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 LambVersion 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 Exporte rs of Chile (ASOEX) (Servicio Agrícola y Ganadero, 2004). This PRA was reviewed a nd 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 ba by kiwi that originate from Chile may safely be imported to the United States without the risk of introducing Brevipalpus chilensis using aVersion 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. I onising 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].