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



## Com **mo dity Import Evaluation Document**  (CI ED) 

## Importation of **oranges, C**  **itrus sinensis**  **L. (Osbeck) and**  **Citrus reticulata Blanco**  **, from**  **Egypt to**  **the Conti**  **ne n**  **tal United States**  **with cold treatment for**  **Bactrocera zonata**

**(Saunder s)**  **County of Origin** : Egy pt 

### Date of Request : 3 /26 /20 08 **Commodity:** Oranges and Tangerines **Scientific name**

**s :**  Citrus sinensis L. (Osbeck) **Common names** : Oranges and Tangerines Citrus reticulata Blanco (also Mandarins and Clementines)

___ ______________________________________________________________________________ **Introduction:** Oranges from Egy

pt have been enterable to the United States since 1969 subject to cold treatment T107 a for Mediterranean fruit fly , Ceratitis capitata (USDA, 196 9)
. Imports of oranges from Egy

pt were suspended on July 23, 2002 because of the establishment of Bactrocera zonata , the peach fruit fly , in Egy pt (USDA, 2002)
. Egy

pt has requested that APHI S reconsider the use of cold treatment based on new treatment data they developed for Bactrocera zonata in citrus (MALR, 2008). APHI S proposes to use a cold treatment to treat both oranges and tangerines from Egy

pt based on research data developed by APHI S, USDA
- ARS and Egy pt. APHI S completed a pest list for both oran ges and tangerines (USDA, 2011a). Medfly and peach fruit fly are the only

quarantine pests, and both will be mitigated by the proposed cold treatment2

of oranges and tangerines from Egy pt. Tangerines, Citrus reticulata also includes mandarins and clementi nes. **Current i**  **mport r**  **equirements:** Imports of oranges from Egy pt were suspended on July 23, 2002 because of the establishment of Bactrocera zonata , the peach fruit fly in Egy pt . Previously , imports of oranges from Egy pt to the United States were allowed with cold treatment T
- 107 a for Medfly (USDA, 1969)
. **Pests of Concern:** The pests of concern listed in the 1969 decision sheet for Egy ptian oranges include Mediterranean fru it fly

( Ceratitis capitata ), the honeydew moth ( Cryptoblabes gnidiella ) and the ci trus blossom moth (

Prays citri ) ( USDA, 1969 )
. The peach fruit fly , Bactrocera zonata , became established in Egy pt sometime before 1998 (EPPO, 2008 ). Ceratitis capitata (Wiedemann) (Tephri tidae) Mediterranean fruit fly Bactrocera zonata (Saunders) (Tephritidae) p each fruit fl y Cryptoblabes gnidiella Milli è re (Py ralidae) honeydew moth Prays citri Milli è re (Yponomeutidae) citrus blossom moth The two moths listed above are usually external feeders on the peel of citrus and sometimes bore into the fruit. T he subsequent damage to the fruit allows the pests to be readily detected upon the inspection of the commodity . In addition, the honeydew moth is considered to be a secondary pest of citrus that follows outbreaks of insects that produce honeydew, includin g scales or mealy bugs. APHI S does not require a treatment for either pest for commodities from other countries where the se pests are present . APHI S prepared a new pest list for citrus from Egy pt to determine if the pest status h ad changed for any of the pests since the decision sheet written in 1969 (USDA, 2011 a ). The pest list only lists two pests of concern: **Ceratitis capitata (Wiedemann) (Tephritidae) Mediterranean fruit fly**  **Bactrocera zonata (Saunders) (Tephritidae) peach fruit fly**  The pest lis t included Cryptoblabes gnidiella and Prays citri but concluded the following:

“ D ue to their mobility, free
- living adults of Lepidoptera are highly unlikely to be in the pathway of commercially produced orange and tangerine fruits. T he pupae of these ge nera are either associated with plant parts other than fruit, occur externally on their host’s plant parts, or occur in the soil. Or, if the pupae occur inside the fruit or seed of their host plants, they would be associated with premature fruit drop and/o r obvious damage and symptoms (CABI, 2011), thereby making it likely for the fruit to be culled during standard harvest or post
- harvest handling and processing. ” Therefore no mitigations other than standard port of entry inspection would be necessary for these two L epidoptera.3

**Extension of existing APHIS cold treatments for fruit flies**  **to Bactrocera zonata**  **: Current treatment research.**  In200 6 , Egy

pt collaborated with the Republic of Korea to develop data to confirm efficacy of a cold treatment of citr

us for Bactrocera zonata for shipment to Korea. Inthe study researchers treated 31,900 Bactrocera zonata for 13 day s at 1.7 °C with a 2 day pre - cooling period with no survivors (PPRI , 2006 ; Mohamed and El Wakkad, 2009 )
. Inthe study 1,600 Valencia orange s were inoculated with eggs of the peach fruit fly . The fruit were held until 80% of the larvae were third instars (as determined by dissection) , then pre
- cooling the fruit for 2 day s was initiated with a subsequent 13 day

treatment at 1.7°C. A control o f 100 fruits was held without cold treatment to assess larval numbers and survivorship, from which 3,296 pupae were recovered, or an average of 33 per fruit. This gives an estimate of 44,550 larvae treated. The study reported that 1,350 treated fruit wer e dissected and 31,900 dead larvae were found. As a result of this work, Egy pt was given market access for citrus to the Republic of Korea using the 13 day 1.7°C cold treatment. Research was jointly

conducted in 2011 at the Food and Agricultural Organiz ation (FAO)/International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Agriculture and Biotechnology L aboratory in Seibersdorf, Austria by USDA
- APHI S, USDA
- ARS, Egy pt Plant Protection and Research In stitute and IAEA personnel (Hallman et al., 2011) . A preliminary study fr om January

