United States Department of Agriculture 

Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service 

Plant Protection and Quarantine

 

 

Risk Management Document

Importation of Fresh Fruits of Pomegranate (Punica 

granatum) and Fig (Ficus carica) from Chile into the 

Continental United States 

February 24, 2009 

Plant Health Programs (PHP) 

Regulations, Permits and Manuals (RPM) 

Contact Person: Claudia Ferguson 
Version 3 February 24, 2010 2

Introduction 

The Chilean Servicio Agrícola y Ganadero (SAG), the national plant protection organization 

(NPPO) of Chile, requested to export fresh figs (Ficus carica L.) and pomegranates (Punica 

granatum L.) to the continental United States. SAG conducted Pest Risk Assessments (PRA) for 

fresh figs and pomegranates and provided them to APHIS in August 2004 (Servicio Agrícola y 

Ganadero, 2004). APHIS developed a PRA using the pest list in the SAG PRA, a search of the 

literature and APHIS pest interception records (USDA, 2007). The APHIS PRA identified two 

quarantine pests that are likely to be introduced into the continental United States in 

consignments of fresh figs or pomegranates: 

Brevipalpus chilensis Baker (Acari: Tenuipalpidae) Chilean false red mite

Ceratitis capitata (Wiedeman) (Diptera: Tephritidae) Mediterranean fruit fly 

The PRA considered the likelihood and consequences of introducing these pests and indicated 

that both of these pests pose a High pest risk potential. Pests with high pest risk potential 

generally require measures in addition to inspection at the port of entry to mitigate risk (USDA, 

2000). 

Risk Management Measures 

Monitoring and Oversight 

The NPPO of Chile must provide a workplan to APHIS that details the activities that the NPPO 

of Chile will, subject to APHIS’ approval of the workplan, carry out to meet the requirements of 

the systems approach and specific quarantine treatments that may be required. APHIS will be 

directly involved with SAG in monitoring and auditing implementation of the systems approach 

and/or any quarantine treatments. 

The NPPO of Chile must visit and inspect registered places of production monthly, starting at 

least two months before harvest and continuing until the end of the shipping season, to verify 

that the growers are complying with the requirements of the systems approach. 

In addition to conducting inspections at the packinghouses, the NPPO of Chile must monitor 

packinghouse operations to verify that the packinghouses are complying with the requirements 

of the systems approach. 

 

If the NPPO of Chile finds that a place of production or packinghouse is not complying with the 

requirements of the systems approach, no fruit from the place of production or packinghouse will 

be eligible for export to the United States until APHIS and the NPPO of Chile conduct an 

investigation and appropriate remedial actions have been implemented. 

The NPPO of Chile must review and maintain all forms and documents related to export 

program activities in places of production and packinghouses for at least 1 year and, as 

requested, provide them to APHIS for review. 
Version 3 February 24, 2010 3

Requirements for places of Production 

Registered places of production. Figs and pomegranates must be grown in places of 

production that are registered with the NPPO of Chile. The NPPO of Chile will visit and inspect 

the production sites monthly, starting two months before harvest, and continue until the end of 

the shipping season. The NPPO of Chile will certify that each place of production follows pest 

control guidelines, when necessary, to reduce regulated pest populations. APHIS may monitor 

the places of production if necessary. 

Traceability. Harvested figs and pomegranates must be placed in field cartons or containers 

that are marked to show the official registration number of the production site. The place of 

production where the figs and pomegranates were grown must remain identifiable when the fruit 

leaves the grove, at the packinghouse, and throughout the export process. 

Pest Free Area for Ceratitis capitata 

Since the PRA was developed, APHIS has published notice in the Federal Register the United 

States now recognizes all of the Republic of Chile, as free of Mediterranean fruit fly (USDA, 

2010). No further mitigations are necessary for Ceratitis capitata since it is no longer 

considered to be present in Chile. 

Systems approach for Brevipalpus chilensis

All of the following measures are required for the systems approach for Brevipalpus chilensis. 

 

Production site registration 

The production site where the fruit is grown must be registered with the national plant protection 

organization (NPPO) of Chile. To register, the production site must provide Chile's NPPO with 

the following information: Grower, exporter, orchard, and production site name, region, 

township, province, locality, area planted to each fruit, and approximate date of harvest. 

Registration must be renewed annually. 

Registration of production sites will allow trace back to the production site if pest problems are 

found on fruit shipped to the United States. Problem production sites can then be removed from 

the program until further mitigation measures have been taken to reduce pest populations. 

