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



## Importation of **Fresh Fem**  **ale Flow**  **ers of Summer Squash, Cucurbita pepo**  **L. from Israel into the C**  **ontinental United States** 

**Risk Managem ent Document** 

**January 19 , 20**  **12**

**Plant Health Programs (PHP) Regulations,**  **Permits and Manuals (RPM) Contact Person:**  **Meredith C Jones Introduction:** 

In 2007, the government of Israel requested market access for fresh summer male squash flowers for human consumption into the continental United States

. United States Code of Federal Regulations (7 CFR 319.56) authorize importation of fruits and vegetables from foreign countries into the United States. Currently , female s ummer squash blossoms from I srael are prohibited by these regulations. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) conducted a Pathway

- Initiated Pest Risk Analysis (PRA) to determine the unmitigated risks associated with the proposed import of fresh fruit and flowers of summer squash, Cucurbita pepo L ., from Is rael (USDA, 200 8 ). Although the PRA assessed the risks associated with three possible import scen arios, 1. Fruit and flowers ; 2. Fruit only ; and 3. Flowers only ; as per the request of Israel , market access for male flowers onl y was given b y APHI S in 2010. This risk management document is written for the market access of female flowers and female flowers with immature fruit. **Pests of Concern Identified By the PRA:** The pest risk anal ys is document, **Im portation of Fresh**  **Fruit and Flowers of Su**  **mmer Squash ,**  **Cucurbita pepo L. from Israel into the Continental United States**  (USDA , 2008), identified four quarantine pests that may be reasonabl y expected to follow the pathway of commercial shipments of fresh female squash blossoms and female blossoms with fruit. All four **pests** were rated as **high** risk. APHIS (USDA, 2000) has determined that measures beyond a standard port

of

- entry inspection are required to mitigate the pathway risk from these four **pests**

. The four pests with **high** risk potential are : Ceratitis capitata (Wiedemann) (Diptera: Tephritidae) Dacus ciliatus Lo ew (Diptera: Tephritidae) Helicoverpa armigera (Hübner) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) Scirtothrips dorsalis Hood (Thysanoptera: Thripidae)
**Risk Management M**  **easures:** APHI S proposes that fresh female squash blossoms and female squash blossoms with fruit from Israel may

be imported into the continental United States only under the following conditions: 1. Fresh female squash blossoms and female squash blossoms with fruit f or export to the Unite d States must be grown in approved p roduction sites registered with Plant Protection and Inspection Services (PPIS), the National Plant ProtectionOrganization (NPPO) of Israel. Initial approval of production sites will be completed jointly

by PPI S and APH IS

. 2. The production sites must consist of Pest Exclusionary Structures (PES) which must have double self

- closing doors and have all other openings and vents covered with 1.6 mm or smaller screening in order to prevent the entry of pests into the PES

. 3. For the detection of fruit flies ( Ceratitis capitata and Dacus ciliatus ) inside a registered PES, traps with approved protein bait s must be placed inside the PES at a density of one trap/hectare (ha), with a minimum of one trap in si de each PES and one outside the PES . The traps must be checked every 7 day s . 4. Trapping records must be maintained and made available for APHI S upon request.

5. If a single fruitfl y of either species is detected inside a registered production site or in a consignment, the registered p roduction site will lose its ability to export squash blossoms to the United States until APHI S and PPI S mutually determine that risk mitigation ha s been achieved. 6. APHI S can monitor the production sites any time

. 7. PPI S will monitor production sites to ens ure that good a gricultural practices are followed to monitor and control the non - fruit fl y pests of concern , Helicoverpa armigera and Scirtothrips dorsalis

. 8. Blossoms from a production site must be placed in field cartons or containers that are marked to s how the official registration number of the production site. The place of production where the blossoms were grown must remain identifiable from the time when the blossoms leave the production field, to the packinghouse and through the export process , and must be identified as a product of Israel. 9. Packing houses may

only accept blossoms from approved production sites while packing female blossoms of summer squash for export to the United States

. 10. Fem ale squash blossoms must be imported as commercial consi gnments only

. 11. Each consignment of fe male squash blossoms must be inspected b y PPI S prior to shipping the consignment. Any consignments of blossoms found with quarantine pests will be rejected b y PPI S. 12. PPI S is responsible for export certification inspec tions and issuance of Phy tosanitary Certificates (PC) . Each consignment of female summer squash blossoms must be accompanied b y a P C issued by PPI S and bearing the Additional Declaration (AD) stating, “This consignment has been inspected andfound free of Ceratitis capitata , Dacus ciliatus , Helicoverpa armigera and Scirtothrips dorsalis .” The requirement for a P C with AD provides phyt osanitary security by requiring Israeli officials to conduct phyt osanitary inspections for these four pests. This effe ctivel y doubles the inspections the blossoms receive. Furthermore, specificall y listing the pests on the AD alerts U.S. inspectors to the specific pests of concern. **Rationale for Risk Management Measures :**  Ceratitis capitata is widely distributed in Africa, the Mediterranean, South and Central America, west Asia, and western Australia (CABI, 2006) and attacks the fruit of plants in the families : Anacardiaceae, Arecaceae, Chrysobalanaceae, Cucurbitaceae, Ebanaceae, Lo ganiaceae, Malpighiaceae, Meliaceae, M oraceae, M yrtaceae, Oleaceae, Podocarpaceae, Rosaceae, Rubiaceae, Rutaceae, Sapotaceae, Solanaceae, and Sterculiaceae (CABI, 2006; Thomas et al., 2007)

