1 United States Department of Agriculture

Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service

Plant Protection and Quarantine



# Importation of Fresh Pomegranate, Punica granatum L

. , from Mexico to the Continental United States

Risk Management Document

September 20 , 2010

Ver. 1

United States Department of Agriculture

Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service

Agency Contact: marc.phi l lips @aphis.usda.gov2 I. 

### Executive Summary:

The National Plant Protection Organization (NPPO) of Mexico requested market access for fresh

pomegranate fruit

, Punica granatum L.

, into the United States from Mexico

. The commodity will

be imported in to the continental United States and Alaska , but not in to Hawaii, Guam, or the

other U.S. territor ies. Pomegrana tes have previously been im ported from Mexico in to the United

States only from APHIS recognized fruit fly free areas in Mexico. Mexico proposed to treat the

fruit with a 150 G y APHIS

- approved generic irradiation treatment that would mitigate risks from

fr uit flies.

Based on the pest information received and the supposition that the fruit would receive an APHIS

approved irradiation treatment, APHIS determined that a pest list identify ing all quarantine pests

in Mexico would be su f ficient information to e valuate pathway risks. This streamlined approach

would also meet one of APHIS’ objectives behind the development of a generic irradiation

treatment for most plant pests.

APHIS’ s Center for Plant Health Science an d Technolog y (CPHST) developed a pest l ist for

p omegranate s originating from Mexico (USDA, 20 1 0) . CPHST identified fifteen quarantine

pests that are likely to follow the pathway for th is commodit y . The pest list w as based on

published scientific literature an d pest interception records of the United Sta tes Department of

Agriculture (Pest ID, 20 1 0)

.

Analysis of the pest list for p omegranate s from Mexico indicated that the four fruit flies likely to

follow the pathway would be effectively neutralized 1 with the irradiation generic dose of 150 Gy

(USDA, 2006).

This risk management document outlines the phytosanitary measures that APHIS will require for

the importation of p omegranate s from Mexico

, and documents the evidence used by APHIS to

conclude that these measures will effectively preven t the introduction of quarantine pests into the

continental United States

.

II. 

### A nalysis of quarantine pest s and mitigation measures required

A. Introduction

The pest list completed by CPHST identified 1 5 quarantine pests that could potentially follow t he

pathway of p omegranate fruit from Mexico (USDA, 20 1 0). The quarantine pests include four

fruit flies, two whiteflies, seven mealybugs and two soft scales on Mexico pomegranates , and are

as follows:

1 A pest is considered neutralized when it is killed, rendered sterile or its further development into be coming an adult

is stopped.3 Table 1. Quarantine pests likely to follow the pathwa y of fresh p omegranate fruit imported from

M exico into the contine n tal United States

.

Insect Pest s Taxonomy

Aleurodicus dispersus Russell Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae

Anastrepha fraterculus Wiedemann Diptera: Tephritidae

Anastrepha ludens (Loew) Diptera: Te phritidae

Anastrepha obliqua (Macquart) Diptera: Tephritidae

Ceratitis capitata ( Wiedemann ) Diptera:Tephritidae

Ceroplastes rubens Maskell Hemiptera: C occidae

Coccus viridis (Green) Hemiptera: C occidae

Dysmicoccus neobrevipes (Beardsley) Hemiptera: Ps eudococcidae

Ferrisia malvastra (McDaniel) Hemiptera: Pseudococcidae

Maconellicoccus hirsutus (Green) Hemiptera: Pseudococcidae

Nipaecoccus viridis (Newstead) Hemiptera: Pseudococcidae

Paracoccus ferrisi Ezzat and McConnell Hemiptera: Pseudococcidae

P aracoccus marginatus Williams and Granara de

Willink Hemiptera: Pseudococcidae

Pseudococcus solenedyos Gimpel and Miller Hemiptera: Pseudococcidae

Siphoninus phillyreae (Haliday) Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae

B. Risk M anagement Measures

APHIS proposes to allow the importation of the fresh pomegranate fruit from Mexico into the

continental United States under the following conditions:

(a) The fruit must be commercially produced and be part of a commercial consignment as

defined in 7 CFR Section 319.56

- 2.

