Rev. 4 1 United States Department of Agriculture Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service Plant Protection and Quarantine



## Risk Management Document



## Importation of Fresh Commercial Avocado (Persea americana

Mill. var. Hass) Fruit in Bulk Shipments from Mexico into the

United States.

November 3, 2009

Plant Health Programs (PHP) Risk Management and Plants for Planting Policy (RMPPP)

Contact Person: David B LambRev. 4 2 Introduction

In conjunction with the expansion of market access for Mexican Hass avocados into the United States, Mexico requested procedures to be follo wed so that shipments may be sent in bulk to United States ports. Mexico has requested that the avocados be shipped in cardboard bins on pallets contained in ships holds. Mexico has also requested to be allowed to combine avocados from multiple packing houses that particip ate in the avocado export program into one consignment. This request applies to avocados moved overland to the United States border by refrigerated truck or refrigerated container. This also will apply to bulk maritime shipments to the United States ports of entry. Mexico is curr ently not authorized to comingle shipments from multiple packing houses.

Hass avocados may be imported into the United States from Michoacan, Mexico only after meeting the requirements of a systems appro ach listed in 7 CFR 319.56-30. These phytosanitary requirements include pest surveys and pest ri sk-reducing cultural practices, treatments, packinghouse procedures, inspection and shipping procedures. These requirements have been designed to prevent the importation of quaran tine plant pests into the United States.

Under the provisions of the operational workpl an entitled “Workplan For the Exportation of

Hass Avocados from Mexico to the United Stat es of America” jointly developed between

Mexico’s National Plant Prot ection Organization (NPPO) and Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), a biometric sample of avocados is collected in Mexico at the packing house from a consignment to be exported. The sample is packaged, labeled, and shipped with the consignment so that inspectors from the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) can inspect it at the U.S. port of entry. Per 7 CFR 319.56-30, all boxes or pl astic trays containing fruit in the consignment must be placed in a refr igerated truck or container and secured by a seal placed by the NPPO prior to leaving the packi ng house. Once sealed, the truck must remain unopened until it reaches the first U.S. port of arrival.

History

Between 1997 and 2006 more than 28 million Hass avocados imported from Mexico into the U.S. have been cut open and examined for pests. Of these, 20.2 million were examined in the orchards, 7.2 million in packing houses, and 602,490 at border inspection ports. No fruit flies

were ever found. This includes fruit from wild trees, backyards, packing houses and border inspection. There have been onl y two incidents where any pests have been detected on Mexican avocados in nine years of fruit cutt ing and inspection. In both cases, Contrachelus perseae was found in backyard avocado trees (which were not Hass variety) in the municipalities of Tacambro and Tinguidin. Both municipalitie s were suspended from the program until eradication actions were completed,

Risk Management Measures

The avocados will be part of the Mexican Avoc ado program as describe d in 7 CFR 319.56-30(c). All safeguards currently in 7 CFR 319.56-30 will be applied to the import of bulk consignments.Rev. 4 3 c) Safeguards in Mexico.

(3) Packinghouse requirements. Each packinghouse must be re gistered with the Mexican NPPO’s avocado export program and must be lis ted as an approved packinghouse in the annual work plan provided to APHIS by the Mexican N PPO. The operations of the packinghouse must meet the following conditions: (i) During the time the packinghouse is used to prepare avocados for export to the United States, the packinghouse may accept fruit only from orchards certifi ed by the Mexican NPPO for participation in the avocado export program. (ii) All openings to the outside must be cove red by screening with openings of not more than 1.6 mm or by some other barrier that prev ents insects from entering the packinghouse. (iii) The packinghouse must have double doors at the entrance to the facility and at the

interior entrance to the area wh ere the avocados are packed. (iv) Prior to the culling process, a biometri c sample, at a rate determined by APHIS, of avocados per consignment must be selected, cu t, and inspected by the Mexican NPPO and found free from pests. If the consignment originates from multiple packing houses, the biometric sample must proportionately represent each pa ckinghouse contributing to the consignment and will be equivalent in size to the sample from a shipment from a single packinghouse. (v) The identity of the avocados must be main tained from field boxes or containers to the shipping boxes or bulk shipping bins so the avocados can be traced back to the orchard in which they were grown if pests are f ound at the packinghouse or the port of first arrival in the United

