United States Department of Agriculture

Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service

Plant Protection and Quarantine

Risk Management Document

Importation of Fresh Fruit of Andean Blackberry (Rubus 

glaucus Benth.) and Raspberry (Rubus idaeus L.) into the 

Continental United States from Ecuador

April 4, 2013

Plant Health Programs (PHP)

Regulations, Permits and Manuals (RPM)

Contact Person: Claudia Ferguson
Introduction

The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) of the United States Department of 

Agriculture (USDA) prepared a pest risk assessment to examine plant pest risks associated with 

the importation of fresh field-grown fruit of Andean blackberry and raspberry from the Ecuador 

to be imported into the continental United States (USDA, 2012).

This risk management document was prepared by APHIS to provide risk management strategies 

for the importation of Andean blackberries (Rubus glaucus Benth.) and raspberries (Rubus 

idaeus L.) from Ecuador following the development of a commodity-based, pathway-initiated 

risk analysis (PRA) that was conducted by the APHIS (USDA, 2012). 

The PRA found three quarantine pests that may follow the pathway of fresh Andean blackberry

and raspberry fruit from Ecuador into the continental United States (USDA, 2012). The pest list

includes two fruit flies and one Lepidoptera:

Arthropods

Anastrepha fraterculus Wiedemann (Diptera: Tephritidae)

Ceratitis capitata Wiedemann (Diptera: Tephritidae)

Copitarsia decolora Guenée (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae)

The PRA rated all three pests as High pest risk potential. Specific phytosanitary measures beyond 

port of entry inspection are strongly recommended for pests with High pest risk potentials, and 

may be necessary for pests with Medium pest risk potential (USDA. 2002). 

Risk Mitigation Measures

Fresh Andean blackberries and raspberries may be imported into the continental United States 

from Ecuador under the following systems approach:

(1) The Andean blackberries and raspberries must be grown commercially in approved 

production sites registered with the National Plant Protection Organization (NPPO) of Ecuador. 

The NPPO of Ecuador must provide an operational workplan to APHIS that details the activities 

and responsibilities Ecuador’s NPPO will, subject to APHIS’ approval of the workplan, carry out 

to meet the requirements of the systems approach. APHIS reserves the right to require APHIS 

oversight visits in the event of pest interceptions or other problems.

(2) Ecuador's NPPO or their designate must conduct a fruit fly trapping program for the detection 

of Anastrepha fraterculus at each production site. Traps for Anastrepha fraterculus with 

approved protein bait must be placed at each production site at a density of four traps per hectare, 

with a minimum of two traps per production site. Traps must be checked at least every 7 days. 

Traps must be set and monitored beginning one month prior to harvest and continuing through 

the harvest season. 

(3) Capture of 0.4 or more Anastrepha fraterculus per trap per week will require that production 
site to have to conduct weekly bait sprays applied until Anastrepha fraterculus captures drop 

below 0.4 fruit flies per trap per week. 

(4) Ecuador's NPPO must maintain records of trap placement, checking of traps, and any 

Anastrepha fraterculus captures. The exporting country's NPPO must maintain an APHISapproved quality control program to monitor or audit the trapping program. The trapping 

records must be maintained for APHIS' review for at least one year.

(5) Ecuador's NPPO is responsible for export certification, inspection, and issuance of 

phytosanitary certificates (PC). Each consignment of Andean blackberries and/or raspberries

must be accompanied by a PC issued by the Ecuador’s NPPO bearing the additional declaration

(AD) stating: “The consignment was produced and prepared for export in accordance with the 

requirements of the bilateral operational workplan.” 

(6) If a single Ceratitis capitata or Anastrepha fraterculus or Copitarsia decolora is detected in a 

consignment, the consignment may not be exported to the continental United States. If a single 

Ceratitis capitata or Anastrepha fraterculus is detected in a consignment for export, the 

registered production site will lose its ability to export Andean blackberries and raspberries to the 

continental United States until APHIS and the Ecuador’s NPPO mutually determine that risk 

mitigation is achieved.

Efficacy of Risk Mitigation Measures

Currently the United States allows imports of blackberries and raspberries from Central America 

(Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua and Panama) enterable with 

inspection only and there have never been any interceptions of Tephritidae in commercial permit 

cargo (AQAS. 2013). 

Both Andean blackberries and raspberries are considered poor hosts to Anastrepha fraterculus

and Ceratitis capitata. There are records for Ceratitis rubivora attacking Rubus spp., however 

this Medfly relative, which is a specialist on berries, is only present in Africa (White & ElsonHarris, 1992). There are no primary scientific publications of Medfly attacking raspberries, only 

secondary references with unverified host lists (USDA, 2012). Currently, APHIS does not 

require mitigations for Ceratitis capitata for raspeberries imported from countries with Medfly, 

for example: Colombia, Costa Rica, El Salvador, France, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and 

Panama (USDA, 2014). Therefore mitigations other than requiring commercial production and 

inspections are not justified. 