(b) The fruit must be irradiated with a minimum absorbed dose of 150 Gy and follow the

requirements of 7 CFR parts 305 and 319.

(c) If irradiation is applied outside the United States, e ach consignment of fruit must be

inspected jointly by APHIS and M exico inspector s and accompanied by a Phytosanitary

C ertificate (PC) issued by the national plant protection organization (NPPO) of M exico

certifying that the fruit received the required irradiation treatment with 150 Gy as the

minimum absorbed dose

. T he PC must also in clude an A dditional D eclaration (AD) stating

that the consignment was inspected during the pre

- clearance activities and found free from

Aleyrodidae, Coccidae and Pseudococcida e.

(d) If irradiation is to be applied upon arrival in the United States, e ach consig nment of fruit

must be inspected by Mexico inspectors prior to departure and accompanied by a PC issued

by the NPPO of Mexico with an AD stating that the consignment was inspected and found

free from Aleyrodidae, Coccidae and Pseudococcida e

. (e) Each consignm ent is subject to inspection at the U

. S

. ports

- of

- entry.4 C. Evidence for the Effective Removal of Pests of Concern from the Pathway

(i) Insect Pests:

Four of the fifteen pests likely to follow the pathway are fruit flies. A minimum absorbed dose

of 150 Gy has been determined by APHIS regulations ( 7 CFR § 305.9 ) to be adequate to

neutralize all fruit flies. T he irradiation treatment , along with standard postharvest processes

, will likely mitigate the risks from all the insects listed above.

Whitefl ies (Aleyrodidae), soft scales (Coccidae) and mealybugs (Pseudococcidae) are surface

pests. It is expected that commercial shipments with standard quality control, including culling,

will remove most of these pests from the commodity. Inspection of the c ommodity by the

NPPO, with certification that the commodity is free from the specified quarantine pests of

concern, will provide adequate mitigation for these pests. S ince 1985, inspectors at U.S. ports

of

- entry have never intercepted these species on pom egranate from fruit fl y free areas where

market access is currently allowed (PestID, 2010).

Irradiation has been used to mitigate pest risk for a number of types of fruits imported from India

(mangoes since 2007) and Mexico (mangoes

, citrus and other frui ts since 2009)

, and from fruit

moved interstate from Hawaii (papayas and other tropical fruits since 1996) . No pests have been

intercepted on any of these importations to date (Pest ID, 2010).

As part of the U.S. requirements (7 CFR § 305.9) governing the use of irradiation as a

phytosanitary treatment, APHIS and the NPPO of M exico must jointly develop an operational

work plan (OWP). The work plan shall include details of activities including inspection of

articles that NPPO must perform before the tre atment or departure. Inspection of the fruit and

freedom from pests not targeted by irradiation as decla red on the PC will ensure that all pests of

concern are removed from the pathway.



### I II . Conclusion

The phytosanitary requirements described above incl ude treatment of pomegranate fruit from

M exico with irradiation using a minimum absorbed dose of 150 Gy , commercial shipments and

phytosanitary inspections for pests not targeted by the irradiation treatment. B ased on the

evaluation of effectiveness of th ese measures directed against the pests of concern , APHIS finds

that the safeguards of 7 CFR § 319.56 and the additional mitigations described here in will result

in the effective removal of the pests of concern i dentified by the pest list for the importati on of

fresh pomegranate from Mexico into the continental United States

.



### I V. Author s :

Walter P. Gould , Ph.D.5 Senior Risk Manager

– Entomology

Jos é R. Hern á ndez, Ph.D.

Senior Risk Manager

- Plant Patholog y



### V. References:

PestID. 20 1 0. Pest Identific ation Database (PestID). United States Department of Agriculture,

Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, Plant Protection and Quarantine.

USDA. 2006. USDA 2006. Treatments for Fruits and Vegetables. January 27, 2006 issue of

Federal Register 71(18): 4451

- 4464

. USDA. 20 1 0. Pest List for Fresh Pomegranate, Punica granatum L

. , from Mexico to the

Continental United States

. USDA, APHIS, CPHST, 24 pp.