1 United States Department of Agriculture

Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service

Plant Protection and Quarantine



# Importation of R ambutan ( Nephelium lappaceum ) 

# F ruit

from Malaysia and Vietnam into the Continental

United States

Risk Managemen t Document

August 1 2 , 2010

Ver. 0. 3

United States Department of Agriculture

Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service

Agency Contact: claudia.ferguson@aphis.usda.gov2

I. 

### Executive Summary:

The National Plant Protection Organizations (NP PO’s) of Malaysia and Vietnam requested

market access to export fresh rambutan ( Nephelium lappaceum ) fruit to the United States.

Rambutans have not been exported from Malaysia or Vietnam to the United States before

. Both

countries further proposed to treat the fruit with an APHIS approved generic irradiation treatment

that would mitigate risks from most insect pests. These countries provided detailed information

on pests associated with this commodity in their countries.

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

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

country would be su f

ficient information to evaluate pathway risks and that further detailed

asses sment for each quarantine pest was not needed. 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 (C PHST) developed pest list s for

rambutan and two other commodit i es, litchi and lo n gans , originating from member countries of

the ASEAN region comprising, Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines,

Thailand, and Vietnam (USDA, 2009) . CPHS T identified the quarantine pests that are likely to

follow the pathway for these three commodit i es and recommended measures that might be

needed to mitigate risks from pests not targeted by the irradiation treatment . The pest lists were

based on (1) the information provided by member countries of the region , (2) published

scientific literature an d (3) pest interception records of the United Sta tes Department of

Agriculture (Pest ID, 2009)

.

Analysis of the pest lists for rambutans from Malaysia and V ietnam indicated that all but one

pest likely to follow the pathway are insect pests and would be effectively neutralized 1 with the

irradiation generic dose of 400 Gy (USDA, 2006).

In addition to insect pests, rambutans from Malaysia also serve as a pa thway for a fungus

, Oidium nephelii, for which irradiation is not an approved treatment. Therefore additional

measures would be needed to mitigate risk from this pathogen.

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

the importation of rambutans from Malaysia and Vietnam and documents the evidence used by

APHIS to conclude that these measures will effectively prevent the introduction of quarantine

pests into the continental United States

.

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

is stopped.3

II. 

### Countr y wise analysis of quarantine pest s and mitigation measures

required

1. Malaysia

A. Introduction

The pest list completed by CPHST identified 28 quarantine pests that could potentially follow the

pathway of rambutan fruit from Malaysia (USDA, 2009; Table 1). These include 27 insect pests

and one fungus as follows:

Table 1. Quarantine pests likely to follow the pathway of fresh rambutan fruit imported from

Malaysia into the contine n tal United States

.

