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



# Risk Management Document

Importation of Papaya ( Carica papaya L. ) from

Peru into th e Continental United States

February 1 8

, 2011

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

Contact Person: Dorothy C. WaysonIntroduction

Currently u nder t he Code of Federal Regulations (7CFR § 319.56

- 2 5)

, papayas ( Carica papaya

L. ) Solo type are authorized for import ation into the continental United States from specific

locations in Brazil

, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Panama if they meet certain phytosanitary conditions

.

Peru requested market access for papayas al ong with several other commodities in 2001. Servicio Nacional de Sanidad Agraria (SENASA), the N PPO of Peru

, prepared a Pest Risk Assessment ( PRA ) for p apayas in collaboration with APHIS (SENASA, 2003) and submitted it

to APHIS in 200 3

. APHIS evaluated t he draft PRA prepared by SENASA

, and developed a PRA for Peru papaya based on pests listed in the SENASA PRA, pest interception records and

available scientific literature (USDA, 2009)

.

Two pests of quarantine significance were identified, which could r easonably be expected to follow the pathways of papaya imported into the continental United States from Peru

. The pests of quarantine concern that can follow the fruit pathway identified in the PRA described above

include:

Anastrepha fraterculus (Wiedema nn) (Diptera: Tephritidae) South American fruit fly Ceratitis capitata (Wiedemann) (Diptera: Tephritidae) Mediterranean fruit fly (Medfly)

The pest risk assessment identified a cumulative pest risk potential of High for the fruit flies Anastrepha fratercu lus and Ceratitis capitata

. According to the APHIS Guidelines for Pathway

Initiated Pest Risk Assessments Version 5.02 ( USDA , 2000), pests receiving a rating of High may require specific phytosanitary measures in addition to standard port

- of

- arrival inspec tion.

APHIS will only allow the importation of commercial consignments of papayas. The papaya fruit

will be imported into the United States without the peduncle under the same conditions as exports
from Central America and South America as stated in 7CFR § 319.56

- 2 5

.

Ri sk M anagement M easures

APHIS proposes that papaya s from Peru may be imported into the continental United States under the following conditions:

1 ) Only commercial consignments of Solo type papaya
, Carica papaya may be imported

. All growers must be registered with the NPPO of Peru.

2 ) Beginning at least 30 days before harvest and continuing through the completion of harvest, all trees in the field where the papayas a re grown are kept free of papayas

that are 1⁄2 or more ripe (more tha n 1⁄4 of the shell surface yellow), and all culled and

fallen fruits are buried, destroyed, or removed from the farm at least twice per week.

3 ) The papayas are treated with a hot water treatment consisting of 20 minutes in water at 48o C (118.4o F).

14 ) When packed, the papayas must be less than 1⁄2 ripe (the shell surface i s no more than 1⁄4 yellow, surrounded by light green), and free of all quarantine pests.

5 ) The papayas ar e safeguarded from exposure to fruit flies from harvest to export, including bein g packaged so as to prevent access by fruit flies and other injurious insect pests. The package containing the papayas may not contain any other fruit, including papayas not qual i fied for importation into the United States.

6 ) Beginning at least 1 year b efore harvest begins and continuing through the completion of harvest, fruit fly traps must be maintained in the field where the

papayas a re grown. The traps must b e placed at a rate of 1 trap per hectare and be

checked for fruit flies at least once weekl y by the NPPO . Fifty percent of the traps

are of the McPhail type, and fifty percent of the traps are of the Jackson type. If the average Jackson trap catch is greater than 7 Me d flies ( Ceratitis capitata ) per trap per week, measures must be taken to cont rol the Medfly population in the production

area. The NPPO must ke e p records of fruit fly detections for each trap, update the records each time the traps are checked, and ma ke the records available to APHIS inspectors upon request. The records must be m aintained for at least 1 year.

7 ) If the average Jackson trap catch exceeds 14 Medflies per trap per week, importations of papayas from that production area must be halted until the rate of capture drops to an average of 7 or fewer Medflies per trap per w eek.

