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



# Importation of f

resh apricot ( Prunus

armeniaca ) , sweet cherry ( Prunus avium ), and plumcot ( Prunus domestica x Prunus

a r me niac a ) fruit from South Africa into the

continental United States



# Risk Management Document

March 8, 201 1

V

. 00 9

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

Contact Person: Dorothy.C.Wayson@aphis.usda.gov2

A

. 

### Introduction

The Government of South Africa (RSA) requested to import fresh apricot ( Prunus

armeniaca L

. ), sweet cherry ( Prunus avium (L.) L

. ), and plumcot ( Prunus domestica L. x
Prunus armeniaca L

. ) fruit from South Africa into the continental United States . Neither fresh apricot, sweet cherry, or plumcot have been imported from RSA before, so a pathway

- initiated risk assessment was conducted by United States Department of Agriculture (USDA)’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS)

. A list of associated quarantine pests for these commodities was prepared based on both scientific

literature and APHIS’ records of intercepted pests. The P est R isk A ssessment

, entitled

“ Importation of fresh apricot ( Prunus armeniaca L

. ), sweet cherry ( Prunus avium (L.)

L

. ), and plumcot ( Prunus domestica x Prunus armeniaca ) fruit from South Africa into

the continental United States ” (USDA, 200 9 )

, identified five quarantine pests that could follow the pat hway of commercial consignments of these fruit s (USDA 2007 a )

. Table 1 below provides a summary of these pests along with the commodities they are associated with and their risk potentials.

Table 1. Quarantine pests, commodity they are associated with and their risk potential s

Quarantine Pest Apricot

( Prunus

armeniaca ) Sweet C herry

( Prunus

avium ) Plumcot

( Prunus domestica x
Prunus armeniaca ) Risk

Potential

Ceratitis capitata (Wiedemann) (Medfly) x x x High

Ceratitis quinaria (Bezzi) x x High

Ceratitis rosa (Karsch) (Natal fruit fly) x x High

Macchiademus diplopterus (Distant) (Chinch bug) x x Medium

Thaumatotibia

leucotreta (Meyrick) (False codling moth) x x High

Currently apricot s are admissible from Argentina, Belgium, Chile, Haiti, Israel, Mexico, Morocco, New Zealand and Zimbabwe, cherr ies are admissible from Argentina, Australia, Chile, Mexico and New Zealand, and plumcot s are admissible from Chile ( https://manuals.cphst.org/q56/Summaries/ProductSummariesMain.cfm ). The apricots,

c herries and plumcots, collectively or individually, are also referred to as stone fruits in

this document.

Per the Guidelines for Pathway

- Initiated Pest Risk Assessment (USDA. 2000)

, for pests3

assigned medium or higher risk potential, phytosanitary measures beyond port

- of

- entry inspect ions are recommended. The proposed importation of apricot s , cherries, and plumcots from South Africa, if approved, would be authorized under 7 CFR § 319.56

- 4 of the regulations and listed in the Plant P rotection and Q uarantine Fruits and Vegetables Import Requirements (FAVIR) manual available at http://www.aphis.usda.gov/favir/info.shtml

. This document outlines the phytosanitary measures that APHIS will require if the proposed importation of the requested fresh stone
fruits from South Africa into the continental U nited S tates is approved

, and provides the evidence used by APHIS to conclude that these measures will effectively prevent the introduction of the quarantine pest s

.



### B. Risk Mitigation Measures

For a pricots and plumcots : APHIS propose s that fresh apricot and plumcot fruit

from South Africa may be imported into the c ontinental United States under the following conditions:

(a) The fruit must be cold treated for the fruit flies ( Ceratitis spp

. ) and the false codling moth ( Thaumatotibia leucotreta ) using APHIS treatment schedule T107

- e in accordance with Title 7, Code of Federal Regulations (7 CFR), p art 305.

(b) Each consignment of fruit must be accompanied by a P hytosanitary C ertificate (PC) issued by the N ational P lant P rotection O rganization (NPPO) of South

Africa with an Additional Declaration (AD) that would state that the fruit was inspected and found free of Macchiademus diplopterus

.

(c ) Each consignment is subject to inspection upon arrival in the United States.

(d ) The fruit must be a commercial consignment as defined in 7 CFR § 319.56

- 2.

For s weet cherries : APHIS proposes that fresh cherry fruit from South Africa may be imported into the continental United States under the following conditi ons:

(a) The fruit must be cold treated for Medfly using APHIS treatment schedule T107

- a in accordance with Title 7, Code of Federal Regulations (7 CFR), part 305.

(b) Each consignment of fruit must be accompanied by a P hytosanitary C ertificate issued by the National Plant Protection Organization (NPPO) of South Africa

.