Species Order Family

Insects

Ar chips mimicus Walsingham Lepidoptera Tort r icidae

Bactrocera papayae Drew & Hancock Diptera Tephritidae

Ceroplastes rubens Maskell Hemiptera Coccidae

Coccus viridis (Green) Hemiptera Coccidae

Conogethes punctiferalis (Guenée) Lepido ptera Pyralidae

Conopomorpha cramerella Snellen Lepidoptera Gracillariidae

Crisicoccus theobromae Williams & Watson Hemiptera Pseudococcida e

Cryptoblabes gnidiella Millière Lepidoptera Pyralidae

Cryptophlebia illepida Buttler Lepido ptera Tort r icidae

Cryptophlebia ombrodelta (Lower) Lepidoptera Tort r icidae

Deudorix epijarbas (Moore) Lepidoptera Lycaenidae

Dichomeris indiserta Meyr. Lepidoptera Gelechiidae

Dysmicoccus neobrevipes Beardsley Hemiptera Pseudococcidae

Exallomochlus hispidus (Morrison) Hemiptera Pseudococcidae

Maconellicoccus hirsutus (Green) Hemiptera Pseudococcidae

Maconellicoccus multipori (Takahashi) Hemiptera Pseudococcidae

Nipaecoccus viridis (Newstead) Hemiptera Pseudococcidae

Ophiorrhabda cellifera Meyrick Lepidoptera Tort r icidae

Paracoccus interceptus Lit Hemiptera Pseudococcidae

Planococcus lilacinus (Cockerell) Hemiptera Pseudococcidae

Planococcus minor (Maskell) Hemiptera Pseudococcidae

Pseudococcus a urantiacus Williams Hemiptera Pseudococcidae

Pseudococcus cryptus Hempel Hemiptera Pseudococcidae

Rastrococcus iceryoides (Green) Hemiptera Pseudococcidae

Rastrococcus tropicasiaticus Williams Hemiptera Pseudococcidae

Stathmopoda coniom a Meyrick Lepidoptera Oecophoridae

Tirathaba mundella Walker Lepidoptera Pyralidae

Fungi

Oidium nephelii Hadiwidjaja Ascomycetes Erysiphales4

B. Risk M anagement Measures

APHIS proposes to allow the importation of the fresh rambu tan fruit from Malaysia 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 CFR Section 319.56

- 2.

(b) The fruit must be irradiated with a minimum ab sorbed dose of 400 Gy and follow the

requirements of 7CFR parts 305 and 319.

(c) Prior to departure from Malaysia, e ach consignment must be inspected by the NPPO u sing a

sampling procedure mutually agreed upon by APHIS and the NPPO

. A representative

sample of fruit must be drawn from each lot, inspected and found free from the fungus,

Oidium nephelii

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

precleared by APHIS inspectors in Malaysia . Each shipment must be inspe cted jointly by

APHIS and Malaysia inspectors and accompanied by a Phytosanitary C ertificate (PC) issued

by the national plant protection organization (NPPO) of Malaysia certifying that the fruit

received the required irradiation treatment with 400 Gy as t he minimum absorbed dose

. T he

PC must also include an A dditional D eclaration (AD) stating that the consignment was

inspected and found free from Oidium nephelii

. (e) If irradiation is to be applied upon arrival in the United States, e ach consignment of frui t

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

by the NPPO of Malaysia with an AD stating that the consignment was inspected by

Malaysia n inspectors and found free from Oidium nephelii

. (f) Each consignment is su bject to inspection at the U

. S

. ports

- of

- entry.

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

(i) Insect Pests:

Twenty seven of the twenty eight pests likely to follow the pathway are insect pests. A

minimum absorbed d ose of 400 Gy has been determined by APHIS to be adequate to neutralize

all insect pests excluding adults and pupae in the order L epidoptera. Of the twenty seven insect

pests li kely to follow the pathway, eleven belong to the order Lepidoptera (Table 1)

. Although

the generic irradiation treatment is not approved for Lepidoptera n p upae and adults, tho se life

stages are unlikely to be associated with the commodit y

. D ue to their mobility, free

- living adults

of Lepidoptera are unlikely to be in the pathway o f commercia lly produced rambutan fruits. As

for the pupal stage, in most of the genera of concern ( Archips

, Conogethes, Conopomorpha,

Cryptoblabes, Cryptophlebia, Deudorix, Dichomeris, Tirathaba ), the pupae are either associated

with plant parts other than fruit or they occur externally on their host’s plant parts ( Ahmed, 1977;

Avidov and Harpaz, 1969; CABI, 2007; Hall, 1931; Hill, 1987; Hwang and Hsieh, 1989; IPM

DANIDA, 2003; Nair, 1975; Ohta, 1940; Ooi et al., 2002 ; Popich et al., 1995; Underhill, 1943;

van den Berg et al., 2001; Verma, 1985 ) . O r

, if the pupae occur inside the fruit or seed of their

host plants ( Atwal, 1976; CABI, 2007; Franssen, 1936; Gupta et al., 2005; Singh et al., 2002;5

Verma, 1985; Waite and Hwang, 2002; Zaka ur Ra b, 1980 )

, they would be associated with

premature fruit drop and/ or obvious damage and symptoms ( CABI, 2007; Gupta et al., 2005;

