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



## I **nterstate Movement of Leaves of**  **Allium spp. from Hawaii** 

**Into the Continental United States**

**Risk Managem ent Document** 

**October 30**  **, 20**  **1 3** 

**Plant Health Programs (PHP) Regulations, Permits and Manuals**  **( RPM**  **) Conta**  **ct Person: David Lam**  **b**3

**Introduction** T he United States Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (USDA - APHIS) has received a r equest from the Hawaii Department of Agriculture (HDOA) to allow interstate movement of commerciall y produced leaves of Allium spp . ( Li liaceae ) for consumption into the continental United States. Since the interstate movement of leaves of Allium spp . from Hawaii is currentl y not authorized by United States regulations 7CFR § 318.13 , a pathway - initiated p est risk assessment (PRA) was prepared b y APHIS ’ s Plant Protection and Quarantine (PPQ) to identify the unmitigated pest risks associated with the interstate movement of leaves of Allium spp . from Hawaii (USDA, 20 1 3 ). The risk assessment identified the following quarantine pests as having a high unmitigated risk potential: Scirtothrips dorsalis Hood ( Thy sanoptera: Thripidae ) The risk assessment identified the following quarantine pests as having a medium unmitigated risk potential: Acrolepiopsis s apporensis (Matsumura) ( Lepidoptera: Acrolepiidae ) Spodoptera litura (Fabricius) ( Lepidoptera: Noctuidae ) The PRA identified the se pests as candidates for risk management and rated them Medium or High for probability

of introduction. L ow rated pests normally only require standard port of entry inspection as a mitigation. Pests rated Medium and High for probability of introduction that have been identified in the PRA as candidates for risk management may require mitigations beyond standard port of entry inspection bas ed on the biology of the pests. This document outlines the phy

tosanitary measures that APHIS will require if the proposed interstate movement of leaves of Allium spp. from Hawaii is approved. The proposed movement of fresh leaves of Allium spp . from Hawaii , if approved, would be regulated by

amendment to existing fruit and vegetable domestic movement regulations (7 CFR §31 8 . 13 ) . Pest risk management is the process of identifying way s to react to a perceived risk, e valuating the efficacy of these actions, and identifyingthe most appropriate options (IPPC, 2004 ) . This document outlines phy tosanitary measures and provides evidence of their efficacy in prevent ing the introduction of quarantine pests. **Risk Management Measures** All measur es listed below must be included for fresh leaves of Allium spp . shipped to the mainland : 1. **Commercial Consignments only.** Only commercially

produced consignments of leaves of Allium spp . may

be shipped interstate to the continental United States.4

2. **Inspectio n**  **.** A biometric sample of leaves of Allium spp . must be inspected by APHIS following an y post - harvest processing. A biometric sample will be inspected for quarantine pests . If quarantine pests are found , the entire consignment will be prohibited from mo vement into the continental United States unless it is treated with an approved quarantine treatment monitored b y APHI S. **Efficacy of**  **Risk Management Measures** Requiring that Allium sp. leaves be moved interstate from Hawaii only as commercial consignme nts will mean that standard commercial practices will remove most pests from the pathway . Standard commercial practices often include cultural, chemical, or mechanical means (e.g., field sanitation, pre - harvest application of pesticides, resistant cultivars) to eliminate pests from fields or prevent pest infestation. Sanitation, such as removing and discarding infested or damaged produce and pesticide applications, are essential components of good agricultural practices, and are mainstay s of commercial pr oduction (e.g., Kirk et al ., 2001). Commercial consignments must be marketable to the consumer to be profitable and that means that visible pests infestations are routinely culled during harvest and packing. Acrolepiopsis sapporensis has not been intercepted on any commodity , including Allium sp., from Hawaii. However APHI S has 16 records of Acrolepiopsis assectella interceptions on Allium sp., all in passenger baggage from Hawaii. The PRA indicated that Acrolepiopsis assectella is not known to be prese nt in Hawaii (USDA, 2013) . “ While we found man y references indicating that A. assectella (Zeller) ( Lepidoptera: Acrolepiidae ) is established in Hawaii (e.g., Fullaway

