**United States Department of Agriculture Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service**  **Plant Protection and Quarantine**



# Importation of ‘Barhi’ Date **s ,**  **Phoenix dactyl**  **i fera**  **, from Israel**  **into the United States**

**Risk Managem ent Document** 

**May ,**  **15 ,**  **2012**

**Plant Health Programs (PHP) Regulations, Permits and Manuals (RPM)**  **Contact Person: Marc** 

**. Phillips** **@aphis.usda.gov**This document describes the ri sk management measures for the i mportation of fresh fruits of

date s , Phoenix dactylifera L. (variety ‘Barhi’), on branches from Israel. The projected initial volume of dates to be exported to the United States from Is rael is approximately 100 tons (Landshut, 2002), which would fill approximately four standard , 40

- foot

- long shipping containers

. A qualitative, pathway

- initiated risk assessment (PRA), “ Importation of ‘Barhi’ Date s , Phoenix dactylifera , from Israel into the United States ” (USDA, 2008), was developed by APHI S (Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service) in support of a request from Is rael to export dates into the United States. Entry of th is commodity into the United States presents a risk of introduction of exotic plant pests. The PRA listed nine quarantine pests that may follow the pathway of commercial consignment s of Israeli dates. One of the pests was rated high risk, and eight were rated medium risk. These pests that may follow the pathway

are: High risk pests Ceratitis capitata (Wiedemann) (Diptera: Tephritidae) Medium risk pests Arenipses sabella (Hampson) (Lepidoptera: Py ralidae) Asterolecanium phoenicis (Rao) (Homoptera: Asterolecaniidae) Batrachedra amydraula (Mey rick) (Lepidoptera: Coleophoridae) Deudorix livia (Klug) (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae) Mauginiella scaettae Cavara (Ascom ycet es) Oligonychus afrasiaticus (McGregor) (Acari: Tetranychidae) Parlatoria blanchardi (Targioni Tozzetti) (Homoptera: Diaspididae) Pseudococcus cryptus Hempel (Homoptera: Pseudococcidae) According to the USDA guidelines for pathway initiated pest risk ass essments (USDA, 2000 ), specific ph yt osanitary

measures, supplemental to port of arrival i nspection, are strongl y recommended for pests given a ‘High’ pest risk potential and specific ph yt osanitary measures may be necessary

for pests given a ‘Medium’ pest risk potential. 

## Standard **Production and Processing Practices:** 

‘ Barhi ’ dates are harvested complete, smooth, hard, free of black mold, free of live insect s and free of any visible insect damage ; at packinghouses date bunches are washed in pure water and cleaned with air pressure prior to inspection . Defective fruit and branches are discarded (Hadiklaim, 2003). Barhi date palm orchards will be registered with PPI S (Plant Protection and Inspection Services), the national plant protection organization (NPPO) of I srael , and are subject to inspection to ensure that field sanita

tion and control measures (including treatment with recommended fungicide/insecticides) at production sites

. Upon request, APHI S will be allowed to monitor inspection and pest detection and pest mitigation practices. PPIS will ensure through appropriate procedures that the ph yt osanitary security of consignments after certification regarding composition, and reinfestation is maintained prior to export, which includes insect proofcontainers during transport to the United States, and box markings to identify packing facilities

and production sites to ensure trace back. Consignments will be either held in cold storage or undergoing the required cold treatment while awaiting export. 

## Risk Managem **ent Measures :**  APHI S propose s that ‘Barhi’ dates from Israel may be imported into the United States only under the following conditions: 1. Barhi’ dates must be imported as commercial consignments only

. 2. All inspected fruits must undergo cold treatment T107
**-** i. 3. Each consignment of fresh Barhi dates must be accompanied by a Phy tosanitary Certificate (PC) issued by the NPPO of Israel stating that the consignment has begun or undergone cold treatment, T 107

- i , with the additional declaration stating, “The fruit in this consignment was inspected and found free of Maugin i ella scaettae

. ” 4. Port of entry

inspection. 

## Efficacy of **Risk Managem ent Measures**  **:** Among the arthropods listed of quarantine concern in the PRA (USDA, 200 8 ) , only one , the Mediterranean f

ruit fly , Ceratitis capitata, is rated as a ‘High risk’ pest. The cold treatment T

107

- i , which is required for all ‘ Bar h i ’ date consignments from Israel, will eliminate the risk from this pest (USDA, 2010)

. Th is fruit fly has a wide host range and is found in southern Europe and west Asia, throughout Africa and South and Central America (CABI, 2002), and in northern Australia (Hassan, 1977). The species is of quarantine significance throughout the world, especially for Japan and the United States

. It s presence, even as temporary adventive populations, can lead to severe additional constraints for export of fruits to uninfested areas in other parts of the world (USDA, 2008). Among the ‘Medium risk’ pests, Arenipses sabella , Batrachedra amydraula and Deudorix livia are lepidopterans whose larvae are easil y seen. Larva e of Arenipses sabella mine the closed spathes , feed on unopened flowers and fruit stalks of date palms , and prevent fruit maturation (Hussain, 1963 ; Talhouk, 1991 ). Batrachedra amydraula damages newly formed fruits on bunch es and is effectively managed by

employing good sanitary methods in orchards , such as removal and destruction of the dormant larvae around bases of terminal fronds, and use of insecticides and integrated management methods (Kaakeh, 2006). Deudorix livia larvae bore into the maturing fruits causing premature fruit drop (Talhouk, 1969 ). The lepidopteran pests are easily controlled by

application of insecticides and integrated pest management methods

. Khamedj (inflorescence rot) , cause d by Mauginiella scaettae , is a disease of min or importance in Is rael