Singh et al., 2002; Waite and Hwang, 2002 ), thereby making it likely for the fruit to be culled

during standard harvest or post

- harvest handling and proce ssing. No information could be found

on pupation behavior of the genera Ophiorrhabda and Stathmopoda

. However, since 1985,

inspectors at U.S. ports

- of

- entry have never intercepted pupae of these two genera associated

with commercial fruit shipments (of any kind ), and they have never intercepted them with litchi,

longan, or rambutan in any pathway, commercial or non

- commercial ( PestID, 2009 ). Also,

except for two interceptions of Conopomorpha in permit cargo with litchi fruit, inspectors at U.S.

ports

- of

- entry have never intercepted pupae of the other Lepidoptera genera of concern

associated with commercial fruit shipments of any type of fruit ( PestID, 2009 ). This lack of

interception is evidence of the low likelihood of any of the Lepidoptera pupae following the

pathway o f commercial fruit. T he irradiation treatment , along with standard postharvest

processes

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

(ii) Fungi :

Powdery mildew caused by Oidium nephelii is the most serious disease of rambutan in the field.

It is often found infecting the young, actively growing portions of the plant, although all stages of

growth can be infected. The disease is found in Southeastern Asian countries such as Brunei,

Thailand (Peregrine, 1982), Indonesi a, Malaysia, Philippines, and Singapore (Farr et al. , n.d.).

Signs of infection typically occur on young fruit that are usually stunted, but all stages of growth

can be infected. White powdery areas of mycelial growth can be seen with the naked eye on t he

fruit spinterns (the spiney, hair

- like, protuberances on the pericarp) and on the skin between the

spinterns (Ploetz et al. , 1994).

APHIS has determined that Oidium nephelii is a quarantine pest that follows the rambutan fruit

import pathway (USDA, 20 09). However, m ost infected fruit will likely be culled because

t rained harvesters, packinghouse personnel, and plant quarantine inspectors can easily detect the

distinctive, conspicuous signs of this disease on fruits. Therefore, packinghouse measures s uch

as culling of the diseased fruit coupled with predepar ture inspections by the NPPO, an

additional declaration on a phytosanitary certificate stating the consignment to be free from the

disease , and allowing only the commercially produced consignments are considered adequate to

mitigate the pest risk.

As part of the U.S. requirements (7CFR305.9) governing the use of irradiation as a phytosanitary

treatment, APHIS and the NPPO of Malaysia must jointly develop an operational work plan

(OWP). The work p lan shall include details of activities including inspection of articles that

NPPO must perform before the treatment 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.6

2. Vietnam

A. Introduction

The pest list completed by CPHST identified 17 quarantine pests that could follow the pathway

of rambutan fruit from Vietnam (USDA, 2009; Table 2 ). All are insect pests

.

Table 2. Quarantine pests identified as likely to follow the pathway of fresh rambutan fruit

imported from Vietnam into the contine n tal United States

Species Order Family

Insects

Bactrocera dorsalis (Hendel) Diptera Tephritidae

Ceroplastes rubens Maskell Hemiptera Coccidae

Coccus viridis (Green) Hemiptera C occidae

Conogethes punctiferalis (Guenée) Lepidoptera Pyralidae

Conopomorpha cramerella Snellen Lepidoptera Gracillariidae

Cryptophlebia ombrodelta (Lower) Lepidoptera Tortricidae

Dysmicoccus neobrevipes Beardsley Hemiptera Pseudococcidae

E x allomochlus hispidus (Morrison) Hemiptera Pseudococcidae

Maconellicoccus hirsutus (Green) Hemiptera Pseudococcidae

Nipaecoccus viridis (Newstead) H emiptera Pseudococcidae

Paracoccus interceptus Lit Hemiptera Pseudococcidae

Planococcus lilacinus (Cockerell) Hemiptera Pseudococcidae

Planococcus litchi Cox Hemiptera Pseudococcidae

Planococcus minor (Maskell) Hemiptera Pseudococcidae

Pseudococcus aurantiacus Williams Hemiptera Pseudococcidae

Pseudococcus cryptus Hempel Hemiptera Pseudococcidae

Rastrococcus tropicasiaticus Williams Hemiptera Pseudococcidae

B. Risk M anagement Measures

APHIS proposes to allow the imp ortation of the fresh rambutan fruit from Vietnam 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 CFR Section 319.56

- 2.

