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United States Department of Agriculture

Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service

Plant Protection and Quarantine

Importation of Chipilin (Crotalaria longirostrata Hook and 

Arn.) from Guatemala into the Continental United States

Risk Management Document

January 18, 2012

Plant Health Programs (PHP)

Regulations, Permits and Manuals (RPM)

Contact Person: Claudia Ferguson
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Introduction

In response to a request for market access to import fresh leaves of chipilin (Crotalaria 

longirostrata Hook and Arn.) from El Salvador into the continental United States, the United 

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

(APHIS) prepared a pest risk assessment (PRA) as per the Guidelines for Pathway-Initiated Pest 

Risk Assessments (USDA, 2000). Subsequently, Guatemala submitted a request for market 

access in 2011. The original PRA assessed the risk for all species of Crotalaria in the chipilingrowing region near El Salvador, which includes Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, 

and Southern Mexico.

The PRA included pests distributed in the entire Crotalaria spp. growing region, which added 

pests known to occur in Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Southern Mexico to 

those in El Salvador. The pest risk assessment Importation of Fresh Leaves of Chipilin, 

Crotalaria longirostrata, from El Salvador into the Continental United States (USDA, 2010) 

found two quarantine pests of concern that could follow the pathway of fresh leaves: Phakopsora 

meibomiae (Arthur) Arthur, is rated with a high pest risk potential, and Uromyces crotalariae

(Arthur) J.W. Baxter, is rated with a medium pest risk potential. 

Standard Industry Practices

The information on standard industry practices was provided by MAG (Ministerio de Agricultura 

y Ganadería), El Salvador; they are considered simple and standards practices. 

The product is harvested by hand, then it is sorted (culled) for quality and pests problems, 

washed in a weak bleach solution, air dried, and bundled in portions weighing about 250 grams; 

finally the leaves are placed in plastic bags for shipping (MAG, 2005).

Risk Management Measures

The following risk management measures must be followed for chipilin from Guatemala to be 

imported into the United States:

 Chipilin leaves must be imported as commercial consignments only.

 Each consignment of chipilin must be accompanied by a phytosanitary certificate (PC)

issued by the National Plant Protection Organization (NPPO) of Guatemala, with an 

additional declaration (AD) stating: Chipilin in this consignment has been inspected and 

found free of Phakopsora meibomiae and Uromyces crotalariae.

 Each consignment is subject to inspection upon arrival at the port of entry to the United 

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

By restricting the importation of chipilin to commercial consignments only, we will ensure that 

appropriate sanitation, pest management, culling and packing practices are in place to prevent the 

introduction of Phakopsora meibomiae and Uromyces crotalariae.

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

damaged or where pests or diseases are present, will be culled. The NPPO will inspect the 

chipilin to be exported to issue the PC with AD which certifies the product is free of Phakopsora 

meibomiae and Uromyces crotalariae. Inspection ensures that various stages of any pest or 

disease that are present will be detected; rust signs and symptoms are conspicuous enough to be 

found and culled during inspections (Cummins and Hiratsuka, 1983). In addition, the chipilin 

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

Phakopsora meibomiae and Uromyces crotalariae were identified as following the pathway of 

fresh leaves of chipilin. APHIS believes that the phytosanitary measures proposed in this 

document will result in the effective removal of the quarantine pests associated with the 

importation of fresh leaves of chipilin from Guatemala into the continental United States. 

Inspection is considered effective at finding external feeding pests and excluding infested 

shipments from entering commerce (Cavey, 2003; Wittenberg and Cock, 2001); also, rust signs 

and symptoms are conspicuous enough to be found and culled during inspections. The 

phytosanitary certificate with the additional declaration stating freedom of both rust quarantine 

pests requires the Guatemala NPPO to conduct an inspection and also raises the awareness of the 

pests listed in the AD of those requirements for our port of entry inspection. 

Authors

José R. Hernández

Senior Risk Manager

Walter P. Gould

Senior Risk Manager
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References:

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.

Cummins, G. B., and Y. Hiratsuka. 1983. Illustrated genera of rust fungi. American 

Phytopathological Society, St. Paul, MN.

MAG, 2005. Informe técnico sobre el cultivo del Chipilin (Crotalaria longirostrata). Ministerio 

de Agricultura y Ganadería (MAG). Personal communication to Centro de Excelencia 

Fitsanitaria. 2005.

USDA. 2000. Guidelines for Pathway-Initiated Pest Risk Assessments, Version 5.02. USDAAPHIS, PPQ. Permits and Risk Assessment. Commodity Risk Analysis Branch. 30 pp.

USDA. 2010. Importation of Fresh Leaves of Chipilin, Crotalaria longirostrata, from El 

Salvador into the Continental United States. Qualitative, Pathway-Initiated Pest Risk 

Assessment. USDA, APHIS, CPHST, PERAL, Raleigh, NC. 25 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.