Review of the Systems Approach Work Plan for the Exportation of Apples from the United States into Taiwan Presented by APHIS July 26 and 27, 2005

Systems Approach Work Plan for the Exportation of Apples from the United States into Taiwan  The current work plan was revised June 2005  In July 2005, APHIS submitted a proposal to BAPHIQ which included an addendum to the work plan which identified requirements for the acceptable use of methyl bromide treatment for the export of apples to Taiwan

Systems Approach Work Plan for the Exportation of Apples from the United States into Taiwan  The work plan sections that will be covered in this presentation are: –Requirements for Supplying Orchards (Sec.1) –Requirements of Packing Houses (Sec. 4) –Pre-Screening Procedures (Sec. 5) –Export Inspection Procedures (Sec. 6) –Safeguarding Requirements (Sec. 7)

Requirements for Supplying Orchards  Apples packed for export to Taiwan must come from orchards which follow pest control management practices for codling moth as prescribed by the Federal State Cooperative Extension Service  These practices may include monitoring, chemical or biological controls, and mating disruption

Requirements for Supplying Orchards  Growers must maintain records of codling moth management activities  This information must be provided upon request to APHIS  Growers will be identified by grower lot numbers (this must be marked on the end panel of each carton of apples packed for export to Taiwan)

Requirements for Supplying Orchards  Before the fruit from any variety of any grower lot is submitted for packing, measures will be implemented to evaluate the effectiveness of the orchard control program

Requirements for Supplying Orchards  The effectiveness of the orchard control program is to be evaluated prior to packing by use of : On-tree Visual Inspection OR Bin Sampling

Requirements for Supplying Orchards  On-tree Visual Inspection must follow the “On-Tree Visual Inspection Sequential Sampling Protocol” developed by NHC  Packing houses may qualify lots once the fruit has been harvested by following the “Bin Sampling Protocol” developed by NHC

Requirements for Supplying Orchards  The sampling protocols will be applied per variety, per grower lot  Fruit will be determined to be eligible to pack for export to Taiwan under the systems approach (or will be prohibited from packing for export to Taiwan under the systems approach) per variety, per grower lot

Requirements for Supplying Orchards – Orchard Sampling  The results of the on-tree inspection for codling moth will be documented on the “Taiwan Export Program-Orchard Codling Moth Control Worksheet”

Requirements for Supplying Orchards – Orchard Sampling  If more than 0.2 percent of fruit in the orchard sample have live larvae present, that variety of that grower lot is prohibited from export to Taiwan under the systems approach

Requirements for Supplying Orchards – Orchard Sampling  This would be equivalent to finding 5 or more fruit (cumulative total) with live larvae when 21 trees have been sampled, as an example

Requirements for Supplying Orchards – Orchard Sampling  If the data from the on-tree inspection has not resulted in a decision using the sequential sampling table on the Orchard Codling Moth Control Worksheet after 50 trees have been sampled (live larvae have been found in between 4 and 7 fruit), that variety of that grower lot may be sampled once more, using either the on-tree sampling protocol or the bin sampling protocol

Requirements for Supplying Orchards  The second sample, regardless of whether the protocol for on-tree sampling or bin sampling is followed, must result in a clear decision that will indicate that variety of that grower lot is eligible to pack for export to Taiwan or it will be prohibited from export to Taiwan under the systems approach

Requirements for Supplying Orchards – Bin Sampling  The results of the bin sampling inspection will be documented on the “Taiwan Apple Inspection Log Detection of Codling Moth During Bin Sampling”

Requirements for Supplying Orchards – Bin Sampling  If more than 0.15 percent of fruit are found to have live larvae during the bin sampling inspection, that variety of that grower lot is prohibited from export to Taiwan under the systems approach  This would be equivalent to finding more than two fruit with live larvae in a 1500 fruit sample

Requirements for Supplying Orchards  Grower lots of fruit which are rejected during either the on-tree sampling or the bin sampling will be prohibited from export to Taiwan under the systems approach  Since grower lots are sampled by variety, they will be prohibited for export by variety per grower lot

