United States Department of Agriculture

Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service

Plant Protection and Quarantine

Risk Management Document

Importation of Banana, Musa spp., as Fresh, Hard Green 

Fruit from the Philippines to Guam, Hawaii, and the 

Northern Mariana Islands 

February 13, 2013

Plant Health Programs (PHP)

Regulations, Permits and Manuals (RPM)

Contact Person: Meredith Jones
 2

Introduction

A Pest Risk Assessment (PRA) was submitted by the Philippine Bureau of Plant Industry (BPI) 

to Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) in December 2005 in support of a 

market access request for Philippine green bananas to Guam (BPI, 2005). This pest risk 

assessment was prepared for Dole Philippines, Inc., Dole Asia Ltd., Makati, Philippines. In May

2007, BPI amended the market access request to include Hawaii and the Northern Mariana 

Islands. 

APHIS reviewed the relevant literature and pest interception records and revised the PRA

submitted by BPI (USDA, 2012a). The APHIS pest list identified 62 quarantine pests of banana 

which might potentially follow the pathway of fresh green bananas from the Philippines:

Taxa Pest

Arthropods Acari: Tenuipalpidae Brevipalpus californicus (Banks) 

Brevipalpus phoenicis (Geijskes)

Coleoptera: Anthribidae Araecerus coffeae (Fabricius)

Coleoptera: Cerambycidae Sybra alternans Wiedemann

Coleoptera: Curculionidae Metamasius hemipterus Linnaeus

Philicoptus waltoni (Boheman)

Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae Scapanes australis Boisduval

Diptera: Muscidae Atherigona orientalis Schiner

Diptera: Tephritidae Bactrocera occipitalis (Bezzi)

Bactrocera philippinensis Drew and Hancock

Bactrocera musae (Tryon)

Diptera: Stratiomyidae Hermetia illucens (Linnaeus)

Hemiptera: Aphididae Rhopalosiphum padi Linnaeus

Hemiptera: Coccidae Ceroplastes cirripediformis Comstock

Ceroplastes rubens Maskell

Coccus longulus (Douglas)

Hemiptera: Coreidae Leptoglossus gonagra (Fabricius)

Hemiptera: Diaspididae Aonidiella aurantii (Maskell)

Aonidiella comperei McKenzie

Aonidiella orientalis (Newstead)

Aspidiotus coryphae Cockerell and Robinson 

Aspidiotus excisus Green

Chrysomphalus aonidum (Linnaeus)

Hemiberlesia lataniae (Signoret)

Hemiberlesia palmae (Cockerell)

Hemiberlesia rapax (Comstock)
 3

Taxa Pest

Lepidosaphes beckii (Newman)

Lepidosaphes similis Beardsley

Mycetaspis personata (Comstock)

Parlatoria proteus (Curtis)

Pinnaspis aspidistrae aspidistrae (Signoret)

Pinnaspis buxi (BouchT)

Pinnaspis musae Takagi

Pinnsaspis strachani (Cooley)

Pseudaulacaspis cockerelli (Cooley)

Selenaspidus articulatus (Morgan)

Unaspis citri (Comstock)

Arthropods Hemiptera: Margarodidae Icerya aegyptiaca Douglas

Icerya pulcher (Leonardi)

Icerya seychellanum (Westwood)

Hemiptera: Pentatomidae Tessaratoma papillosa (Drury)

Hemiptera: Pseudococcidae Geococcus coffeae Green

Maconellicoccus hirsutus (Green)

Planococcus lilacinus (Cockerell)

Pseudococcus cryptus Hempel

Pseudococcus jackbeardsleyi Gimpel and Miller

Pseudococcus longispinus (Targioni Tozzetti)

Rastrococcus invadens Williams

Rastrococcus spinosus (Robinson)

Lepidoptera: Limacodidae Parasa lepida (Cramer)

Lepidoptera: Noctuidae Agrotis ipsilon (Hufnagel)

Spodoptera exigua (Hubner)

Lepidoptera: Pyralidae Diaphania indica (Saunders)

Orthoptera: Acrididae Chondracris rosea (DeGeer)

Locusta migratoria (Linnaeus)

Melicodes tenebrosa Walker

Valanga nigricornis Burmeister

Thysanoptera: Thripidae Hercinothrips femoralis (Reuter)

Thrips florum Schmutz

Thrips hawaiiensis (Morgan)

Mollusca Achitinidae Achatina fulica Bowdich

Weed Imperata cylindrica (L.) Beauv.

