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



## Risk Management Document



## Importation of Fresh Beans ( Phaseolus vulgaris L.), Shelled or in Pods, from Jordan into the Continental United States

December 1 4 , 2011

Plant Health Programs (PHP) Regulations, Permits and Manuals (RPM)2



## Introduction

This document describes the risk management measures for the importation of fresh beans ( Phaseolus vulgaris L.) , in pods (French, green, snap, and string beans) or shelled, from the Kingdom of Jordan into the continental United States. Jordan expect s to export annually 200 tons (400,000 pounds) of beans to the continental United States (EHKJ, 2004).

United State s Code of Federal Regulations (7 CFR 319.56) authorizes importation of fruits and vegetables from foreign countries into the United States.

The pest risk assessment (PRA), “ Importation of Fresh Beans ( Phaseolus vulgaris L.), Shelled or in Pods, from Jord an into the Continental United States ” (USDA, 2011)

, was developed in support of a request by the Kingdom of Jordan (EHKJ, 2004) to USDA to authorize the importation of Fresh Beans, in pods or shelled

, into the continental United States

. Entry of th is

commodit y into the United States presents a risk of introduction of exotic plant pests. The PRA (USDA, 2011) found seven quarantine pests that may follow the pathway of commercial shipments of fresh beans. Five of these pests were rated high risk, and two were rated medium risk. These pests are:

High risk pests:

Arthropods Chrysodeixis chalcites (Esper) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) Helicoverpa armigera (Hübner) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) Liriomyza huidobrensis (Blanchard) (Diptera: Agromyzidae)

Maconellicoccus hirsutus (Green) (Hemiptera: Pseudococcidae) Spodoptera littoralis (Boisduval) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae)

Medium risk pests:

Arthropods Lampides boeticus (Linnaeus) (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae)

Fungus Phoma exigua var. diversispora (Bub á k) Boerema (Ascomycete: Mitosporic fungi) (Syn,: Boeremia diversispora (Bub á k) Aveskamp, Gruyter & Verkley)

According to the USDA guidelines for pathway initiated pest risk assessments ( USDA, 2000 ), specific phytosanitary measures, supplemental to port of arrival inspection, are strongly recommended for pests given a ‘High’ pest risk potential a nd specific phytosanitary measures may be necessary for pests given a ‘Medium’ pest risk potential.

Four of the quarantine pests listed in the PRA (USDA, 2011) are caterpillar pests in the Order Lepidoptera. Jordan proposes to prepare the beans under post harvest processing steps such as washing, cutting, shredding or splitting each bean pod, which also contributes to pest risk mitigation, and which provides an additional opportunity for visual inspection. Specific3

postharvest processing steps, together with additional pest mitigation measures as required by APHIS, will ensure that quarantine pests are mitigated.



## Risk Management Measures

APHIS proposes that fresh beans (shelled or in p ods ) from Jordan may be imp orted into the United States only under the following conditions:

1. The beans must be produced and packed in facilities that are registered with and approved by the N ational P lant P rotection O rganization (NPPO) of Jordan, Ministry of Agriculture (MoA)

.

2. The beans must be washed in potable water, which will assist in removing any insects feeding on individual beans.

3. Each bean pod must be either cut into chevrons or pieces that do not exceed 2 centimeters in length, or shredded or split the length of the b ean pod in pieces not exceed ing 8 centimeters in length and 8.5 millimeters in diameter.

4. Each consignment of fresh beans must be accompanied by a Phytosanitary Certificate (PC) issued by the NPPO of Jordan attesting that all APHIS phytosanitary requiremen ts have been met and that the consignment was inspected and found free of Chrysodeixis chalcites, Helicoverpa armígera, Liriomyza huidobrensis, Maconellicoccus hirsutus, Spodoptera littoralis, Lampides boeticu s, and Phoma exigua var. diversispora

.

5. Each co nsignment box must be marked with the identity of the packing facility to ensure

trace back.

