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



# Importation of dragon fruit ( multiple genera and species ) from Thailand into the continental United

States

Risk Management Do cument

March 28, 2011

Ver. 0

. 2

Plant Health Programs (PHP) Regulations, Permits & Manuals

Contact Person: Claudia Ferguson2 A. Introduction

The National Plant Protection Organization (NPPO) of Thailand requested permission to

ex port fresh dragon fruit ( Hylocereus spp.) into the continental United States. Dragon fruit has not been imported from Thailand before , so a pest list was prepared by APHIS using a list of pests reported as attacking dragon fruit in Thailand, published scientific lite rature and worldwide pest interception records of the United States Department of Agriculture (PestID, 2009).

The p est list , titled, ‘ Pest List for the Importation of Dragon Fruit (multiple genera and species) into the Continental United States from Thai land ’, (USDA, 201 1 ), notes that the

botanical nomenclature of dragon fruit i s unsettled (Jacobs, 1999; Raveh et al

. , 1993; Soloman, 2006). This is part ly due to its morphological similarities to and ability to hybridize

with other Hylocereus spp. and cactu s genera (Morton, 1987; Raveh et al

. , 1993; Tel

- Sur et
al

. , 2001). N umerous synonyms and frequent misidentifications exist for the commodity ( NGRP, 2006 ; Jacobs, 1999; Morton, 1987; Tel

- Sur et al

. , 2001) . T herefore, listed below are

the fruit of cacti that are referred to as "dragon fruit" or “pitaya” that we re assessed ( Table 1 )

.

Table 1. Cac ti f ruit that are referred to as Dragon Fruit or Pitaya 1

Cactus species Synonym(s)/Alternate nomenclature

Acanthocereus occidentalis none Acanthocereus tetragonus A canthocereus colombianus

, A. floridanus

, A. pentagonus

, A. pitajaya

, Cactus pentagonus

, C. pitajaya

, C. tetragonus

, Cereus pentagonus, C. pitajaya

Cereus hildmannianus Cactus peruvianus

, Cereus uruguayanus
Echinocereus conglomeratus Cereus conglomeratus

Echinocereus stramineus Cereus stramineus

, Echinocereus enneacanthus var.
stramineus

Escontria chiotilla Cereus chiotilla
Hylocereus costaricensis Cereus trigonus var. costaricensis
Hylocereus ocamponis Cereus ocamponis
Hylocereus polyrhizus Cereus po lyrhizus

, H. lemairei
Hylocereus undatus Cactus triangularis, Cereus triangularis, C. tricostatus, C. trigonus var. guatemalensis

, C. undatus, Hylocereus guatemalensis

, H. tricostatus
Myrtillocactus geometrizans Cereus geometrizans

Stenocereus stellatus Cereus stellatus

Stenocereus thurberi Cereus thurberi

, Lemairocereus thurberi,

Marshallocereus thurberi

, Pachycereus thurberi

1 NGRP, 2006 ; Jacobs, 1999; Morton, 1987; Soloman, 2 006.3 The pest list identified the following eight quarantine pests that could follow the pathway of commercial consignments of f resh dragon fruit.

Bactrocera correcta (Bezzi) (Diptera: Tephritidae)

Bactrocera cucurbitae ( Coquillett) (Diptera: Tephritidae)

Bactrocera dorsalis (Hendel) (Diptera: Tephritidae) Dysmicoccus neobrevipes (Beardsley) (Homoptera: Pseudococcidae)

Maconelli coccus hirsutus (Green) (Homoptera; Pseudococcidae)

Planococcus lilacinus (Cockerell) (Homoptera: Pseudococcidae) Planococcus minor ( Maskell) (Homoptera: Pseudococcidae) Pseudococcus cryptus (Hempel) (Homoptera: Pseudococcidae)

Thailand has proposed use o f an APHIS approved irradiation treatment to mitigate risks from these pests.

The proposed importation of dragon fruit from Thailand, if approved, would be regulated by an amendment to the Code of Federal Regulations 7 CFR § 319.56. This document outline s the phytosanitary measures that APHIS will require if the proposed importation of dragon

fruit from Thailand is approved and documents the evidence used by APHIS to conclude that these measures will effectively prevent the introduction of quarantine pest s.

B. Risk Management Measures

APHIS proposes to allow the importation of the fresh dragon fruit ( Hylocereus spp.) from

Thailand into the continental United States under the following conditions:

(a) The fruit must be irradiated with a minimum absor bed dose of 400 Gy and follow requirements of 7 CFR parts 305.31 and 319.56.

(b) If irradiation is applied outside the United States, e ach consignment of fruit must be precleared by APHIS inspectors in Thailand. Each shipment must be inspected jointly by

APHIS and Thailand inspectors and accompanied by a Phytosanitary C ertificate (PC) issued by the national plant protection organization (NPPO) of Thailand certifying that the fruit received the required irradiation treatment with 400 Gy as the minimum abso rbed dose

.

(c) If irradiation is to be applied upon arrival in the United States, e ach consignment of fruit

must be inspected by Thailand inspectors prior to departure and accompanied by a PC issued by the NPPO of Thailand.

( d ) Dragon fruit consignmen ts are subject to inspection at the US ports

- of

- entry.

