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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 Román 

 
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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 assessment (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 pasteboard 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 pests associated with the importation of fresh 

pitahaya from Israel. The PRA did not identify any pests of pitahaya that were likely to follow 
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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 indicating 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 invasive 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