6. Beans must be imported as commercial consignments only.

7. Consignments of fresh beans are subject to port of entry inspections.



## Efficacy of Risk Management Measures:

The s ix arthropod pests cause obvious damage to beans and are easily detectable. Damage from Chrysodeixis chalcites, Helicoverpa armigera, Lampides boeticus, Liriomyza huidobrensis,
Maconellicoccus hirsutus, and Spodoptera littoralis are all re adily apparent. Liriomyza

huidobrensis is a leafminer and the mines are easily seen on bean leaves and pods and therefore can be culled during the packing process. Maconellicoccus hirsutus is the pink hibiscus mealy bug whose grayish

- pink bodies are cover ed with mealy white wax and with white wax filaments projecting from body and thus easily seen (CABI, 2006). The other f our pests, Chrysodeixis
chalcites, Helicov erpa armigera, Lampides boeticus and Spodoptera littoralis are relatively large and the feed ing damage and frass are easily detected so damaged beans can be eliminated during the packing house procedures. To ensure that early instars of caterpillars are not present4

internally in the bean pods and missed during the visual inspection, Jordan propo ses cutting each bean pod.

Cutting or splitting the beans allows for the detection of larvae of lepidopterous pests. Beans may also be shredded, as this will both expose and destroy any internal feeding insects. Cutting the beans to 8 cm length and expos ing the interior will reveal the presence of quarantine pests during inspection.

Phoma exigua var. diversispora produces grayish to brownish , concentric spots , 1

- 3 cm diameter, which may later show concentric rings of small black pycnidia . On pods the les ions may be at the ends showing black discoloration and shriveling ( Boerema et al., 1981) . These dark to black lesions also may appear on the peduncle, petiole, node and pod, and can cause stem girdle and plant death (EHKJ, 2004). The fungus may also infect seeds. Infected seed nearly always fail to germinate or result in post

- emergence killing of the plant s by the fungus ( Boerema et al., 1981). Since the intended use of the imported commodity is consumption and they will be exported as fresh beans, i mmature seed s will have no germination capacity, which eliminates the

seed transmission risk. Based on the conspicuous symptoms described above, Phoma exigua var. diversispora will be easy to recognize when subject to inspection by MoA before exportation a nd also by CBP (C ustoms and Border Protection) at the first port of arrival in the United States. Additionally, the PC will ensure inspection and freedom of quarantine pest s

.



## Summary

The requirement for each consignment to undergo specific mitigation measures diminishes the likelihood of quarantine pests following the pathway. Shredding or splitting each bean pod will

further aid in the detection and exposing of internal feeders.

The importation of fresh beans from Jordan will be restricted to commercial shipments only.

The requirements of a phytosanitary certificate from the NPPO of Jordan will document that the importation is a product of Jordan . A phytosanitary certificate also provides phytosanitary security by requi ring the NPPO to conduct inspections for pests.

APHIS has determined that the listed risk management measures, along with the requirement of a phytosanitary certificate, and the port of entry inspection, will mitigate the risk of pest

introduction on fres h beans from Jordan.



## Author s :

Devaiah A. Muruvanda, Ph.D. Senior Risk Manager

- Entomology

José R. Hernández, Ph.D. Senior Risk Manager

- Plant Pathology5



## References:

7 CFR § 319 2008. Code of Federal Regulations, Title 7, Part 319 (7 CFR § 319 Foreign Q uarantine Notices) Subpart 56 (Fruits and Vegetables). United States Government.

Boe r e m a G.H., Cruger G., Gerlagh M. and Nirenberg H

. 1981. Phoma exigua var. diversispora and related fungi on Phaseolus beans. J. Pl. Dis. Protect. 88:597

- 607.

CABI. 2006. Crop Protection Compendium, 2006 Edition. CAB International, Wallingford, UK.

EHKJ. 2004. Phaseolus vulgaris Pest List. Initiate event letter. Embassy of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan in Washington (EHKJ).

SGRP. 2011. Fungi

– common bean. http://cropgenebank.sgrp.cgiar.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=413&Item

id=598 . Last access Dec. 8

, 2011.

USDA. 2000. Guidelines for Pathway

- Initiated Pest Risk Assessments, Version 5.02. Plant Protection and Quarantine, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, United States Department of Agriculture.

USDA, 20 11

. Importation of Fresh Beans ( Phaseolus vul garis L.), Shelled or in Pods, from

Jordan into the Continental United States

, A Pathway

- Initiated risk Assessment. Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, Center for Plant Health Science and Technology, Plant Epidemiology and Risk Ana lysis Laboratory , Raleigh, NC. 7 2 pp.