trapping methods, including APHIS-approved fruit fly traps, 

must be used within the 4 square miles surrounding the facility; and the facility must have 

 

1 Area enclosed by 39o

latitude and 104olongitude and any of the following ports: The maritime ports of 

Wilmington, NC; Seattle, WA; Corpus Christi, TX; and Gulfport, MS; Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, Seattle, 

WA; and Hartsfield-Atlanta International Airport, Atlanta, GA.
contingency plans, approved by APHIS, for safely destroying or disposing of regulated articles 

that are contaminated with pests. Prior to treatment, the fruits and vegetables may not move into 

or through any of the area that is currently not allowed to have cold treatment facility, except that 

movement is allowed through Dallas/Fort Worth, TX, as an authorized stop for air cargo, or as a 

trans-loading location for shipments that arrive by air but that are subsequently trans-loaded into 

trucks for overland movement from Dallas/Fort Worth into an authorized State by the shortest 

route. 

For articles moving interstate from areas quarantined for fruit flies and that are to be cold treated 

outside of the quarantined area, the articles must be accompanied to the facility by a limited 

permit issued in accordance with 7CFR 301.32-5(b), and must be moved in accordance with any

safeguards determined to be appropriate by APHIS. The special conditions, as described above 

and required for locations in the southern States, are not required for fruit arriving in northeastern 

United States that requires treatment as a condition of entry. The special conditions were put in 

place to minimize the risk of fruit fly escape during the transport of fruit fly host material to 

locations approved for cold treatment in the southern United States. 

Subsequent to the publication of rules allowing the above locations for conducting cold 

treatments to meet United States entry requirements, APHIS has become aware of a considerable 

interest in having cold treatment facilities in States or places that are currently not allowed. 

APHIS has received a petition dated August 1, 2012, from North Bay Produce, Inc. requesting 

APHIS to consider allowing a cold treatment facility to be located at MidAmerica St. Louis 

Airport, Mascoutah, Illinois. This location is approximately 40 miles south of 39olatitude and 

approximately 700 miles east of 104olongitude. If approved, the company (North Bay Produce) 

plans to bring air shipments of articles, primarily blueberries, through this airport for cold 

treatment.

Evaluation: APHIS has evaluated the proposed location and determined that the set of special 

conditions or criteria described below is adequate to manage the fruit fly risks associated with 

this location, and recommends approving the location as a pilot program to conduct cold 

treatment of articles imported or moved interstate from areas quarantined for fruit flies. The 

criteria include multiple layers of protection to minimize risk from fruit fly escape during 

transport or at the facility. 

Special Conditions2for the Mascoutah, IL cold treatment facility 

1. The location for the facility must be within an area over which the U.S. Department of Homeland 

Security has the authority to enforce the various provisions of the customs and navigation laws in force. 

The location for the facility also needs to be within the local commuting area for APHIS employees to 

perform oversight and monitoring activities as provided in the regulations 7 CFR 305.

2. APHIS will evaluate safeguards in light of the plant health risks involved and approve the operation of 

a treatment facility in that location subject to the following conditions to be agreed upon by the involved 

parties and included in a Facility Compliance Agreement (FCA):

 

2 These special conditions are in addition to those required for the area enclosed by 39o

latitude and 104olongitude 
2.1 The facility will only be certified if the Administrator determines that the regulated articles could 

be safely transported to the facility from the point of entry or origin without significant risk that 

plant pests will escape in transit to the facility or while the regulated articles are at the facility.

2.2 Bulk consignments (those consignments which are stowed and unloaded by the case or 

bin) of fruit must arrive in pest-proof packaging that prevents the escape of the pests of 

concern.

2.3 The facility must ensure that pest-proof cartons are off loaded from containers in a safeguarded 

environment and at no time are the articles to be removed from the insect proof cartons prior to 

the treatment.

2.4 Arrangements for treatment must be made before the departure of a consignment from its point of 

entry or origin. The cold treatment facility and APHIS must agree in advance on the route 

by which consignments are allowed to move between the aircraft on which they arrived at 

the airport and the cold treatment facility. 

2.5 The facility must have an APHIS approved contingency plan for safely destroying or disposing of 

untreated or improperly treated fruit. 

2.6 The facility must maintain physical separation of treated articles from untreated articles and apply 

all required safeguards; e.g., the treated articles are packaged in insect proof containers, before 

releasing or for movement to other States.

Decision: Approve the location at Mascoutah airport to have a cold treatment facility under 

special conditions as described above. 

Author: Dr. Inder P.S. Gadh, 

Senior Risk Manager – Treatments,

USDA APHIS PPQ RPM