Low prevalence production site certification 

Between 1 and 30 days prior to harvest, random samples of fruit must be collected from each 

registered production site under the direction of Chile's NPPO. These samples must undergo a 

pest detection and evaluation method as follows: The fruit must be washed using a flushing 

method, placed in a 20 mesh sieve on top of a 200 mesh sieve, sprinkled with a liquid soap and 

water solution, washed with water at high pressure, and washed with water at low pressure. The 
Version 3 February 24, 2010 4

process must then be repeated. The contents of the 200 mesh sieve must then be placed on a 

petri dish and analyzed for the presence of live Brevipalpus chilensis mites. If a single live B. 

chilensis mite is found, the production site will not qualify for certification as a low prevalence 

production site. Each production site may have only one opportunity per season to qualify as a 

low prevalence production site, and certification of low prevalence will be valid for one harvest 

season only. The NPPO of Chile will present a list of certified production sites to APHIS. 

Production site low prevalence certification will identify problem production sites and prevent 

shipment of fruit with Brevipalpus chilensis mites from these sites. This mite sampling has been 

tested in Chile and found to be successful in identifying production areas of grapes with high and 

low populations of mites (Servicio Agricola y Ganadero, 2002; 2007).

Post-harvest processing. 

After harvest all damaged or diseased fruits must be culled at the packinghouse. Fruit for export 

must be packed into new, clean boxes, crates or other packing materials. Fruit must be inspected 

in Chile at an APHIS-approved inspection site under the direction of APHIS inspectors in 

coordination with SAG, following any post-harvest processing. 

Fruit presented for inspection must be identified in the shipping documents accompanying each 

lot of fruit to specify the production site or sites, in which the fruit was produced, and the 

packing shed or sheds, in which the fruit was processed. This identification must be maintained 

until the fruit is released for entry into the United States. 

A sample of boxes from each consignment must be selected by SAG, which will detect a 6% 

infestation rate with 95% confidence based on the biometric sample. The fruit from these boxes 

must be visually inspected for quarantine pests. A portion of the fruit must be washed with 

soapy water and the collected filtrate must be microscopically examined for B. chilensis. 

Post harvest processing such as culling damaged fruit and sampling for mites will remove fruit 

that may contain pests. Culling is a standard procedure to produce quality fruit without pests. 

Phytosanitary certificate.

Each consignment of fruit must be accompanied by a phytosanitary certificate issued by the 

NPPO of Chile that contains an additional declaration stating that “the fruit in the consignment 

was inspected and found free of Brevipalpus chilensis based on field and packinghouse 

inspections”. 

Requiring a phytosanitary certificate ensures that the NPPO has inspected the fruit and certified 

that it meets the conditions for export to the United States.

Efficacy of Risk Management Measures 

There are several measures available for mitigating the pests of concern from fresh figs and 

pomegranates from Chile. The measures chosen for risk management on fresh figs and 
Version 3 February 24, 2010 5

pomegranates from Chile are summarized in Table 1. Table 2 shows a summary of the systems 

approach used to mitigate for the mite, Brevipalpus chilensis.

Table 1. Summary of risk management requirements for figs and pomegranates from 

Chile. 

Measure(s) Pests Efficacy 

Monitoring and 

Oversight 

All pests, but must be 

used in conjunction with 

the systems approach. 

These measures are standard for many export 

programs and assist in maintaining quality of the 

program. 

Registered Places of 

Production 

All pests, but must be 

used in conjunction with 

the systems approach. 

Places of production are registered to effectively 

maintain quality control and traceback. 

Traceability All pests, but must be 

used in conjunction with 

the systems approach. 

Traceback is effective at removing problem places of 

production from the systems approach. 

Systems Approach Brevipalpus chilensis, but 

must be used in 

conjunction with pest free 

area for Ceratitis capitata 

Measures listed have been effective in the pilot 

project eliminating B. chilensis from consignments of 

Chilean grapes (Servicio Agricola y Ganadero, 2002; 

2007). 

Pest Free Area Ceratitis capitata, but must 

be used in conjunction 

with systems approach 

and standard industry 

practices for Brevipalpus 

chilensis 

ISPM 22 (IPPC, 2005) 

Table 2. Summary of systems approach used for Brevipalpus chilensis

Measure(s) Efficacy 

Production Site Registration Registration of production sites is required on pre-clearance programs 

to manage production site requirements and control access to the 

program to only qualified sites. Commercially grown shipments from 

registered production sites use good agricultural practices to reduce 

or eliminate pests (FAO, 2005). APHIS pest interception database 

indicates that commercial shipments are much less likely to have pest 

interceptions than non-commercial shipments or passenger baggage. 

