United States Department of Agriculture

Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service

Plant Protection and Quarantine

Risk Management Document

Importation of Fresh Celery, (Apium graveolens Linnaeus.)

from Colombia into the Continental United States

May 7, 2012

Plant Health Programs (PHP)

Regulations, Permits and Manuals (RPM)

Contact Person: Dorothy Wayson
2

Introduction

In support of a request for market access to import fresh celery (Apium graveolens Linnaeus)

from Colombia into the Continental United States, the Center for Plant Health Science and 

Technology (CPHST) of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Animal and Plant 

Health Inspection Service (APHIS) prepared a pest risk assessment (PRA) (USDA, 2007) as per

the Guidelines for Pathway-Initiated Pest Risk Assessment (USDA, 2000). 

The PRA identified four pests of quarantine significance that would likely follow the pathway of 

fresh celery leaves, stems and roots imported into the continental United States:

Coccus viridis (Green) (Hemiptera: Coccidae)

Copitarsia decolora (Guenée) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae)

Liriomyza huidobrensis Blanchard (Diptera: Agromyzidae)

Planococcus lilacinus Cock (Hemiptera: Pseudococcidae)

The overall pest risk potential for Copitarsia decolora and Liriomyza huidobrensis is identified

as high, and for Coccus viridis and Planococcus lilacinus is medium.

According to the Guidelines for Pathway-Initiated Pest Risk Assessment (USDA. 2000), for pests 

assigned high risk potential, phytosanitary measures beyond port-of-entry inspections are 

strongly recommended. This document outlines the phytosanitary measures that APHIS will 

require if the proposed importation of fresh celery (Apium graveolens Linnaeus.) from Colombia

into the continental United States is approved, and provides the evidence used by APHIS to 

conclude that these measures will effectively prevent the introduction of the quarantine pests. 

On April 12, 2012 APHIS National Inspection Service concluded that Coccus viridis (green 

scale) no longer requires action at the ports of entry (USDA, 2012). The pest was evaluated 

through the Federally Recognized State Managed Phytosanitary Program (FRSMP). The 

National Plant Board concurred with the decision to stop taking action on this pest at the port of 

entry. Therefore no mitigations are needed for Coccus viridis on fresh celery, Apium graveolens, 

from Colombia.

Risk Management Measures

APHIS proposes that fresh celery leaves, stems and roots from Colombia may be imported into 

the continental United States under the following conditions:

 Celery, must be imported in commercial shipments only

 APHIS requires a phytosanitary certificate be issued by the Colombian National Plant 

Protection Organization (NPPO) for each shipment to assure that the Celery is apparently

free of pests, with an additional declaration stating “This shipment has been inspected and

is free from Copitarsia decolora, Planococcus lilacinus, and Liriomyza huidobrensis”
3

 Each shipment is subject to inspection upon arrival in the United States.

Evidence for the Effective Removal of Pest of Concern from the Pathway

By restricting the importation of fresh celery to commercial consignments only, we will ensure 

that appropriate sanitation practices are in place to prevent the introduction of contamination and 

hitchhiker pests discussed in the PRA.

As part of the process of commercially picking, processing and packaging, celery that is damaged 

or where pests are present, will be culled. The NPPO will inspect the celery to be exported to 

issue the PC with AD which certifies the product is free of pests. All of the quarantine pests of 

concern have stages that are readily detected by inspection. Inspection ensures that various 

stages of any pest that are present will be detected; this is particularly effective against those 

pests whose later life stages are larger and more readily detected (Borror et al. 1989). In

addition, the celery will be subject to inspection for pests at the port-of-entry to the United States 

by officers of Customs and Border Protection (CBP). The PC with the AD will alert CBP 

inspectors to look for the quarantine pests of concern. Inspection is an effective method for 

detecting pests and is a primary method of preventing quarantine pests from entering the United 

States (Cavey, 2003; Wittenberg and Cock, 2001). 

Conclusion

APHIS believes that the phytosanitary measures proposed in this document will result in the 

effective removal of quarantine pests associated with the importation of fresh celery from 

Colombia. Fresh celery is enterable to the United States from many other countries using similar 

mitigations without significant pest issues (USDA, 2010).

Author

Walter P. Gould, Ph.D.

Senior Risk Manager

References

Borror, D. J., Triplehorn, C. A. and N. F. Johnson. 1989. Introduction to the study of insects, 6 

ed. Harcourt Brace Jovanovich College Publishers, TX.

Cavey, J.F. 2003. Mitigating introduction of invasive plant pests: the APHIS-PPQ Mission. 

From: Chapter 13, pp. 350-361 in Ruiz, G.M and J.T. Carlton. 2003. Invasive species: 

vectors and management strategies. Island Press, Washington, D.C. 518p.

USDA. 2000. Guidelines for Pathway-Initiated Pest Risk Assessments, Version 5.02, October 17,

2000. USDA-APHIS, PPQ, 31 pp.
4

USDA. 2007. Importation of Celery (Apium graveolens Linnaeus) into the Continental United 

States from Colombia. Qualitative, Pathway-Initiated Pest Risk Assessment. USDA, APHIS, 

CPHST, PERAL, Raleigh, NC. 

USDA. 2010. USDA APHIS Fruits and Vegetables Import Requirements (FAVIR) database.

http://www.aphis.usda.gov/import_export/plants/plant_imports/quarantine_56/favir.shtml

USDA. 2012. Official Control - The Federally Recognized State Managed Phytosanitary

Program. USDA-APHIS-PPQ Plant Health Programs. 

http://www.aphis.usda.gov/plant_health/plant_pest_info/frsmp/non-reg-pests.shtml

Wittenberg, R. and M.J.W. Cock. 2001. Invasive Alien Species: A toolkit of best prevention and 

management practices. CABI publishing, CAB International, Wallingford, Oxon, UK. 228 

pp.