1

United States Department of Agriculture

Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service

Plant Protection and Quarantine

Importation of Rambutan (Nephelium lappaceum) Fruit 

from Malaysia and Vietnam into the Continental 

United States

Risk Management Document

August 12, 2010

Ver. 0.3

United States Department of Agriculture

Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service

Agency Contact: claudia.ferguson@aphis.usda.gov
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I. Executive Summary:

The National Plant Protection Organizations (NPPO’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 identifying all quarantine pests in each 

country would be sufficient information to evaluate pathway risks and that further detailed 

assessment 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 and Technology (CPHST) developed pest lists for 

rambutan and two other commodities, litchi and longans, originating from member countries of 

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

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

follow the pathway for these three commodities 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 and (3) pest interception records of the United States Department of 

Agriculture (Pest ID, 2009). 

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

pest likely to follow the pathway are insect pests and would be effectively neutralized1 with the 

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

In addition to insect pests, rambutans from Malaysia also serve as a pathway 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 will 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.
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II. Country wise analysis of quarantine pests 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 continental United States.

Species Order Family 

Insects

Archips mimicus Walsingham Lepidoptera Tortricidae

Bactrocera papayae Drew & Hancock Diptera Tephritidae

Ceroplastes rubens Maskell Hemiptera Coccidae

Coccus viridis (Green) Hemiptera Coccidae

Conogethes punctiferalis (Guenée) Lepidoptera Pyralidae

Conopomorpha cramerella Snellen Lepidoptera Gracillariidae

Crisicoccus theobromae Williams & Watson Hemiptera Pseudococcidae

Cryptoblabes gnidiella Millière Lepidoptera Pyralidae

Cryptophlebia illepida Buttler Lepidoptera Tortricidae

Cryptophlebia ombrodelta (Lower) Lepidoptera Tortricidae

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 Tortricidae

Paracoccus interceptus Lit Hemiptera Pseudococcidae

Planococcus lilacinus (Cockerell) Hemiptera Pseudococcidae

Planococcus minor (Maskell) Hemiptera Pseudococcidae

Pseudococcus aurantiacus Williams Hemiptera Pseudococcidae

Pseudococcus cryptus Hempel Hemiptera Pseudococcidae

Rastrococcus iceryoides (Green) Hemiptera Pseudococcidae

Rastrococcus tropicasiaticus Williams Hemiptera Pseudococcidae

Stathmopoda conioma Meyrick Lepidoptera Oecophoridae

Tirathaba mundella Walker Lepidoptera Pyralidae

Fungi

Oidium nephelii Hadiwidjaja Ascomycetes Erysiphales
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B. Risk Management Measures 

APHIS proposes to allow the importation of the fresh rambutan 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 absorbed dose of 400 Gy and follow the

requirements of 7CFR parts 305 and 319.

(c) Prior to departure from Malaysia, each consignment must be inspected by the NPPO using 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, each consignment of fruit must be 

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

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

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

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

PC must also include an Additional Declaration (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, each consignment of fruit 

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 

Malaysian inspectors and found free from Oidium nephelii.

(f) Each consignment 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:

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

minimum absorbed dose 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 twenty seven insect 

pests likely to follow the pathway, eleven belong to the order Lepidoptera (Table 1). Although 

the generic irradiation treatment is not approved for Lepidopteran pupae and adults, those life 

stages are unlikely to be associated with the commodity. Due to their mobility, free-living adults 

of Lepidoptera are unlikely to be in the pathway of commercially 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). Or, 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; 
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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. 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 of commercial fruit. The 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), Indonesia, 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 the 

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, 2009). However, most infected fruit will likely be culled because 

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

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

as culling of the diseased fruit coupled with predeparture 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 plan 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 declared on the PC will ensure that all pests of concern are 

removed from the pathway.
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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 continental United States

Species Order Family 

Insects

Bactrocera dorsalis (Hendel) Diptera Tephritidae

Ceroplastes rubens Maskell Hemiptera Coccidae

Coccus viridis (Green) Hemiptera Coccidae

Conogethes punctiferalis (Guenée) Lepidoptera Pyralidae

Conopomorpha cramerella Snellen Lepidoptera Gracillariidae

Cryptophlebia ombrodelta (Lower) Lepidoptera Tortricidae

Dysmicoccus neobrevipes Beardsley Hemiptera Pseudococcidae

Exallomochlus hispidus (Morrison) Hemiptera Pseudococcidae

Maconellicoccus hirsutus (Green) Hemiptera Pseudococcidae

Nipaecoccus viridis (Newstead) Hemiptera 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 Management Measures 

APHIS proposes to allow the importation 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 irradiated 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, each consignment of fruit must be 

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

APHIS and Vietnam inspectors and accompanied by a Phytosanitary Certificate (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, each 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 consignment 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 dose 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 likely to 

follow the pathway, three belong to the order Lepidoptera (Table 2). Although the generic 

irradiation treatment is not approved for Lepidoptera pupae and adults, those life stages are

unlikely to be associated with the commodities here. Due to their mobility, free-living adults of 

Lepidoptera are unlikely to be in the pathway of commercially 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 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). 

Or, 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. 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 of commercial fruit. The 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.

III. Conclusion

The phytosanitary requirements described 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 based on the evaluation of effectiveness of these measures 
8

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 concern 

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

the continental United States.

IV. Authors:

Inder Paul S. Gadh, Ph.D.

Senior Risk Manager – Treatments

Jose Hernandez, Ph.D.

Senior Risk Manager - Plant Pathology

V. References: 

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