 Production site registration is part of traceability that allows track 

back to production sites if pests are found by inspection at the port of 

arrival to the United States. Production sites with pests can be 

removed from the program. 

Low prevalence production site 

certification 

Between 1 and 30 days prior to harvest, random samples of fruit must 

be collected from each registered production site under the direction 

of Chile's NPPO. These samples must undergo a pest detection and 

evaluation method as follows: The fruit must be washed using a 

flushing method, placed in a 20 mesh sieve on top of a 200 mesh 

sieve, sprinkled with a liquid soap and water solution, washed with 

water at high pressure, and washed with water at low pressure. The 

process must then be repeated. The contents of the 200 mesh sieve 

must then be placed on a petri dish and analyzed for the presence of 

live Brevipalpus chilensis mites. If a single live B. chilensis mite is 

found, the production site will not qualify for certification as a low 

prevalence production site. The soapy water and rinse cause many 
Version 3 February 24, 2010 6

of the mites to be washed from the fruit into the rinsate. Sampling 

fruit using a wash and a sieve concentrates the mites into a small 

area where they can be easily seen by a low power microscope. This 

procedure has been effectively used as part of a pilot program for 

Chilean grapes (Servicio Agricola y Ganadero, 2002; 2007). 

Postharvest Processing After harvest and before packing, a sample of boxes from each 

consignment must be selected by SAG, which will detect a 6% 

infestation rate with 95% confidence based on the biometric sample. 

The fruit from these boxes must be visually inspected for quarantine 

pests. A portion of the fruit must be washed with soapy water and the 

collected filtrate must be microscopically examined for B. chilensis. 

The soapy water and rinse cause many of the mites to be washed 

from the fruit into the rinsate. Sampling fruit using a wash and a sieve 

concentrates the mites into a small area where they can be easily 

seen by a low power microscope. This procedure has been 

effectively used as part of a pilot program for Chilean grapes. 

Phytosanitary certification Requiring a phytosanitary certificate requires the NPPO to inspect the 

fresh figs and pomegranates for pests. 

Phytosanitary 

Inspection at port of entry 

Inspections are recognized as an important part of a pest 

management program (Kahn and Mathur 1999). Trained inspectors 

can recognize infestations of mites and the damage they cause to the 

fruits which would allow detection of these pests in some cases 

(CABI, 2006; NAPPO, 1998; USDA, 1982; USDA, 2004b; Whittle, 

1986) 

 Summary 

APHIS concludes that commercial shipments of figs and pomegranates that originate from Chile 

may safely be imported into the continental United States without the risk of introducing 

Brevipalpus chilensis and Ceratitis capitata using a combination of the mitigations listed above. 

The pilot programs using the same systems approach for Chilean grapes did not intercept any of 

the quarantine pests listed in the PRA except Brevipalpus chilensis. Any sites where B. chilensis

was detected by the pilot program were removed from the program. Over 1.3 million metric tons 

of grapes have been imported since 2003, and the number of pest interceptions is very small, 

with only 5 interceptions of actionable quarantine pests in that time period for Chilean grapes. 

This systems approach has also been effective for exporting Chilean citrus that are free of mites 

into the United States (USDA; 2002, 2006). 

Authors 

Walter Gould 

Senior Risk Manager, RPM 

5. References 

CABI. 2006. Crop Protection Compendium, 2006 Edition. CAB International, Wallingford, 

UK. 
Version 3 February 24, 2010 7

IPPC. 2005. International Standards for Phytosanitary Measures. Requirements for the 

establishment of areas of low pest prevalence. ISPM 22. UN-FAO-IPPC, Italy. 

Kahn, R. P. and S. B. Mathur. 1999. Containment Facilities and Safeguards. American 

Phytopathological Society, St. Paul, MN. 213 pp. 

NAPPO. 1998. Surveillance for quarantine fruit flies (in a portion of a generally infested area). 

NAPPO Regional Standards for Phytosanitary Measures No. 10. Ottawa: Secretariat of the 

North American Plant Protection Organization. 

Servicio Agricola y Ganadero. 2002. Chile Pre Clearance Program Low Prevalence Pilot Program 

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reticulata Blanco) from Chile into the United States. A Pathway Initiated Plant Pest Risk 

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USDA. 2004b. Agricultural Quarantine Inspection Monitoring (AQIM) Handbook. USDAAPHIS, PPQ; http://www.aphis.usda.gov/ppq/manuals/port/AQIM_Chapters.htm

[accessed July 2009]. 

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