and Krauss, 1945: Mau and L ee, 1995 ), these are misidentifications of A. sapporensis (Ga edike, 1997). A crolepiopsis assectella is not known to be present in Hawaii and therefore we did not list it below.” The 16 APHIS interception records of Acrolepiopsis assectella are presumed to be Acrolepiopsis sapporensis . Acrolepiopsis sapporensis is a leaf min ing Lepidoptera with a host range restricted to Allium species. The larvae feed within the interior of the Allium leaf leaving a conspicuousl y visible mine. Since 1984, Scirtothrips dorsalis and Spodoptera litura have never been intercepted i n Allium sp. from Hawaii. Scirtothrips dorsalis is a poly phagous species with many host plants. APHI S/CBP intercepts this pest occasionally on cut flowers, herbs, peppers and other commodities, in 29 ye ars there have been 57 interceptions in commercial c argo. It has been intercepted twice from Hawaii, once on Basil and once on Oncidium orchids. Inspections for thrips usually involve shaking or striking the commodity against a hard surface so that thrips are dislodged. These inspections are effective at finding thrips (DAFF, 2013) . Spodoptera litura is a Noctuid moth with a wide range of host plants. The eggs are laid in a mass on the host plant. The larvae cause large amounts of damage to the host; by the time the larvae mature to 5 th instar they are very large and conspicuous. The egg masses and the larval damage are readil y visible on inspection. Spodoptera litura has not been intercepted b y AP HI S on Allium sp. from Hawaii. Inspections are effective in detecting thrips, leaf miners and caterpil lars on Allium sp. leaves. Inspection ensures that various stages of an y pest that are present will be detected; this is5

particularl y effective against those pests whose later life stages are larger and more readily detected ( Cavey , 2003; Borror et al. , 1989). **Summary** Requiring that Allium sp. be moved interstate onl y as commercial consignments will mean that commercial practices will remove most pests from the pathway . Inspections are effective against thrips, leaf miners and caterpillars on Allium s p. APHI S finds that the mitigations described here will result in the effective removal of the pests of concern from the pathway identified b y the pest risk anal ys is for the interstate movement of fresh Allium sp. leaves from Hawaii into the continental United States . **Author** Walter Gould, Senior Risk Manager APHI S - PPQ **References** AQAS . 20 1 3 . Agricultural Quarantine Activit y System Pest Interception Database. USDA APHI S - PPQ. Last access ed Oct. 20 1 3 . Borror, D. J., Triplehorn, C. A. and N. F. Johnson. 1989. Introduction to the study of insects, 6 ed. Harcourt Brace Jovanovich College Publishers, TX. Cavey , J.F. 2003. Managing introduction of invasive plant pests in the United States. pages 350

– 361 in Invasive species. Vectors and manageme nt strategies. G.M. Ruiz and J.T. Carlton eds. Island Press. Wash. D.C. DAFF. 2013. Queensland Government, Dept. of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (DAFF). Inspection of fruits and vegetables for melon thrips. State of Queensland (Australia), Dept. of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry . ICA - WI - 03. 14pp. http://domesticquarantine.org.au/wordpress/wp - content/uploads/178 - ica - wi - 03 - 20_07 - 01 - 1 3.pdf Fullaway , D. T., and N. L. H. Krauss. 1945. Common Insects of Hawaii. Tongg Publishing Company , Honolulu, Hawaii. 228 pp. Gaedike, R. (1997) Acrolepiidae. Fascicle 55 in Lepidopterorum Catalogus . Edited by J. Heppner. Association for Tropical Lepi doptera, Scientific Publishers, Gainesville, FL . Kirk, K., Bessin, R., Hartman, J., O’L eary , J. and Strang, J. 2001. Total quality assurance: apple production: best management practices. Kentucky Coop. Ext. Serv. ID - 137.6

IPPC. 2004. Pest risk analy sis f or quarantine pests, including anal ys is of environmental risks and living modified organisms. International Standards for Ph yt osanitary Measures No. 11. Rome: Secretariat of the International Plant Protection Convention, United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization. Mau, R. F. L., and S. G. Lee. 1995. Crop Knowledge Master: Acrolepiopsis assectella . University

of Hawaii, Honolulu, Hawaii. Last accessed October 29 , 201 3 , http://www.extento.hawaii.edu/kbase/crop/type/acrolepi.htm . USDA. 2000. Guidelines for Pathway - Initiated Pest Risk Assessments, Version 5.02. USDA APHI S, PPQ; http://oars.aphis.usda.gov/p pq/pra/commodity /cpraguide.pdf USDA. 20 1 3 . Importation of Leaves of Allium spp. from Hawaii into the Continental United States . A Qualitative, Pathway - Initiated Pest Risk Assessment USDA - APHI S - PPQ Center for Plant Health Science and Technology - Plant Epidemiology and Risk Analy sis Laboratory . 39 pp.