(c ) Each consignment is subject to inspection upon arrival in the United States.

(d ) The fruit must be a commercial consignment as defined in 7 CFR § 319.56

- 2.

T he above conditions would be listed in the F AVIR manual

. In addition to these specific measures, the fruit would be subject to the general requirements listed in 7 CFR §

319.56

- 3 that are applicable to the importation of all fruits and vegetables. The treatment4

schedules are furt her described below and located at the following website: http://www.aphis.usda.gov/import_export/plants/manuals/ports/downloads/treatment.pdf



### C. Evidence fo r the Effective Removal of Pest s of Concern from the Pathway

Th e measures described in Section B would effectively remove the pests of concern from

the stone fruits pathway. The FAO (200 7 ) defines “pathway” as “ Any means that allows

the entry or spread of a pest .”

Fruit f lies and false c odling m oth :

T reatment T107

- a is an APHIS

- approved cold treatment for fresh cherry fruit against Ceratitis capitata and C. rosa

, and has been effectively used for over 40 years to treat
commodities including cherries imported into the United States

. This treatment requires

sched ules of 34°F for 14 days, 35°F for 16 days, or 36° for 18 days. Likewise

, treatment
T107

- e is an APHIS

- approved cold treatment for citrus and stonefruits including apricot s
, nectarine s , peach es and plum s against false codling moth ( Thaumatotibia leucotreta ) and Natal fruit fly ( C. rosa )

, and has been effectively used to treat the s e commodities to meet

U

. S

. entry requirements

. This treatment schedule prescribes the temperature of 31°F for 22 days. Although the treat ment T107

- e is not specifically approved for Medfly or C. quinaria

, it is more stringent than T107

- a or any other cold treatment approved for fruit

flies

. T herefore APHIS considers T107

- e to be adequate for both the Medfly and C. quinaria

, with the latter being less cold

- tolerant than the Medfly (Komm 2008, pers.

comm .). Though plumcot is not listed among commodities that this treatment is

appr oved for, plumcot is a hybrid of plum and apricot

, and T107

- e is an approved

treatment for both of the parents . Therefore APHIS agrees that plumcot s can be effectively treated with this treatment to mitigate risks from all fruit flies and the false codling moth (Komm 2008, pers. comm.)

.

Chi nch or Lygaeid b ug :

This medium

- risk pest primarily feeds on grasses and is an external pest that often takes shelter within the stem cavity of the fruit (Sweet

, 2000). Although small in size, it is potentially visible on fruit surface and inspection of the fruit

, especially the stem cavity area with a magnifying tool

, is considered adequate to mitigate the risks. Requiring a PC

with an AD stating the shipment is free of this pest will alert our inspectors to the pest of

concern.

For all three commodities, the approved c old t reatment will successful ly mitigate the pests of concern, with the exc eption of the chinch bug on apricots and plumcots. The requirement for a Phytosanitary Certificate with an Additional Declaration for the chinch bug provides phytosanitary security by requiring the South Africa officials to conduct phytosanitary inspectio ns for the pests not managed by the treatment. This effectively doubles the inspections the fruits receive. Furthermore, specifically listing the pest of5

concern on the Additional Declaration alerts U.S. inspectors to the specific pest.

Allowing only commercial consignments into the United States assumes that the fruits and vegetables would undergo some level of post harvest commercial handling ( e.g.
, culling, packing, and sanitation ) and ensures shipment integrity and trace back capability.



## D

. Conclusion

APHIS conclude s that the phytosanitary measures proposed in this document, T107

- a for

cherries and T107

- e for apricots and plumcots, and the additional Phytosanitary Certificate described in this Risk Management Document, will result in the eff ective removal from the pathway of the pests of concern identified by the P RA for the importation of fresh apricot s , cherries, and plumcots from South Africa into the

continental United States.



## E

. Author s

Inder P.S. Gadh, Ph.D. Senior Risk Manager6



## F

. References

FAO

. 200 7

. International Standards for Phytosanitary Measures. Glossary of Phytosanitary Terms, Publication No. 5. UN

- FAO

- IPPC, Italy. 12 pp.

Sweet, M.H. II. 2000. Seed and chinch bugs (Lygaeoidea). In Het e roptera of Economic Importance, edited by Schaefer, C.W. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press.

USDA. 2000. Guidelines for Pathway

- Initiated Pest Risk Assessments. Version 5.02. October 17, 2000.

USDA. 200 9 . Importation of fresh apricot ( Prunus armeniaca L

. ), sweet cherry ( Prunus

avium (L.) L

. ), and plumcot ( Prunus domestica x Prunus armeniaca ) fruit from South Africa into the continental United States. A qualitative, pathway

- initiated risk assessment with risk mitigation options. USDA APHIS PPQ Septem ber 200 9

.