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



## Risk Management Document



## Importation of Fresh Celery

, ( Apium graveolens Linnaeus

. ) from Colombia into the Continental United Sta tes

May 19, 20 1 0

Plant Health Programs (PHP) Regulations, Permits and Manuals ( RPM )

Contact Person: Dorothy WaysonVersion 003 May 19, 2010 Introduction

In support of a request for market access to import fresh celery ( Apium graveolens Linnaeus )

from Colombia in to the Continental United States , the Center for Plant Health Science and Technology (CPHST) of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA)’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) prepared a p est risk assessment (PRA) (USDA, 2007)

as per the Guidelines for Pathway

- Initiated Pest Risk Assessment (USDA

, 2000)

.

T he PRA identified four pests of quarantine significance that would likely follow the pathway of

fresh celery leaves , stems and roots imported into the continental United States:

Coccus viridis (Green) (Hemiptera: Coccidae) Copitarsia decolora (Guenée) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) Liriomyza huidobrensis Blanchard (Diptera: Agromyzidae)

Planococcus lilacinus Cock (Hemiptera: Pseudococcidae)

The overall pest risk potential for Copitarsia decolora and Liriomyza huidobrensis is identif ied

as high , and for Coccus virid i s and Planococcus lilacinus is medium

.

According to the Guidelines for Pathway

- Initiated Pest Risk Assessment (USDA. 2000)

, for pests assigned high risk potential, phytosanitary measures beyond port

- of

- entry inspections are strongly recommended. This document outlines the phytosanitary measures that APHIS will require if the proposed importation of fresh celery ( Apium graveolens Linnaeus

. ) from Colombia

into the con tinental United States is approved, and provides the evidence used by APHIS to conclude that these measures will effectively prevent the introduction of the quarantine pests.

Risk Management Measures

APHIS proposes that fresh celery leaves

, stems and roots from Colombia may be imported into the continental United States under the following conditions:

**•** Celery , must be imported in commercial shipments only

**•** APHIS requires a phytosanitary certificate be issued by the Colombian National Plant

Protection O rganization ( NPPO ) for each shipment to assure that the Celery is apparently free of pests, with an additional declaration stating “This shipment has been inspected and

is free from Coccus viridis

, Copitarsia decolora, Planococcus lilacinus , and Liriomyza

huidobrensis ”

**•** Each shipment is subject to inspection upon arrival in the United States.

Evidence for the Effective Removal of Pest of Concern from the PathwayVersion 003 May 19, 2010 B y restricting the importation of fresh celery to commercial consignments only, we will ensur e that appropriate sanitation practices are in place to prevent the introduction of contamination and hitchhiker pests discussed in the PRA.

As part of the process of commercially picking, processing and packaging, celery that is damaged or where pests ar e present

, will be culled. The NPPO will inspect the celery to be exported to issue the PC with AD which certifies the product is free of pests. All of the quarantine pests of concern have stages that are readily detected by inspection. Inspection ensur es that various stages of any pest that are present will be detected; this is particularly effective against those pests whose later life stages are larger and more readily detected (Borror et al. 1989). In addition, the celery will be subject to inspect i on for pests at the port

- of

- entry to the United States by officers of Customs and Border Protection (CBP). The PC with the AD will alert CBP inspectors to look for the quarantine pests of concern. Inspection is an effective method for detecting pests and is a primary method of preventing quarantine pests from entering the United States ( Cav e y, 2003; Wittenberg and Cock, 2001)

.

Conclusion

APHIS believes that the phytosanitary measures proposed in this document will result in the effective removal of q uarantine pests associated with the importation of fresh celery from

Colombia. Fresh celery is enterable to the United States from many other countries using similar mitigations without significant pest issues (USDA, 2010)

.

Author

Walter P. Gould

Senior Risk Manager

References

Borror, D. J., Triplehorn, C. A. and N. F. Johnson. 1989. Introduction to the study of insects, 6 ed. Harcourt Brace Jovanovich College Publishers, TX.

Cavey, J.F. 2003. Mitigating introduction of invasive plant pests: the APHIS

- PPQ Mission. From: Chapter 13, pp. 350

- 361 in Ruiz, G.M and J.T. Carlton. 2003. Invasive species: vectors and management strategies. Island Press, Washington, D.C. 518p.

USDA. 2000. Guidelines for Pathway

- Initiated Pest Risk Assessments, Version 5. 02. USDA

APHIS, PPQ; http://oars.aphis.usda.gov/ppq/pra/commodity/cpraguide.pdf

USDA. 200 7. Importation of Celery ( Apium graveolens Linnaeus) into the Continental United

States from Colombia

. Qualitative, Pathway

- Initiated Pest Risk Assessment. USDA, APHIS, CPHST, PERAL, Raleigh, NC.Version 003 May 19, 2010 USDA. 2010. USDA APHIS Fruits and Vegetables Import Requirements (FAVIR) database. http://www.aphis.usda.gov/import_export/plants/plant_imports/qua rantine_56/favir.shtml

Wittenberg, R. and M.J.W. Cock. 2001. Invasive Alien Species: A toolkit of best prevention and management practices. CABI publishing, CAB International, Wallingford, Oxon, UK. 228

pp.