United States Department of Agriculture 

Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service 

Plant Protection and Quarantine

 

 

Risk Management Document

Importation of Fresh Fruits of Baby Kiwi 

(Actinidia arguta) from Chile into the 

Continental United States 

Ver. MB2 

December 18, 2009 

Plant Health Programs (PHP) 

Regulations, Permits and Manuals (RPM) 

Contact Person: Dave Lamb 
Version 2 December 18 2009 2

Introduction 

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

(NPPO) of Chile, requested to export fresh baby kiwi, Actinidia arguta (Siebold & Zucc.) 

Planch. ex Miq., to the continental United States. A first draft a pest risk assessment (PRA) was 

prepared by SAG and the Association of Exporters of Chile (ASOEX) (Servicio Agrícola y 

Ganadero, 2004). This PRA was reviewed and revised by APHIS. The APHIS PRA was 

developed using the pest list in the SAG PRA, a search of the literature and APHIS pest 

interception records (USDA, 2008) to determine pests that would follow the pathway of fresh 

baby kiwi. The APHIS PRA identified one quarantine pest that is likely to be introduced into the 

continental United States in consignments of fresh baby kiwi: 

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

The PRA considered the likelihood and consequences of introducing this pest and indicated that 

it poses a Medium pest risk potential. Pests with medium pest risk potential may require 

measures in addition to inspection at the port of entry to mitigate risk (USDA, 2000). 

Risk Management Measures 

Quarantine treatment for Brevipalpus chilensis

 

Fumigation. 

Shipments of baby kiwi may be imported into the United States if the fruit is fumigated either in 

Chile or at the port of first arrival in the United States with methyl bromide in accordance with 

T101-i-2-1 for the mite Brevipalpus chilensis. An APHIS inspector will monitor the fumigation 

of the fruit and will prescribe such safeguards as may be necessary for unloading, handling, and 

transportation preparatory to fumigation. The final release of the fruit for entry into the United 

States will be conditioned upon compliance with prescribed safeguards and required treatment. 

Efficacy of Risk Management Measures 

 The measure chosen for risk management for the mite, Brevipalpus chilensis on fresh baby kiwi 

from Chile is a methyl bromide treatment. This treatment, T101-i-2-1has been used successfully 

to fumigate over 1,408,165 metric tonnes of grapes from Chile for Brevipalpus chilensis. This 

treatment is considered by APHIS to reach or exceed probit 9 quarantine security (USDA, 2009). 

Mites such as Brevipalpus chilensis are surface pests, and therefore the type of commodity 

fumigated will not have a significant effect on the mortality of this pest. 

 Summary 

APHIS concludes that commercial shipments of baby kiwi that originate from Chile may safely 

be imported to the United States without the risk of introducing Brevipalpus chilensis using a 
Version 2 December 18 2009 3

combination of the mitigations listed above. Methyl bromide treatment has been used to import 

thousands of tons of various fruits from Chile that are infested with Brevipalpus chilensis. The 

current methyl bromide treatments are considered to be effective in mitigating risk from 

Brevipalpus chilensis (Castro et al., 2004; USDA, 2009). 

Authors 

Paul Gadh 

Senior Risk Manager, RPM 

Walter Gould 

Senior Risk Manager, RPM 

5. References 

Castro, D., J. Espinosa and M. Vargas. 2004. Ionising radiation as a quarantine treatment for 

controlling Brevipalpus chilensis (ACARINA: TENUIPALPIDAE) in Thompson 

seedless grapes. Pp. 143 – 153 in “Irradiation as a phytosanitary treatment of food and 

agricultural commodities”. IAEA-TECDOC-1427. 

Servicio Agricola y Ganadero. 2004. Pest risk assessment for baby kiwi (Actinidia arguta) fresh 

fruits entry from Chile into the United States [DRAFT]. Chilean Servicio Agrícola y 

Ganadero (SAG), Chile. 26 pp. 

USDA. 2000. Guidelines for Pathway-Initiated Pest Risk Assessments. Version 5.02. USDA, 

APHIS, PPQ. Riverdale, MD. 30 pp. 

USDA. 2008. Pest Risk Assessment for Fresh Fruits of Baby Kiwi (Actinidia arguta) from Chile 

Imported into the Continental United States. A Qualitative, Pathway-initiated Risk 

Assessment. 23 pp. 

USDA. 2009. Treatment Manual. USDA-APHIS, PPQ; 

http://www.aphis.usda.gov/ppq/manuals/port/Treatment_Chapters.htm [accessed Aug. 2009].