(b) The fruit must be i rradiated with a minimum absorbed dose of 400 Gy and follow the

requirements of 7CFR parts 305 and 319.

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

precleared by APHIS inspectors in Vietnam . Each shipment must b e inspected jointly by

APHIS and Vietnam inspectors and accompanied by a Phytosanitary C ertificate (PC) issued

by the national plant protection organization (NPPO) of Vietnam certifying that the fruit

received the required irradiation treatment with 400 Gy as the minimum absorbed dose

.7

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

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

by the NPPO of Vietnam.

(e) Each consign ment is subject to inspection at the U

. S

. ports

- of

- entry.

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

(i) Insect Pests:

All seventeen pests likely to follow the rambutan pathway are insect pests. A minimum

absorbed do se of 400 Gy has been determined by APHIS to be adequate to neutralize all insect

pests excluding adults and pupae in the order Lepidoptera. Of the seventeen pests likel y to

follow the pathway, three belong t o the order Lepidoptera (Table 2 ). Although t he generic

irradiation treatment is not approved for Lepidoptera p upae and adults, tho se life stages are

unlikely to be associated with the commodities here

. D ue to their mobility, free

- living adults of

Lepidoptera are unlikely to be in the pathway of comm ercia lly produced rambutan fruits. As for

the pupal stage, the pupae in the three genera of concern ( Conogethes, Conopomorpha, and

Cryptophlebia ), the pupae are either associated with plant parts other than fruit or they occur

externally on their host’s pl ant parts ( Ahmed, 1977; Avidov and Harpaz, 1969; CABI, 2007;

Hall, 1931; Hill, 1987; Hwang and Hsieh, 1989; IPM DANIDA, 2003; Nair, 1975; Ohta, 1940;

Ooi et al., 2002; Popich et al., 1995; Underhill, 1943; van den Be rg et al., 2001; Verma, 1985 )

. O r

, if the pupae occur inside the fruit or seed of their host plants ( Atwal, 1976; CABI, 2007;

Franssen, 1936; Gupta et al., 2005; Singh et al., 2002; Verma, 1985; Waite and Hwang, 2002;

Zaka ur Rab, 1980 )

, they would be associated with premature fruit drop and/ or obvious damage

and symptoms ( CABI, 2007; Gupta et al., 2005; Singh et al., 2002; Waite and Hwang, 2002 ),

thereby making it likely for the fruit to be culled during standard harvest or post

- harvest handling

and processing. E xcept for two interceptions of Conopomorph a in permit cargo with litchi fruit,

inspectors at U.S. ports

- of

- entry have never intercepted pupae of the other Lepidoptera genera of

concern associated with commercial fruit shipments (of any type of fruit) ( PestID, 2009 ). This

lack of interception is evidence of the low likelihood of any of the Lepidoptera pupae following

the pathway of commercial fruit. T he irradiation treatment , along with standard postharvest

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

As part of the U.S. requirements (7CFR305.9) governing the use of irradiation as a phytosanitary

treatment, APHIS and the NPPO of Vietnam 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 treatment or departure. Phytosanitary inspection of the fruit will

ensure that all pests of concern not targeted by irradiation are removed from the pathway.



### I II . Conclusion

The phytosanitary requirements de scribed above include treatment of rambutan fruit from

Malaysia and Vietnam with irradiation using a minimum absorbed dose of 400 Gy and

phytosanitary inspections for pests not targeted by the irradiation treatment. The risk

management document concludes that b ased on the evaluation of effectiveness of these measures8

directed against the pests of concern , APHIS finds that the safeguards of 7 CFR § 319.56 and the

additional mitigations described here will result in the effective removal of the pests of conc ern

i dentified by the pest lists for the importation of fresh rambutans from Malaysia or Vietnam into

the continental United States

.



### I V. Author s :

Inder Paul S. Gadh, Ph.D.

Senior Risk Manager

– Treatments

Jose Hernandez, Ph.D.

Senior Risk Manager

- Pla nt Patholog y



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