United States Department of Agriculture

Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service

Plant Protection and Quarantine

Importation of Fresh Female Flowers of Summer Squash, 

Cucurbita pepo L. from Israel into the Continental United 

States

Risk Management Document

January 19, 2012

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 summer 

squash blossoms from Israel 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 Israel (USDA, 2008). 

Although the PRA assessed the risks associated with three possible import scenarios, 

1. Fruit and flowers; 2. Fruit only; and 3. Flowers only; as per the request of Israel,

market access for male flowers only was given by APHIS 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 analysis document, Importation of Fresh Fruit and Flowers of Summer Squash,

Cucurbita pepo L. from Israel into the Continental United States (USDA, 2008), identified

four quarantine pests that may be reasonably 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 portof-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 Loew (Diptera: Tephritidae)

Helicoverpa armigera (Hübner) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae)

Scirtothrips dorsalis Hood (Thysanoptera: Thripidae)

Risk Management Measures:

APHIS 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 for export to 

the United States must be grown in approved production sites registered with 

Plant Protection and Inspection Services (PPIS), the National Plant Protection 
Organization (NPPO) of Israel. Initial approval of production sites will be 

completed jointly by PPIS and APHIS.

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 baits must be placed inside the PES at 

a density of one trap/hectare (ha), with a minimum of one trap inside each PES 

and one outside the PES. The traps must be checked every 7 days. 

4. Trapping records must be maintained and made available for APHIS upon 

request.

5. If a single fruitfly of either species is detected inside a registered production site 

or in a consignment, the registered production site will lose its ability to export 

squash blossoms to the United States until APHIS and PPIS mutually determine 

that risk mitigation has been achieved.

6. APHIS can monitor the production sites anytime.

7. PPIS will monitor production sites to ensure that good agricultural practices are 

followed to monitor and control the non-fruit fly 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 show 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. Female squash blossoms must be imported as commercial consignments only.

11. Each consignment of female squash blossoms must be inspected by PPIS prior to

shipping the consignment. Any consignments of blossoms found with quarantine 

pests will be rejected by PPIS.

12. PPIS is responsible for export certification inspections and issuance of

Phytosanitary Certificates (PC). Each consignment of female summer squash 

blossoms must be accompanied by a PC issued by PPIS and bearing the 

Additional Declaration (AD) stating, “This consignment has been inspected and 
found free of Ceratitis capitata, Dacus ciliatus, Helicoverpa armigera and 

Scirtothrips dorsalis.”

 

The requirement for a PC with AD provides phytosanitary security by requiring Israeli 

officials to conduct phytosanitary inspections for these four pests. This effectively 

doubles the inspections the blossoms receive. Furthermore, specifically 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, Loganiaceae, Malpighiaceae, Meliaceae, Moraceae, Myrtaceae, Oleaceae, 

Podocarpaceae, Rosaceae, Rubiaceae, Rutaceae, Sapotaceae, Solanaceae, and 

Sterculiaceae (CABI, 2006; Thomas et al., 2007). Dacus ciliatus occurs in most of subSaharan Africa, Egypt, 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 

and peppers 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 mainly 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 through three, ranges 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 readily visible, (CABI, 2006). As is typical of 

species in the genus Scirtothrips, eggs are laid in the youngest tissues of plants, and 

feeding by 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 visible, 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 

typically 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, 2008), the 
appropriate level of phytosanitary security will be attained by requiring a Phytosanitary

Certificate issued by the NPPO with an Additional Declaration stating that the blossoms

have been inspected and are found free of the listed quarantine pests. 

Summary:

PESs provide a level of phytosanitary security and are part of a systems approach, that 

employs a combination of measures acting independently, which when properly

implemented mitigates risk and provides an aceptable level of phytosanitary 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 fruits from Israel will be restricted to commercial shipments only.

The PRA for importation of Fresh Fruit and Flowers of Summer Squash from 

Israel only 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 will be prohibited by permit conditions.

The requirement of a phytosanitary certificate from the Israel Ministry of Agriculture and 

Rural Development, (PPIS) will document that the import is a product of Israel. A 

phytosanitary certificate also provides phytosanitary security by requiring PPIS to 

conduct inspections for pests in the consignment. Therefore, APHIS will require each 

consignment to be accompanied by a PC 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 by 

requiring phytosanitary inspections in addition to the normal packinghouse quality

inspections. Importations of female squash blossoms from Israel 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, 2006 Edition. CAB International, 

Wallingford, UK.

Dreistadt, S. H. 1994. Pests of Landscape Trees and Shrubs: An Integrated Pest 

Management Guide. University of California, Davis, California.

Hodges, G., G.B. Edwards and W. Dixon. 2005. Pest Alert. Chilli thrips Scirtothrips 

dorsalis Hood (Thysanoptera: Thripidae) A new pest thrips for Florida. 

http://www.doacs.state.fl.us/pi/enpp/ento/chillithrips.html. Accessed May 2009.
Nasreen, 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. 

Fasulo. 2007. Mediterranean fruit fly, Ceratitis capitata (Wiedemann) (Insecta: 

Diptera:Tephritidae). University of Florida. Last accessed December 13, 2007,

http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/pdffiles/IN/IN37100.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 Qualitative, Pathway-Initiated Risk 

Analysis, 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 Analysis Laboratory. Raleigh, NC. 43 pp.

White, I. M., and M. M. Elson-Harris. 1992. Fruit Flies of Economic Significance: Their

Identification and Bionomics. CAB International, Wallingford, United Kingdom.