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

defined in Section 319.56

- 2.4 C. Historical Performance of Importing Irradiated Fruits

Current regulatio ns 7 CFR 305.31 allow the use of irradiation to treat fruit for importation

into the United States. Since April 2007, India has shipped mangoes to the United States

, which have been irradiated with a minimum absorbed dose of 400 Gy for insect pests and ar e subject to a systems approach for fungal pathogens. To date, over 130 irradiated mango consignments have been received from India and no pests have been reported. Also, from over 100 consignments of longans, mangoes, mangosteens, and rambutans irradia ted with 400 Gy dose as the minimum absorbed dose in Thailand and imported into the United States during 2007 and 2008, no pests of quarantine significance have been reported (USDA, 2008).

APHIS regulations 7 CFR 318.13

- 4f allow interstate movement of fif teen different fruits and vegetables from Hawaii treated with irradiation at a minimum absorbed dose of 150 Gy to 400 Gy for fruit flies and other quarantine pests. No live pests of quarantine significance have been intercepted in irradiated Hawaiian frui ts or vegetables shipped to the mainland United States (Uyeda, 2005). In addition, consignments of Australian mangoes irradiated with 150 Gy dose and allowed into New Zealand since 2004 have also resulted in no pests of concern being intercepted (Edwards, 2005).

D. Evidence for the Effective Removal of Pests of Concern from the Pathway

The eight pests of concern likely to follow the pathway of dragon fruit from Thailand are all insects. Irradiation of fruits and vegetables with a minimum absorbed dose of 400 Gy is an approved treatment by APHIS for mitigating risks from all insect pests except adults and pupae of the order Lepidoptera (USDA, 2006). Since none of the pests belong to the order Lepidoptera, irradiation with 400 Gy is considered adequate t o mitigate risks from all pests.

The requirement for a PC ensures phytosanitary quality control and rigor by requiring

Thailand officials to conduct phytosanitary inspections. This effectively enforces the inspection the fruit receives.

APHIS regulatio ns on the use of irradiation require that the treatment be monitored where applied and the consignment examined for pests of concern by APHIS and the NPPO of the country of export prior to its shipment as part of preclearance activities. Although the 400 Gy dose is effective for all eight pests as described above, pest monitoring in the field and inspections by the two NPPOs should ensure that the pest populations would not reach a level that might potentially overwhelm the effectiveness of the treatment.

E. Conclusion

The phytosanitary requirements described above include treatment of dragon fruit from

Thailand with irradiation using a minimum absorbed dose of 400 Gy and inspections for the pests of concern.5 APHIS concludes that based on the evaluat ion of effectiveness of these mitigation measures directed against the quarantine pests, safeguards of 7 CFR 319.56 and the additional mitigations described in this r isk m anagement d ocument will result in the effective removal from the pathway of the quar antine pests identified by the pest list for the importation of fresh dragon fruit from Thailand.

F. Author:

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

- Entomology

G. Literature Cited:

Edwards, G. 2005. Personal Communication from G. Edwar ds of NZ Department of Agriculture & Fisheries to Karen Ackerman of USDA, APHIS, PPQ, Phytosanitary Issues Management, Riverdale, MD.

Jacobs, D. 1999. Pitaya ( Hylocereus undatus ), a Potential New Crop for Australia, The Australian New Crops Newsletter, I ssue no. 11. http://www.newcrops.uq.edu.au.newslett.ncn11163.htm

Morton, J. 1987. Strawberry Pear: Hylocereus undatus. New Crop Resource Online Program. Purdue University. http://www.hort.p urdue.edu/newcrop/morton/strawberry_pear_ars.html.

NGRP. 2006. Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN). United States Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, National Genetic Resources Program (NGRP). http://www.ars

- grin.gov/cgi

bin/npgs/html/index.pl?language=en. (Archived at PERAL)

PestID . 2009. Pest Identification Database ( PestID ). United States Department of Agriculture, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, Plant Protection and Quarantine. https://mokcs14.aphis.usda.g ov/aqas/login.jsp. (Archived at PERAL).

Raveh, E., J. Weiss, A. Nerd, and Y. Mizrahi. 1993. Pitayas (Genus Hylocereus ): a new fruit crop for the Negev desert of Israel. Pages 491

- 495 I n J. Janick and J. E. Simon, (eds.). New crops. Wiley, New York.

Solom an, J. C. 2006. W3TROPICOS Nomenclature Database. Missouri Botanical Gardens.

Available online from http://mobot.mobot.org/W3T/Search/vast.html

.6 Tel

- Sur, N., S. Abbo, D. Bar Zvi, and Y. Mizrahi. 20 01. Hybridization between species and genera of fruit

- crop vine cacti of the genera Hylocereus and Selenicereus

. HortScience 36(3):441.

USDA, 20 1 1

. Pest List for the Importation of Dragon Fruit (multiple genera and species) into

the Continental United St ates from Thailand

. USDA, APHIS, PPQ, Center for Plant Health Science and Technology. February 20 10 . pp. 11

USDA, 2008. Pest Interception Data. USDA APHIS PPQ Plant Health Programs. Last checked April, 2008.

USDA. 2006. Treatments for Fruits and Veget ables. January 27, 2006 issue of Federal Register 71(18): 4451

- 4464

Uyeda, E. 2005. Personal communication from E. Uyeda, Port Director, US Department of Agriculture, USDA, APHIS, PPQ, Hilo, HI.