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



## Importation of pitahaya fruit, Hylocereus spp. (mainly H. undatus and H. megalanthus), and other genera and species from Israel into the continental United States

Risk Management Document

October 8, 2013

Plant Health Programs (PHP) Regulations, Permits and Manuals (RPM)

Contact Person: Tony Román2 Introduction

In response to a request from Israel for market access to import fresh fruit of pitahaya, Hylocereus spp., including Hylocereus megalanthus (= Selenicereus megalanthus ) and Hylocereus undatus (Cactaceae), for consumption from Israel into the continental United States., the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA)’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) prepared a pest risk assessm ent (PRA). The details of the methodology and rating criteria for the PRA are found in the Guidelines for Plant Pest Risk Assessment of Imported Fruit and Vegetable Commodities (USDA, 2012).

The market access request from Israel included information on the conditions under which the pitahaya will be produced: plants are produced from certified mother plants and inspected daily by the growers; the fruit is handpicked and transported under refrigeration to the packinghouse, where the fruit are sorted, graded, and stored at 8-10 °C; the fruit is treated in a chlorine (400 ppm) dip for 2 minutes, then dried and packed; Israel’s Plant Protection and Inspection Services (PPIS) inspectors check 2 percent of each consignment for compliance with phytosanitary requirements; and fruit is shipped by air in pa steboard boxes. The PRA was developed based on all processes and conditions becoming mandatory conditions for entry of the commodity.

The pest risk assessment document, ‘Importation of pitahaya fruit, Hylocereus spp. (mainly H.

undatus and H. megalanthus ), and other genera and species from Israel into the continental

United States’ found no pests that might follow the pathway of pitahaya from Israel (USDA, 2013). There were only two pests considered in the PRA, the mealybug Pseudococcus cryptus Hempel and the Mediterranean fruit fly, Ceratitis capitata (Wiedemann). The PRA concluded that both of these pests lacked scientific evidence to definitively associate them with the commodity pitahaya grown in the field. The processes listed above therefore did not remove any of the pests from the pathway and will not be required as mitigations.

Risk Management Measures

The following risk management measures must be followed for pitahaya from Israel to be imported into the United States:

 Pitahaya must be imported as commercial consignments only.

 Each consignment of pitahaya must be accompanied by a phytosanitary certificate issued by NPPO of the exporting country indicating that the pitahaya in the consignment has been inspected and is free of pests.

 Each shipment is subject to inspection upon arrival at port of entry to the United States.

Conclusion

APHIS believes that the phytosanitary measures proposed in this document will result in the effective removal of any potential quarantine pe sts associated with the importation of fresh pitahaya from Israel. The PRA did not identify a ny pests of pitahaya that were likely to follow3 the pathway and therefore be candidates for risk management (USDA, 2013). Commercially produced fruit are grown and packed to meet quality levels that allow them to be marketed for sale. Commercially produced fruit are less likely than other fruit to have pests or other phytosanitary issues. Interceptions of pests in commercial fruit versus passenger baggage indicate that non-commercially produced fruit has a much higher risk of carrying pests (AQAS, 2013). Inspection is considered effective at finding external feeding pests or accidental hitchhikers and excluding infested shipments from entering commerce (Cavey, 2003; Wittenberg and Cock, 2001). Pitahaya will undergo two inspections, one inspection from the NPPO of Israel to provide the phytosanitary certificate i ndicating freedom from pests, and one inspection by Customs and Border Protection at the port of entry to the United States.

References:

AQAS. 2013. Agricultural Quarantine Activity System Pest Interception Database. USDAAPHIS-PPQ. Last accessed Sept. 2013.

Cavey, J.F. 2003. Mitigating introduction of inva sive plant pests: the APHIS-PPQ Mission. From: Chapter 13, pp. 350-361 in Ruiz, G.M and J.T. Carlton. 2003. Invasive species: vectors and management strategies. Island Press, Washington, D.C. 518p.

USDA. 2012. Guidelines for Plant Pest Risk Assessment of Imported Fruit and Vegetable Commodities (First Edition). United States Department of Agriculture, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, Plant Protection and Quarantine, Raleigh, NC.

. USDA. 2013. Importation of pitahaya fruit, Hylocereus spp. (mainly H. undatus and H. megalanthus ), and other genera and species from Israel into the continental United States. A Qualitative, Pathway-Initiated Pest Risk Assessment. USDA, APHIS, CPHST, PERAL, Raleigh, NC.

Wittenberg, R. and M.J.W. Cock. 2001. Invasive Alien Species: A toolkit of best prevention and management practices. CABI publishing, CAB International, Wallingford, Oxon, UK. 228

pp.

Author

Walter P. Gould Senior Risk Manager