to March 2011 was done to compare cold tolerance of B. zonata with C. capitata in navel oranges at 1.1°C. A further study

to compare the cold tolerance of 3 rd instar B. zonata with C. capitata and A. ludens side
- by
- side in navel oranges at 1.67 °C was initiated in June 2011 , and is described below
. Inthe preliminary study , 3 surviving larvae were found from 266 larvae treated for 10 day s at 1.1 ° C, or 99.% of B. zonata larvae were prevented from pupariating. From the data, using probit analy sis they estimated the dose required to kill 99% of B. zonata is 8.3 day s at 1.1 ° C with 95% confidence limits of 7.4 to 12.2 day s. They felt that more research was necessary to confirm the treatment for B. zonata
. The second study was conducted from June 20 11 through January 201 2 at the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO)/International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Agriculture and Biotechnology

L aboratory

in Seibersdorf, Austria by USDA
- APHI S, USDA
- ARS, Egy pt Plant Protection and Research Institute and IA EA personnel . The cold treatment temperature of 1.67 ° C was maintained and batches of larvae were exposed for different lengths of time in oranges. The oranges were dissected after treatment and the larvae scored as dead or alive. After several thousand larvae were treated at each length of time, if survivors were found the time was increased and the treatment repeated. N o survivors were recovered from 36,820 Bactrocera zonata larvae in oranges held at 1.67 ° C for 18 day s ( Hallman et al., 2012 )
. **Sum mary**  : T
- 107a is listed in the APHI S treatment manual for Ceratitis capitata (Medfly ) and C. rosa4

(Natal fruit fly

) (USDA, 2011 b ). T107a consists of cold treatment at 14 day s at 1.11 ° C, or 16 day s at 1.67 ° C or 18 day s at 2.22 ° C. This treatment is liste d for a number of commodities including oranges and tangerines
. Current research in Austria and Egy pt has found that the current quarantine treatment for Medfly , T107a, needs to be extended to 18 day s at 1.67 ° C to mitigate risk from peach fruit fly , Bactrocera zonata , as well. A large scale test begun in 2011 and completed in 2012 was able to kill over 3 6 , 00 0 peach fruit fly larvae with no survivors at 1 8 day s at 1.67 ° C
. For the purposes of cold treatment, tangerines, mandarins and clementines are all si milar and can be treated with the same treatment for the pests of concern. **Mitigation Recommendations**  **:** Oranges and tangerines must be subjected to new cold treatment of 1.67 ° C for 18 day s either in Egy pt , intransit, or at the first port of entry to mit igate risks from the two fruit flies : Ceratitis capitata and Bactrocera zonata Each consignment must include a P hy tosanitary C ertificate issued by the NPPO of Egy

pt with an Additional Declaration stating that the consignment was inspected and found free of pests
. **Author :**  Walter P. Gould , Ph.D. Senior Risk Manager Regulations, Permits and Manuals **References cited:** CABI . 2011. Crop Protection Compendium. Commonwealth Agricultural Bureau I nternational (CABI ), Wallingford, UK. EPPO. 2008. Bactrocera z onata . European and Mediterranean Plant Protection Organization (EPPO). http://www.eppo.org/QUARANTI NE/bactrocera_zonata/bactrocera.htm accessed May 2011. Hallman , G.J. , S
. W. Myers, M
. F. El
- Wakkad, M
. D
. Tadrous, and A
. J. Jessup . 2011. Comparison of Cold Tolerance of Bactrocera zonata and Bactrocera invadens with Ceratitis capitata in Navel Orange: Progress Report and Proposal for Future Comparisons of Bactrocera zonata, with Ceratitis capitata and Anastrepha ludens

. 14 pp. Hallman, G.J. S.W. Myers and G. Taret. 2012. Development of a cold storage treatment for peach fruit fly , Bactrocera zonata (Diptera: Tephritidae). 9 pp. MALR. 2008. Ministry

of Agriculture an d L and Reclamation (MALR) . L etter to Dr. L inda Lo gan, USAID APHI S Attaché , on peach fruit fly technical exchange dated March 26, 2008. Mohamed, S.M.A and M.F. El
- Wakkad. 2009. Cold storage as a disinfestation treatment against5

peach fruit fly , Bactrocer a zonata (Saunders), (Diptera: Tephritidae) on Valencia orange. Egy ptian J. Applied Sci. 24: 290
- 301. PPRI . 2006. Plant Protection Research Institute (PPRI ). Cold storage of oranges as a disinfestations treatment against the peach fruit fly , Bactrocera zonata (Saunders) (Diptera: Tephritidae) in Egy

pt. 9 Aug. 2006. 17 pp. USDA. 1969. D ecision sheet on entry status of oranges from Egy pt. 1 page. USDA. 2002. Email from APHI S to Egy pt NPPO informing Egy

pt of suspension of market access for oranges. USDA. 2011a. Pest list for the importation of fresh orange and tangerine (Citrus sinensis and C. reticulate) into the continental United States from Egy pt. Version 1. July

11, 2011. Plant Epidemiology

and Risk Analy sis L aboratory , Center for Plant Hea lth Science and Technology , USDA
- APHI S
- PPQ. 14 pp. USDA. 2011 b
. Treatment manual. http://www.aphis.usda.gov/import_export/plants/manuals/ports/downloads/treatment.pdf Accessed Mar. 2011.

________________________________________________________________________



### _ **X _ APPROVED**  **___ DISAPPROVED**

__Walter P. Gould

__________ ___ 6 March 201 2

__ _____ ___ **Si gnature (name)**  **Date**