. Dacus ciliatus occurs in most of sub

Saharan Africa, Egy

pt, the Arabian Peninsula, the Middle East, and India (CABI, 2006; White and Elson

- Harris, 1992) and attacks members of the plant family Cucurbitaceae (e.g., Citrullus, Cucumis , Cucurbita , Lagenaria , Luffa , Momordica , Sechium , and Trichosanthes ) (CABI, 2006). Use of pest exclusionary

structures equipped with double self

- closing doors, and covering of vents or openings in the PES (other than the double closing doors) with 1.6 mm or less screening , in order to prevent the entry of quarantine pests , is consistent with the requirements for importation of tomatoes from other countries under 7 CFR §319.56

- 28 an d p eppers from Israel under 7 CFR §319.56

- 24. Both Helicoverpa armigera and Scirtothrips dorsalis have been reported as pests of concern for squash blossoms , with the insect damage mainl y confined to the plant parts other than fruits (USDA, 2008)

. Both are external feeders. H. armigera larvae that can be expected to be found on the squash blossoms will be small (instars one through three ). The average length for H. armigera larval instars one thro u gh three , range s from 3.4 to 9.7 mm (Nasreen & Mustafa, 2000) , which can be detected by inspection. Larvae often leave holes and frass (excreta) which are readil y visible, (CABI, 2006). As is ty pical of species in the genus Scirtothrips , eggs are laid in the youngest tissues of plants, and feeding b y adults and larvae can result in extensive cell damage to these developing tissues, leading to leaf and fruit distortion, and flower fall (CABI, 2006). Damage caused by infestations of Scirtothrips is readily vis ible, and therefore infested commodities can easily be detected by

inspection although the individual thrips may be very small (Hodges et al., 2005)

. By requiring good agricultural practices to be followed at production sites , commodity infestation can be prevented. Successful control programs ty picall y include monitoring, and use cultural, biological and chemical components (Dreistadt, 1994). Since these high risk pests ( Helicoverpa armigera and Scirtothrips dorsalis ) are external feeders and can be detected during port

- of

- entry inspection (USDA, 200 8 ), theappropriate level of phyt osanitary security will be attained by

requiring a Phy

tosanitary Certificate issued b y the NPPO with an Additional Declaration stating that the blossom s have been inspected and are found free of the listed quarantine pests. **Summary :**  PESs provide a level of phy tosanitary security and are part of a s ys tems approach, that employs a combination of measures acting independently , which when properly implemented mitigates risk and provides an aceptable level of phyt osanitary protection. The requirement for production in a PES diminishes the likelihood of quarantine pests following the pathway . Therefore, the importation of female squash flowers with or without fruit s from Is rael w ill be restricted to commercial shipments only

. The PRA for i mportation of Fresh Fruit and Flowers of Summer Squash from Is rael onl y addressed the risk associated with the commodity being imported into the continental United States. As such, importation and movement into areas outside the continental United States w ill be prohibited by permit conditions. The requirement of a phytosanitary certificate from the Is rael Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, ( PPIS ) w ill document that the import is a product of Israel . A phy tosanitary certificate also provides phy tosanitary security b y requiring PPI S to conduct inspections for pests in the consignment. Therefore, APHI S will require each consignment to be accompanied b y a P C with an AD verifying that the consignment has been inspected and found free of the pests of concern. These inspections double the number of inspections each squash blossom receives b y requiring phyt osanitary

inspections in addition to the normal packinghouse quality inspections. Importations of female squash blossoms from I srael would also be subject to inspection at the port of entry into the United States. **Author** Devaiah A. Muruvanda , Ph.D. Senior Risk Manager

- Entomology **References** CABI. 2006. Crop Protection Compendium, 20 06 Edition. CAB International, Wallingford, UK. Dreistadt, S. H. 1994. Pests of L andscape Trees and Shrubs: An Integrated Pest Management Guide. University of California, Davis, California. Hodges, G., G.B. Edwards and W. Dixon. 2005. Pest Alert. Chil li thrips Scirtothrips dorsalis Hood (Thy sanoptera: Thripidae) A new pest thrips for Florida

. http://www.doacs.state.fl.us/pi/enpp/ento/chillithrips.html . Accessed May 2009.Na sreen, A. and Mustafa, G. 2000. Biology of Helicoverpa armigera (Hubner) reared in Laboratory on natural diet. Pakistan Journal of Biological Sciences. 3 (10), 1668

- 1669. Thomas, M. C., J. B. Heppner, R. E. Woodruff, H. V. Weems, G. J. Steck, and T. R. Fa sulo. 2007. Mediterranean fruit fl y, Ceratitis capitata (Wiedemann) (Insecta: Diptera:Tephritidae). University of Florida. Last accessed December 13, 2007, http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/pdffiles/IN/I N37100.pdf

. USDA. 2000. Guidelines for Pathway

- Initiated Pest Risk Assessments . Version 5.02. 30 pp. USDA . 2008. Importation of Fresh Fruit and Flowers of Summer Squash, Cucurbita pepo L. from Israel into the Continental United States. A Qualitati ve, Pathway

- Initiated Risk Analy sis, September 2008

. United States Department of Agriculture, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, Plant Protection and Quarantine, Center for Plant Health Inspection Service, Plant Epidemiology and Risk Anal ys is Labo ratory . Raleigh, NC. 43 pp. White, I . M., and M. M. Elson

- Harris. 1992. Fruit Flies of Economic Significance: Their Id entification and Bionomics. CAB International, Wallingford, United Kingdom.