Anastrepha fraterculus does have a few records in the scientific literature of field infestation of 

for Andean blackberries (USDA-ARS. 2013), and there are few APHIS interception records

(AQAS. 2013). All of the literature or other host records for Anastrepha fraterculus are for 

Rubus glaucus or Rubus sp. There are no interception records for Rubus idaeus. All of the 

APHIS records of interceptions (9 interceptions in Rubus sp. from 1984 to present) were in 

passenger baggage and none were in commercial cargo (AQAS. 2013). With poor hosts, 

standard commercial practices are often a sufficient mitigation for pests. Because of the slightly 

stronger host status for Anastrepha fraterculus in blackberries and raspberries, APHIS will 
require trapping and bait sprays to maintain low pest prevalence for this pest. 

Blackberries and raspberries are enterable from Chile and Colombia in South America. They are 

enterable with only inspection from Chile however Anastrepha fraterculus and Ceratitis capitata

are not present in Chile. Blackberry and Raspberry are currently enterable from Colombia, but 

the fruit must be from outside of a quarantine area for A. fraterculus. In the last ten years there 

have been no commercial shipments of blackberries and raspberries from Colombia, because 

there are no areas recognized by the NPPO of Colombia and APHIS as free of Anastrepha 

fraterculus, as required by USDA.

Copitarsia decolora, a moth in the family Noctuidae, is polyphagous and attacks many host 

plants. Eggs and larvae may be present on a number of imported commodities. Current APHIS 

policy is to allow inspection of commodities for this pest, if eggs or larvae are found on 

inspection at a port of entry, a methyl bromide fumigation for hitch hiking pests is sufficient to 

mitigate risk. The eggs and small larvae have little chance of completing their life cycle on 

harvested raspberries or blackberries. Larger larvae which might crawl off and pupate are 

conspicuous and would be easily found upon inspection.

The mitigations above will ensure that fruit fly populations remain low, and low populations will 

present a negligible risk of infestation of commercial Andean blackberries and raspberries by

Ceratitis capitata and/or Anastrepha fraterculus. The required trapping will alert the Ecuador’s 

NPPO to populations of Anastrepha fraterculus in the production sites. The required bait sprays 

will suppress the populations of Anastrepha fraterculus and maintain low prevalence for this 

fruit fly. APHIS has no records of interceptions of Medfly in any blackberries or raspberries, 

even from countries where this pest is common. Bait sprays will suppress Ceratitis capitata in 

addition to Anastrepha fraterculus. Additional inspections of consignments by the Ecuador’s 

NPPO and at the U.S. port of entry will ensure that there will be no large external pests such as 

Copitarsia decolora on the Andean blackberries and raspberries. If Ceratitis capitata or 

Anastrepha fraterculus is detected in a consignment, the production site and potentially the entire 

program will be shut down by APHIS at least until an investigation is completed and further 

mitigations have been applied.

Summary

There are several risk management measures available for the high-risk pests identified in the 

PRA that will permit the importation of Andean blackberries and raspberries from Ecuador while 

satisfying the appropriate level of phytosanitary protection for the continental United States. A

systems approach utilizing low pest prevalence for the fruit flies Ceratitis capitata and 

Anastrepha fraterculus, as described above, employing a combination of measures acting 

independently also mitigates risk and provides an acceptable level of phytosanitary protection

(IPPC. 1996; 1999; 2002). Areas of low pest prevalence as well as packinghouse measures and 

port of entry inspections provide the level of phytosanitary security required by the United 

States.
Authors

Walter Gould, Senior Risk Manager

APHIS-PPQ

José R. Hernández, Senior Risk Manager

APHIS-PPQ

References

AQAS. 2013. Agricultural Quarantine Activity System Pest Interception Database. USDAAPHIS-PPQ. Last accessed March 2013.

IPPC. 1996. Requirements for the establishment of pest free areas. International Standards for 

Phytosanitary Measures No. 4. Rome: Secretariat of the International Plant Protection 

Convention, United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization.

IPPC. 1999. Requirements for the establishment of pest free places of production and pest free 

production sites. International Standards for Phytosanitary Measures No. 10. Rome: 

Secretariat of the International Plant Protection Convention, United Nations Food and 

Agriculture Organization.

IPPC. 2002. The use of integrated measures in a systems approach for pest risk management. 

International Standards for Phytosanitary Measures No. 14. Rome: Secretariat of the 

International Plant Protection Convention, United Nations Food and Agriculture 

Organization.

USDA. 2012. Importation of Fresh Fruit of Andean Blackberry (Rubus glaucus Benth.) and 

Raspberry (Rubus idaeus Linnaeus) into the Continental United States from Ecuador. A 

Qualitative, Pathway-Initiated Risk Analysis. June 21, 2012. Plant Epidemiology and 

Risk Analysis Laboratory, Center for Plant Health Science and Technology, Plant 

Protection and Quarantine, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service. 55 pp.

USDA. 2014. Fruit and vegetables import requirements database (FAVIR). 

https://epermits.aphis.usda.gov/manual/index.cfm?NEW=1&COMMOD_ID=113&ACTI

ON=commSummCountryP accessed Mar. 2014.

 

USDA-ARS. 2013. Fruit Fly Host Plant Database. Fruit Fly (Diptera: Tephritidae) Databases: 

Systematic Entomology Laboratory, USDA-ARS and Department of Entomology, 

National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution. 

http://www.sel.barc.usda.gov:8080/diptera/Tephritidae/TephIntro.html

White, I.M. and M.M. Elson-Harris. 1992. Fruit flies of economic significance: Their 

identification and bionomics. CABI. Wallingford UK. 601 pp.