8 ) If the average McPhail trap catch is greater than 7 South American fruit flies ( Anastrepha fraterculus ) per trap per week, measures must be taken to control the South American fruit fly population in the production area. If the average McPhail

tr ap catch exceeds 14 South American fruit flies per trap per week, importations of papayas from that production area must be halted until the rate of capture drops to an average of 7 or fewer South American fruit flies per trap per week.

9 ) All activities described in the above paragraphs (1 through 8 ) are carried out under the supervision and direction of the NPPO

.

1 0 ) All consignments must be accompanied by a phytosanitary certificate issued by the

Peruvian NPPO stating “These p apayas were grown in accor dance with the conditions in §319.56

– 25 and were inspected and found free from pests.”

2Evidence for the Effective Removal of Pests of Concern from the Pathway

Cultural, chemical, or mechanical means (e.g., field sanitation, pre

- harvest application of

pe sticides) should be used to eliminate pests from fields or prevent fruit infestation. Sanitation, such as removing and discarding fallen fruit and pesticide applications, as essential components

of good agricultural practices, are mainstays of commercial f ruit production (e.g., Kirk et al

., 2001).

Establishing areas of low pest prevalence by monitoring and trapping fruit flies ( C. capitata and A. fraterculus ) and comparing populations to acceptable threshold levels has been used successfully in the managem ent system for papaya imports from Brazil and Central America

. (7CFR § 319.56

- 2 5 ).

Fruit should be sampled and inspected periodically during the growing season and after harvest

, for quarantine pests, by the NPPO

. The NPPO must certify that conditions ou tlined for growing, packing and shipping have been met prior to export (e.g.

, Brazil requirements 7CFR § 319.56

- 2 5 ), and certify that the papayas originated from low prevalence or fruit fly free areas or growing regions of the country

.

P apayas must be l ess than one

- half ripe or one

- fourth yellow when harvested. This greatly

reduces the risk of fruit flies being present in the papayas (Keck, 1942; Seo et al., 1983; Couey and Hayes

, 1986 ). Hot water treatment by immersion for 20 min at 48°C (118.4 °F) su bstantially reduces post

- harvest decay and is also recommended for treatment of internal pests, such as fruit flies ( Couey and Hayes

, 1986 )

.

The systems approach described in this document has been used to import papayas from other

countries in Central a nd South America for more than ten years. No fruit flies have ever been intercepted in commercial shipments of papayas imported under this system (AQAS

- PestID

, 2011).

Summary

The phytosanitary requi rements described above include a systems approach fo r papayas that

includes fruit fly trapping, pest management, cultural practices that maintain low pest prevalence and heat treatment to remove pests of concern from the pathway . Th is risk management

document concludes that

, based on the evaluation of effe ctiveness of these measures directed against the quarantine pests of concern, the safeguards of 7 CFR § 319.56

- 25 and the additional mitigations described here in will result in the effective removal of the pests of concern

, identified by the pest risk asse ssment (USDA, 2009)

, from the pathway of the importation of

papaya fruit from Peru into the continental United States

.

3Mitigation Measure Evidence for removal of pests from the pathway 1) Only commercial shipments

of Solo type papayas may be

i mported.

All growers must be registered

with the Peruvian NPPO of the exporting country. Fruit in commercial orchards are grown using good agricultural practices which reduce pest populations.

Registration of orchards allows trace back and removal from

the ex port program of orchards with pest problems.

2 ) A ll ripe, culled and fallen

fruits are removed. Removal of ripe papayas and orchard sanitation reduces fruit fly populations (Mau and Kessing, 2007).

2 ) P apayas must be less than 1⁄2 ripe

. Green papayas ar e poor hosts for some fruit flies. Harvesting only green, unripe papayas reduces the possibility that Ceratitis capitata and Anastrepha fraterculus fruit flies are present in the fruit (Keck, 1942 ; Seo et al., 1983 ; Couey and Hayes

, 1986 )

.

3 ) Papayas are treated with h ot
for 20 minutes at 48o C (118.4o F). This treatment is effective in killing eggs of Ceratitis capitata in the papayas ( Couey and Hayes

, 1986 ) . Hot water treatment

also reduces plant pathogens that may be present on the surface of the pa payas (Nishijima, 1994)

.