States. (vi) Prior to being packed for shipping , each avocado fruit must be cleaned of all stems, leaves, and other portions of plants and labeled with a sticker that bears the official registration number of the packinghouse. (vii) The avocados must be packed in clean, new boxes, or clean plastic reusable crates, or bulk shipping bins. The boxes, crates or bulk shipping bins must be clearly marked with the identity of the grower, packinghouse, and exporte r, and with the statement “Not for importation

or distribution in Puerto Rico or U.S. Territories. (viii) Prior to leaving each packinghouse, the refrigerated truck or refrigerated container must be secured by the Mexican NPPO with a seal that will be broken by the Mexican NPPO if the truck or container is ope ned to have more avocados added from another approved packinghouse. The refrigerated truc k or refrigerated container mu st be resealed by the Mexican NPPO at each packinghouse that contributes to the shipment and then remain unopened until it reaches the port of first arrival in the United St ates or to the port of export for bulk shipments (ix) Any avocados that have not been packed or loaded into a re frigerated truck or refrigerated container by the e nd of the workday must be kept in the screened packing area. (x) For bulk consignments arriving at the ma ritime port of export, the fruit must be transferred from the refrigerated truck or refrig erated container to larg e clean boxes or cardboard bins on pallets and not sealed for shipment by sea .. After transfer into these boxes or bins, the fruit must be safeguarded from insects by screen ing with openings of not more than 1.6 mm or by some other barrier that prevents in sects from entering the boxes or bins.

(i) Repackaging. If any avocados are removed from their original shipping boxes or bulkRev. 4 4 shipping bins and repackaged, the stickers required by paragraph (c )(3)(vi) of this section may

not be removed or obscured and the new boxes must be clearly marked with all the information required by paragraph (c)(3)( vii) of this section.

Evidence for removal of pests from the pathway

For bulk consignments, the fruit will be shipped from the maritime port of export in clean large boxes or cardboard bins on pallets and not sealed in containers . The boxes or bins must be protected by screening with ope nings of not more than 1.6 mm or by some other barrier that prevents insects from entering. Avocados that have been removed from the tree may become susceptible to fruit flies, however in packinghous e and port situations, fruit fly attack on bulk fruit is not likely to occur sin ce fruit fly populations are not norma lly present in those areas. Packinghouses are currently re quired to be screened and have double entry doors under the Mexican Hass avocado export progra m. Screening would be important for fruit shipped in boxes or bins on pallets for maritime shipments. Howe ver, the port environment is not ecologically suited to fruit flies and populations are generall y not present. The larger boxes or bins will

continue to be labeled with the identity of the grower, packinghous e and exporter as agreed to in the operational workplan so that the same track -back capability to the place of production is

maintained.

Sampling from the larger bins at the U.S. port of entry may present inspectors more difficulty than the smaller boxes in containerized ship ments in ensuring that no commingling of

unauthorized fruits or contraband is present. If samples collected at the packing house in Mexico

could not be associated with th e individual units comprising the bul k shipment so that track back is possible, then the fruit must be resampled. This is to ensure that a representative sample from all areas of large bins or boxes is taken when sa mpling fruits. A biometric sample, with the rate to be determined by APHIS, will be inspected and cut for the presence of actionable pests. If quarantine pests of concern are found, fruit in that consignment wi ll be rejected.

Summary:

If the components of the Mexican avoca do program as outlined in 7 CFR 319.56-30 are maintained, there is no additional pest risk to allowing the import of Mexican Hass avocado in bulk to the United States. Authorizing Mexico ’s request to combine loads from multiple participating packing houses will not increase pest risk since all packing facilities participating in the program are required to meet the safeguards as outlined in this document and the operational workplan entitled “Workplan for the Exportation of Hass Avocados from Mexico to the United

States.

Authors

Walter Gould, Senior Risk Manager David B Lamb, Import SpecialistRev. 4 5