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United States Department of Agriculture

Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service

Plant Protection and Quarantine

Importation of Cranberry (Vaccinium macrocarpon) from 

Chile into the continental United States

Risk Management Document

April 17, 2014

Plant Health Programs (PHP)

Regulations, Permits and Manuals (RPM)

Contact Person: Claudia Ferguson
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Introduction

The United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection 

Service (APHIS) prepared a pest risk assessment (PRA) in response Chile’s market access

request to import fresh fruit of cranberries (Vaccinium macrocarpon) for consumption into the 

continental United States. The details of the methodology and rating criteria for the PRA are 

found in the Guidelines for Plant Pest Risk Assessment of Imported Fruit and Vegetable 

Commodities (USDA, 2012).

The market access request from Chile included information on the conditions under which the 

cranberries will be produced: following harvest, the cranberries are washed and dried, and 

maintained at 5 °C in storage and transport to export markets (SAG, 2012; USDA, 2014). The 

PRA was developed based on all processes and conditions becoming mandatory conditions for 

entry of the commodity. 

The pest risk assessment document, ‘Importation of Cranberry (Vaccinium macrocarpon) from 

Chile into the Continental United States’ found no pests that might follow the pathway of 

cranberries from Chile (USDA, 2014). 

There were only two pests considered in the PRA, the two Lepidoptera Dalacca chiliensis

(Viette) and Dalacca pallens (Blanchard). The PRA concluded that both of these pests lacked 

scientific evidence to definitively associate them with the plant part to be exported, the harvested 

cranberries. The processes listed above therefore did not remove any of the pests from the 

pathway and will not be required as mitigations.

Risk Management Measures

The following risk management measures must be followed for cranberries from Chile to be 

imported into the United States:

 Cranberries must be imported as commercial consignments only.

 Each consignment of cranberries must be accompanied by a phytosanitary certificate 

issued by national plant protection organization (NPPO) of Chile. 

 Each shipment is subject to inspection upon arrival at port of entry to the United States.

Conclusion

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

effective removal of any potential quarantine pests associated with the importation of fresh

cranberries from Chile. The PRA did not identify any pests of cranberries that were likely to 

follow the pathway and therefore be candidates for risk management (USDA, 2014). 

Commercially-produced fruit are grown and packed to meet quality levels that allow them to be 

marketed for sale. Commercially-produced fruit are less likely than other fruit to have pests or 

other phytosanitary issues. Interceptions of pests in commercial fruit versus passenger baggage 
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indicate that non-commercially produced fruit has a much higher risk of carrying pests (AQAS, 

2014). Inspection is considered effective at finding external feeding pests or accidental 

hitchhikers and excluding infested shipments from entering commerce (Cavey, 2003; Wittenberg 

and Cock, 2001). Cranberries will undergo two inspections, one inspection from the NPPO of 

Chile to provide the phytosanitary certificate indicating freedom from pests, and one inspection 

by U.S. Customs and Border Protection at the port of entry to the United States.

References:

AQAS. 2014. Agricultural Quarantine Activity System Pest Interception Database. USDAAPHIS-PPQ. Last accessed Apr. 2014.

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.

SAG. 2012. Importation of fresh fruit of cranberry, Vaccinium macrocarpon, from Chile into the 

continental United States of America. Vildosola, G. M., Servicio Agricola y Ganadero, Chile. 23 

pp.

USDA. 2012. Guidelines for Plant Pest Risk Assessment of Imported Fruit and Vegetable 

Commodities (First Edition). United States Department of Agriculture, Animal and Plant Health 

Inspection Service, Plant Protection and Quarantine, Raleigh, NC.

. 

USDA. 2014. Importation of Cranberry (Vaccinium macrocarpon) from Chile into the 

continental United States. A Qualitative, Pathway-Initiated Pest Risk Assessment. USDA, 

APHIS, CPHST, PERAL, Raleigh, NC. 8 pp.

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.

Author

Walter P. Gould

Senior Risk Manager