. The fungus a f

f ects mainly the inflorescence (flowers and spathe) and may be present on strands and stalk of the inflorescence (Carpenter & Elmer, 1978 ). On infected tissue s , the fungusfor

m s a distinctive white mycelial web, which later di s ap p ears, leaving a whitish bloom of spores on the surface. Sanitation (removing leaves, diseased parts of inflorescences, as well as old flower stalks after harvest) is an efficient practice to reduce fungal infec tion

. Fungicide s are recommended to b e appli ed immediately after harvest to the old flowerin g area of diseased palms, as well as in early spri ng on the new flowering area jus t before the spathes emerge (Carpenter & Elmer, 1978 ). The remaining ‘Medium risk’ pests , the scale insects Asterolecanium phoenicis , Parlatoria blanchardi , and Pseudococcus cryptus , and the mite Oligonychus afrasiaticus , are external feeders

. The standard processing practices for all fresh ‘ Barhi ’ dates on branches to be washed with water and cleaned b y air pressure will eliminate the surface pests. Any damaged fruits present will also be culled during the inspection process. All of the risk mitigations for the medium risk pests will be implemented in Israel p rior to shipping

. 

## Summary: Currently , Phoenix dactylifera var. ‘ Bar hi , ’ is enterable into the United States only from Mexico

. T he requirement for each consignment to undergo specific mitigation measures diminishes the likelihood of quarantine pests following the pathway

. Onl y one quarantine pest, the Mediterranean fruit fly ( Ceratitis capitata ) , is listed as having a ‘ high ’ overall pest risk potential

. This insect is mitigated by ensuring that all consignments undergo the cold treatment schedule T 107

- i , prior to arrival in the United States. The other quarantine pests that are of ‘medium’ risk potential are controlled by field sanitary measures and by inspection of the commodity prior to packing. The importation of ‘ Barh i ’ dates from Is rael will be restricted to commercial consignments onl y. The requirement of a ph ytosanitary certificate from the NPPO of Is rael will document that the importation is a product of Israel and it has received or is in the process of receiving the required treatm ent and has been inspected and found free of the Mauginiella scaetta

. APHI S has determined that the listed risk management measures, along with the requirement of a phy tosanitary certificate will mitigate the risk of pest introduction on fresh fruits of date ( Phoenix dactylifera var . ‘Barhi’) from Israel. 

## Author **s :**  Devaiah A. Muruvanda, Ph.D. Senior Risk Manager

- Entomology José R. Hernández, Ph.D. Senior Risk Manager

- Plant Pathology 

## References:CABI. 2002. Crop Protection Compendium, 2002 ed. Wallingford, U.K.: CAB International

[CD

- ROM]. Carpenter, J.B. and H.S. Elmer. 1978. Pests and diseases of the date palm. USDA Agric. Handbk. No. 527. Hadiklaim. 2003. Barhi dates harvest, procedures and specifications. Date Growers Cooperative Ltd. Tel Aviv, Israel. 2 leaves Hassan, E. 1977. Major Insect and Mite Pest [sic] of Australian Crops. Gatton, Qld.: Ento Press. Hussain, A.A. 1963. Notes on borers of date palms in Iraq. Bull. Ent. Res. 54: 345

- 348. Kaakeh, W. 2006. Management of the lesser date moth, Batrachedra amydraula , in the United Arab Emirates date palm plantations. Proceeding of The 2006 ESA Annual Meeting. Presentation # 0055. Landshut, E. 2002. [Letter from E. Landshut, Israel Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, to E. Imai, USDA APHI S PPQ]. July 24, 2002. Talhouk, A.S. 1969. Insects and mites injurious to crops in Middle Eastern countries. Monogr. Ang. Entomol. (21): 1

- 239. Talhouk, A. S. 1991. On the management of the date palm and its arthropod enemies in the Arabian peninsula. Journal of Applied Entomology . Vol. 111 (1

- 5) Pages 514

- 520. USDA. 2000. Guidelines for Pathway

- Initiated Pest Risk Assessments, Version 5.02. USDA, APHI S, PPQ; http://www.aphis.usda.gov/ppq/pra/commodity /cpraguide.pdf USDA , 2008. Importation of ‘Barhi’ Date s , Phoenix dactylifera , from Israel into the United States

. A Pathway

- Initiated risk Assessment. Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, Center for Plant Health Science and Technology , Plant Epidemiology and Risk Analy sis Laboratory , Raleigh, NC. 31 pp. USDA, 2010. Treatment Evaluation Document. Amend PPQ Treatment Manual to Add a New Cold Treatment for Fresh ‘Bahri’ Dates ( Phoenix dactylifera )

. 3 pp.