Bacteria Burkholderiales: 

Burkholdericeae

Ralstonia solanacearum (Smith) Yabuuchi et al., 

Race 2, Biovar 1

Since the PRA was developed APHIS has deregulated several pests including:
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Chaetanaphothrips signipennis (Bagnall), Planococcus minor (Maskell) and Sybra alternans 

(Wiedemann) and these pests have been removed from the RMD (USDA, 2012b). The pests

listed in this RMD are all expected to be excluded from the pathway of fresh hard green bananas

by mitigation measures that are standard industry practices in the Philippines (BPI, 2005; USDA, 

2012a). The mitigation measures expected to exclude these pests are from the following list 

provided to APHIS by BPI (BPI, 2005). 

Industry Standard Practices 

A list of industry standard practices for banana production in the Philippines was submitted to 

APHIS by BPI (BPI, 2005). BPI indicated that these are standard industry practices, and they

will mitigate all risk from pests in green bananas from the Philippines. These practices include 

the following:

a) Use of tissue culture (tc) seedlings in new plantings. Tc seedlings are relatively free 

from insect and disease pests.

b) Excellent weed management to limit proliferation of insect and disease pests.

c) Pseudostem sanitation to eliminate refuse and breeding sites of insect pests.

d) Fruit obstruction removal (FOR) to prevent fruit damage as well as eliminate bridges 

that may be utilized by the pests to infest the fiuit.

e) Insecticidal bud injection to kill the banana flower thrips.

f ) Insecticide spray on the pseudostem to eliminate insect pests i.e., mealybugs, aphids, 

etc.

g) Regular bunch spray containing insecticide to prevent mealybugs and scale insects 

from colonizing the developing fruit bunch. This spray would eliminate fruit flies 

if present.

h) Chlorpyrifos-impregnated polyethylene (PE) bags are used to cover the fruit bunches 

after bunch spray to further prevent mealybug, scale and fruit fly insect 

infestation on the fruit. Bags also prevent from disease infections.

i) Additional Chlorpyrifos-impregnated PE material (in a form of "strip" or "square") is 

installed on the fruit as additional control against insect pests when needed.

j) Bunches for harvest are identified or tagged one (1) day before harvest in an operation 

called "pre-calibration". Bunches, in the process, are inspected likewise for the 

presence of insect pests. Bunches with mealybugs, scales, other insect and disease

damage are discarded during harvest.

k) Upon arrival of the fruit at the packing plant, fruit bunches are sprayed with 

highpressure water to eliminate any possible, although highly improbable, 

mealybug infestation. 

1) While bunches are waiting to be de-handed, the “fruit inspector” in the packing plant 

will check for insect damage, particularly mealybug infestation, on individual 

bunches.

m) During de-handing, individual hands are thoroughly inspected by the "de-hander" for 

possible mealybug infestation and any other evidence of insect damage.
 5

n) After de-handing, individual hands are thoroughly cleaned with soap and water by the 

fruit selectors and further brushed with high-pressure water to eliminate possible 

infestation of mealybugs.

o) The individual hands are again inspected to confirm freedom from mealybugs and 

other insects during weighing and immediately before packing inside the box.

p) Unused pallets and those that are clean, dry and free from trash, soil, weed seeds and 

non-weed contaminants are utilized by the industry.

q) Fruits stay in the wharf no more than 3 hours before being loaded in the vessel or into 

cold storage. Wharf areas are maintained, kept clean and are situated away from 

population areas and farms. Regular cleaning of wharf is done to prevent any 

source of contamination on exportable fruits.

r) Vessels are cleaned with the recommended disinfectant before loading. Some vessels 

use ozone for disinfection between loads.

Some of these practices are viewed as necessary by APHIS and will be included as required risk 

mitigations. APHIS will also require some additional mitigations that are not on this list

provided by BPI.

Risk Management Measures - Systems approach for green bananas

The following mitifgation measures are required for the systems approach for fresh green 

bananas. 

Monitoring and Oversight. The NPPO of the Philippines must provide a workplan to APHIS 

that details the activities that the NPPO of Philippines will, subject to APHIS’ approval of the 

workplan, carry out to meet the requirements of the systems approach and specific quarantine 

treatments that may be required. APHIS will be directly involved with BPI in monitoring and 

auditing implementation of the systems approach and/or any quarantine treatments. 

The NPPO of the Philippines must visit and inspect registered places of production starting when 

fruit bags are emplaced and continuing until the end of the shipping season, to verify that the 

growers are complying with the requirements of the systems approach including following pest 

management guidelines and fruit bagging. 