6 ), 7 ), 8 ) If fruit fly trapping

detections exceed trigger levels, all exports are stopped until fruit fly populations drop below trigger levels. Green papayas are poor hosts to Ceratitis capitata and Anastrepha fraterculus , hig h fruit fly populations are required for infestations to occur (Keck, 1942).

1), 9) The papaya orchards must be inspected periodically by NP PO to ensure sanitary procedures are employed to exclude plant pests and

diseases

. Regular inspections are recog nized as part of a balanced pest

management program (Kahn and Mathur 1999).

The relatively large size of all these pests would allow detection of these pests at least during some stages of their development (CABI 200 6)

.

Multiple inspections help ensure that various stages of any pest will be present; t his is particularly effective against those pests whose later life stages are larger and more readily detected (Borror et al. 1989)

.

45 ) P apayas must be safeguarded from exposure to

fruit flies from harves t to export, including being packaged so as to prevent access by fruit flies and other injurious insect pests. Packing within 24 hours of harvest in a pest exclusionary house and safeguarding during transit reduce the exposure of harvested p apayas to in festation by maintainin g a pest exclusionary barrier.

1 0 ) Each shipment of p apayas must be accompanied by a phytosanitary certificate of inspection issued by NP PO bearing the following declaration: “These p apayas were grown in accordance

with the conditi ons in §319.56

– 25 and were inspected and found free from pests.” Requiring a Phytosanitary Certificate effectively ensures inspection by respective NPPO for pests of concern.

Author

Walter Gould Senior Risk Manager

References

AQAS

- PestID

. 20 11 . Ag ricultural Quarantine Activity System Pest Interception Database.

U SDA

- APHIS

- PPQ. Last accessed Feb. 2011

.

Borror, D. J., Triplehorn, C. A. and N. F. Johnson. 1989. Introduction to the study of insects,

6 th ed. Harcourt Brace Jovanovich College Publish ers, TX.

CABI. 200 6 . Crop Protection Compendium, 200 6 Edition. CAB International, Wallingford,

UK.

Couey, H. M., and C. F. Hayes. 1986. Quarantine procedure for Hawaiian papaya using fruit

selection and a two

- stage hot

- water i mmersion. J. Econ. Entomol . 79: 1307

- 1314.

Kahn, R. P. and S. B. Mathur. 1999. Containment Facilities and Safeguards. American Phytopathological Society, St. Paul, MN. 213 pp.

Keck, C.B. 1942. Infestation of mature green papayas by the Mediterranean fruit fly. J. Econ.

Entom ol. 35: 802

- 805.

5Kirk, K., Bessin, R., Hartman, J., O’Leary, J. and Strang, J. 2001. Total quality assurance: apple production: best management practices. Kentucky Coop. Ext. Serv. ID

- 137.

Mau

, R .F.L. and J

. L.M . Kessing. 2007. Ceratitis capitata. Crop Knowledge Master (database), University of Hawaii Extension Service. Last accessed online Aug. 2007. http://www.extento.hawaii.edu/kbase/crop/Type/ceratiti.htm

Nishijima, W.T. 1994. Dry rot. In Compendium of Tropical Fruit Diseases. Eds.: Ploetz, R.C., Zentmyer, G.A., Nishijima, W.T., Rohrbach, K.G., and Ohr, H.D. APS Press. pp. 59

- 60

SENASA, 2003. I mportation of fresh papaya ( Carica papaya ) fruit from Peru into the U nite d

S tates (except H awaii )

. Qualitative, Pathway

- Initiated Pest Risk Assessment . 29 pp.

Seo, S.T., C. Tang, S. Sanidad and T.H. Takenaka. 1983. Hawaiian fruit flies (Diptera: Tephritidae): Variation of index of infestation with benzyl isothiocyanate conc entration and color of the maturing papaya. J. Econ. Entomol. 76: 535

- 538.

USDA . 2000. Guidelines for Pathway

- Initiated Pest Risk Assessments. Version 5.02. APHIS Plant Protection and Quarantine, Riverdale, Maryland.

USDA, 200 9

. Importation of Fresh Papaya, Carica papaya, from Peru into the Continental

United States

. A Qualitative, Pathway

- Initiated Pest Risk Assessment . 29 pp.

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