In addition to conducting inspections at the packinghouses, the NPPO of the Philippines must 

monitor packinghouse operations to verify that the packinghouses are complying with the 

requirements of the systems approach.

 

If the NPPO of the Philippines determines that a place of production or packinghouse is not 

complying with the requirements of the systems approach, no fruit from the place of production 

or packinghouse will be eligible for export to the United States until the NPPO of the Philippines

conduct an investigation and appropriate remedial actions have been implemented. 

The NPPO of the Philippines must review and maintain all forms and documents related to 

export program activities in places of production and packinghouses for at least 1 year and, as 
 6

requested, provide them to APHIS for review. 

Registered places of production. Bananas must be grown in places of production that are 

registered with the NPPO of the Philippines. To register, the places of production must provide 

Philippine's NPPO with the following information: Grower, exporter, orchard, and places of 

production name, region, township, province, locality, area planted to each fruit, and 

approximate date of harvest. Registration must be renewed annually. The NPPO of the 

Philippines will certify that each place of production follows pest control guidelines to reduce 

regulated pest populations. APHIS may monitor the places of production if necessary. 

Registration of places of production will allow trace back to the places of production if pest 

problems are found on fruit shipped to the United States. Problem places of production can then 

be removed from the program until further mitigation measures have been taken to reduce pest 

populations.

Traceability. Harvested bananas must be placed in field cartons or containers that are marked to 

show the official registration number of the places of production. The place of production where 

the bananas were grown must remain identifiable when the fruit leaves the place of production, at 

the packinghouse, and throughout the export process. Fruit presented for inspection at the United 

States port of entry must be identified in the shipping documents accompanying each lot of fruit 

to specify the places of production or sites in which the fruit was produced, and the packing 

house or houses in which the fruit was processed. This identification must be maintained until 

the fruit is released for entry into the United States. 

Place of production pest management program including covering bananas with pesticide 

impregnated bags. Each place of production must follow a pest management program specified 

by the NPPO to reduce populations of quarantine pests. This includes applying pesticides to 

reduce pest populations and bagging bananas after flower drop with plastic bags impregnated 

with pesticides. If at any time during the growing period when the bag is covering the fruit, the 

bag falls off, or the bag is torn so that fruit flies can enter, that fruit is no longer eligible for

export to the United States.

Fruit fly population monitoring and management for low prevalence places of production.

Low prevalence will be used as part of a systems approach to mitigate risk from Bactrocera

species fruit flies. Procedures for the establishment and maintenance of areas of low pest 

prevalence must comply with international standards (NAPPO, 2003; IPPC, 2005). Beginning at 

least three months before harvest begins and continuing through the completion of harvest, 

trapping in the places production of banana for Bactrocera fruit fly species must be conducted 

with at least 1 trap per 0.2 km2by the NPPO. APHIS-approved traps baited with APHISapproved baits must be used and serviced at least once every 2 weeks. If more than 2.0 FTD 

(number of fruit flies per trap per day) fruit flies are trapped, pesticide bait treatments (or bait 

stations) must be applied in the affected place of production in order for the place of production 

to remain eligible to export bananas. The NPPO keeps records of fruit fly detections for each 

trap, updates the records each time the traps are checked, and makes the records available to 

APHIS inspectors upon request. The records must be maintained for at least 1 year after harvest.
 7

Bananas harvested hard green (no color break or yellow visible). The bananas must be 

harvested at a mature green state. None of the bananas harvested for export may be at or past 

color break (turning yellow). Damaged fruit must not be harvested for export.

Safeguarding. Bananas must be safeguarded from exposure to fruit flies from harvest to export, 

including being packaged so as to prevent access by fruit fly and other injurious insect pests.

Packing houses. Packing houses must prevent the entry of pests (pest exclusionary packing 

houses) with double-door entry and other measures designed to exclude fruit flies and other pests 

of quarantine concern. The packinghouse operations for export of bananas must be monitored by

Phillipine NPPO. No other fruit is allowed in a packing house during the time export fruit is 

being packed.

Post-harvest processing. After harvest all damaged or diseased fruits must be culled at the 

packinghouse. Fruit will be washed with a high pressure water spray, dehanded and washed with 

soap and water. Fruit for export must be packed into new, clean boxes, crates or other packing

materials. 

NPPO Inspection. Fruit must be inspected in the Philippines at an APHIS-approved inspection 

site under the direction of BPI inspectors, following any post-harvest processing. A sample of 

boxes from each consignment must be selected by BPI at a rate to be mutually agreed upon by

BPI and APHIS. The fruit from these boxes must be visually inspected for quarantine pests. A 

portion of the fruit being inspected must be cut to detect internally feeding quarantine pests. 

Phytosanitary certificate. Each consignment of fruit must be accompanied by a phytosanitary

certificate issued by the NPPO of the Philippines that contains an additional declaration stating 

that “the fruit in the consignment was grown and packed in accordance with the approved 

systems approach and inspected and found free of quarantine pests”.

Port of Entry Inspection. Fruit must be inspected at the first United States port of entry by

Customs and Border Protection (CBP) inspectors from the Department of Homeland Security

(DHS). A sample of boxes from each consignment will be inspected for quarantine pests. If 

significant intereceptions of quarantine pests occur, APHIS may ask BPI to suspend those places 

of production pending the result of an investigation by BPI when they may either be removed 

from the program or required to take remedial measures. 

Efficacy of Risk Management Measures

There are several measures available for mitigating the pests of concern from bananas from the 

Philppines. The measures chosen for risk management on bananas from the Philippines are 

summarized in Table 1. 
 8

Table 1. Summary of risk management measures that are components of a systems 

approach for bananas from the Philippines to Guam, Hawaii and the Northern Mariana 

Islands.

Measure(s) Pests Efficacy

Monitoring and 

Oversight

All pests, but must be 

used in conjunction with

other measures as part of 

a systems approach.

These measures are standard for many import 

programs and assist in maintaining quality of the 

program.

Registered Places of 

Production 

All pests, but must be 

used in conjunction with

other measures as part of 

a systems approach.

Places of production are registered to effectively

maintain quality control and traceback.

Traceability All pests, but must be 

used in conjunction with

other measures as part of 

a systems approach.

Traceability allows track back to places of production

if pests are found by inspection at the port of arrival 

to the United States. Places of production with 

quarantine pests can be removed from the program.

Places of production

Registration

All pests, but must be 

used in conjunction with

other measures as part of 

a systems approach.

Registration of places of production is required to 

manage places of production requirements and 

restrict access to the program to qualified sites.

Commercially grown consignments from registered 

places of production use good agricultural practices 

to reduce or eliminate pests. APHIS pest 

interception database indicates that commercial 

consignments are much less likely to have pest 

interceptions than non-commercial consignments or 

passenger baggage. Place of production registration 

is part of traceability that allows track back to places 

of production if pests are found by inspection at the 

port of arrival to the United States. Places of 

production with pests of quarantine concern can be 

removed from the program.

Place of production 

pest management 

program including 

bananas covered with 

pesticide impregnated 

bags.

All pests, but must be 

used in conjunction with

other measures as part of 

a systems approach.

Bagging also mitigates 

against all Arthropod pests 

and some diseases such 

as Ralstonia 

solanacearum.

Pesticide impregnated bags are industry standard 

practices in Central and South America production of 

bananas (Matlock & de la Cruz, 2003; Polidoro et al., 

2008; Simmonds, 1966). These bags reduce the 

number of quarantine pests that may follow the 

pathway of bananas. Bagging also mitigates the 

bacterial disease Ralstonia solanacearum Race 2 

Biovar 1 (Hayward, 2006; Jones, 2000; PCARRC, 

2006; Soguilon et al., 1995).
 9

Table 1. Summary of risk management measures that are components of a systems 

approach for bananas from the Philippines to Guam, Hawaii and the Northern Mariana 

Islands.

Measure(s) Pests Efficacy

Fruit fly population 

monitoring and 

management for low 

prevalence places of 

production. 

Bactrocera spp. fruit flies Several species of Bactrocera including Bactrocera 

musae, B. occipitalis, and B. philippinensis are 

present in the Philippines that may attack bananas. 

Bananas and especially green bananas are generally

considered to be poor hosts to most species of fruit 

flies; however, B. musae is recorded as attacking 

green bananas. Fruit fly trapping and management 

is a key component part of low prevalence systems 

approaches for many commodities including 

tomatoes and peppers grown in pest exclusionary

structures, and the papaya systems approach from 

Central and South America (Title 7, Code of Federal 

Regulations, 319.56-25, 28, 31 and 40). 

Bananas harvested 

hard green (no color 

break or yellow 

visible).

Bactrocera spp. fruit flies Harvesting bananas at a hard green stage is a 

standard industry practice for banana production in 

Central and South America, Hawaii, and most of the 

world. Ripe bananas are much more likely to be 

infested with Tephritid fruit flies (Armstrong, 1983; 

2001; Allwood & Drew, 1996).

Safeguarding – fruit is 

protected during 

transit from infestation 

by pests.

Bactrocera spp. fruit flies Safeguarding is standard for any import program 

where the fruit is a host to fruit flies. Most fruits 

become more susceptible to infestation after harvest 

and safeguarding prevents infestation, for example 

tomatoes from various countries and Mexican 

avocados (Title 7, Code of Federal Regulations, 

319.56-28 and 30).

Packinghouses All pests, but specifically

for Bactrocera spp. fruit 

flies.

Pest exclusionary packinghouses are a standard 

APHIS requirement for import programs where the 

fruit is fruit fly host material, for example the Mexican 

avocado program uses this risk mitigation (Title 7, 

Code of Federal Regulations, 319.56-30).

Postharvest 

Processing

All pests, but must be 

used in conjunction with

other measures as part of 

a systems approach.

Banana postharvest processing includes washing 

that removes surface pests such as mites, scale 

insects, mealybugs and any other surface feeding 

pests, and culling that removes any visible pests and 

damaged and diseased fruit (BPI, 2005). 

NPPO inspection All pests, but must be 

used in conjunction with

other measures as part of 

a systems approach. 

Inspections are recognized as an important part of a 

pest management program (Kahn & Mathur 1999). 

Trained inspectors can recognize infestations of 

pests and the damage or diseases they cause to the 

fruits which would allow detection of these pests in 

some cases (CABI, 2007; NAPPO, 1998; USDA, 

1982; USDA, 2004; Whittle, 1986)

Phytosanitary

certification

All pests, but must be 

used in conjunction with

other measures as part of 

a systems approach.

Requiring a phytosanitary certificate requires the 

NPPO to inspect the bananas for pests.
 10

Table 1. Summary of risk management measures that are components of a systems 

approach for bananas from the Philippines to Guam, Hawaii and the Northern Mariana 

Islands.

Measure(s) Pests Efficacy

Phytosanitary

inspection at port of 

entry

All pests, but must be 

used in conjunction with

other measures as part of 

a systems approach.

Inspections are recognized as an important part of a 

pest management program (Kahn and Mathur,

1999). Trained inspectors can recognize infestations 

of pest and the damage or disease they cause to the 

fruits which would allow detection of these pests in 

some cases (CABI, 2007; NAPPO, 1998; USDA, 

1982; USDA, 2004; Whittle, 1986).

Summary

Bananas are exported from Central and South America and Hawaii using most of the components 

described in this systems approach for bananas from the Philippines. Over 3.8 to 4 million 

metric tons of bananas have been imported into the United States every year from 2003 to 2007 

(NASS, 2008). Given the huge amount of fruit imported, the number of pest interceptions is very

small, with about 1,400 interceptions of actionable quarantine pests in that time period for 

bananas worldwide (AQAS-PestID, 2012). The majority of these interceptions are mealybugs, 

scarabeid beetles and weevils. The Scarabeids and weevils intercepted are not internally feeding

on bananas, but are adult hitchhikers. Mealybugs are external feeders that are readily detected by

inspection at the port of entry. 

APHIS has intercepted only four of the 62 quarantine pests listed in the PRA (AQAS-PestID, 

2012) in bananas from all sources including passenger baggage and commercial cargo in the past 

five years. These interceptions include Metasimius hemipterus, Maconellicoccus hirsutus and

Planococcus lilacinus; however, the volume of bananas imported is very large. APHIS has no 

records of interceptions of Ralstonia solanacearum on bananas from any source (AQAS-PestID. 

2012). In the proposed Philippine banana systems approach, any place of production with 

interceptions of quarantine pests can be either removed from the program or required to take 

remedial measures. 

According to BPI, bananas are currently exported from the Philippines to Japan using part of the 

systems approach listed here (BPI, 2005). According to BPI, no quarantine pests have been 

intercepted using this approach.

APHIS concludes that commercial consignments of Philippine bananas may safely be imported 

into Guam, Hawaii and the Northern Mariana Islands without the risk of introducing pests using 

the combination of the mitigations in the systems approach listed above. 
 11

Authors 

José R. Hernández, Ph.D.

Senior Risk Manager

Regulations, Permits and Manuals

Walter Gould, Ph.D.

Senior Risk Manager

Regulations, Permits and Manuals

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