Requirements for Supplying Orchards  The completed orchard codling moth control worksheet must accompany the delivery of fruit to the packing facility and must be kept on file at the packing facility for each variety of each grower lot of fruit to be exported to Taiwan OR  The completed bin sampling record must be kept on file at the packing facility for each variety of each grower lot of fruit to be exported to Taiwan

Requirements for Supplying Orchards  The completed orchard codling moth control worksheet or the completed bin sampling record must be presented, along with the cull analysis record, to the appropriate state inspector at the time a request is made for a phytosanitary inspection of each variety of each grower lot

Packing House Requirements  Packing houses must be registered with APHIS –Must notify State Department of Agriculture and APHIS of intent to ship to Taiwan –Must be registered as a business –Must be recognized as a packing house –Must utilize State Department of Agriculture for fruit inspection

Packing House Requirements  The packing house will accept fruit for packing for export to Taiwan from grower lots which are qualified by either the “On- tree Visual Inspection Sequential Sampling Protocol” or by the “Bin Sampling” alternative

Packing House Requirements  The integrity of shipments packed for export to Taiwan must be maintained  Packing houses must provide adequate equipment for the performance of inspections and other related work  The packing house must have access to a qualified pest management consultant

Packing House Requirements  Appropriate control measures should be taken to eliminate any live quarantine pests inside the packinghouse at the beginning of the season  If necessary, sanitation measure must be taken to keep the packing house clean

Packing House Requirements  Apples must be sorted before packing to remove all deformed and damaged fruit  Culled fruit must be placed in containers and removed from the packing area at the end of the day

Packing House Requirements  The packing facility must review codling moth symptoms with sorting and packing crews  ALL packing house employees should be encouraged to report suspect fruit

Packing House Requirements  Visual aids must be provided for reference  The visual aids should be displayed at the prescreening area and at other appropriate locations in the packing facility

Packing House Requirements  Apples must be appropriately safeguarded against quarantine pests when transporting packaged fruit from the packing house to the export carrier or container

Prescreening Procedures  Each packing house facility must have a minimum of two technicians trained by APHIS or the State Department of Agriculture who will be responsible for carrying out the requirements of the prescreening procedure  If all trained technicians are absent, apples may not be packed for Taiwan at that time

Prescreening Procedures  After the completion of training, the trainee’s name, signature, packing facility and date of training will be documented on a Certificate of Training  The original Certificate of Training will be retained at the packing facility with the prescreening records  Copies will be distributed to APHIS and the State Department of Agriculture

PreScreening Procedures  A master list of the trained technicians will be maintained by the State Department of Agriculture which contains the names of the technicians, the name of the facility and the date of the training  APHIS will be provided with a copy of the list  The master list may be made available to BAPHIQ upon request

Prescreening Procedures  A random 600 fruit sample per lot, per day, per variety will be taken from the cull bins  From that sample, ALL suspect fruit for codling moth damage will be cut and inspected  Only technicians on the master list are authorized to cut and inspect fruit from the sample for prescreening purposes

Prescreening Procedures  If less than 60 fruit in the sample are found to be suspect for codling moth damage, enough additional fruit must be cut and inspected to reach a minimum of 60 fruit per sample  The sampling and cutting for each lot must be documented on the prescreening inspection record

Prescreening Procedures  If more than 600 fruit are sampled and inspected per lot (per variety, per day), record the actual number of fruit sampled and inspected  If more than 60 fruit in the sample are cut, record the actual number of fruit cut  The prescreening inspection records are to be filled out in ink

Prescreening Procedures  If a live codling moth larva is detected during the prescreening, ALL fruit from (that variety of) that grower lot will be ineligible for export to Taiwan under the systems approach for the remainder of the current shipping season  Any finding of live larvae should be reported to the responsible packing house official and to the State Department of Agriculture

Prescreening Procedures  Insect holes/tunnels are defined by the work plan as: “ (insect) feeding injury that extends below the skin of the fruit and well into the flesh”  To be consistent, we are using more than one eighth inch deep to be “well into the flesh”

Prescreening Procedures  If 6 or more fruit in the 600 fruit sample (1%) are found with wormholes during the prescreening process, that variety from that grower lot will be ineligible for export to Taiwan under the systems approach for the remainder of the current shipping season

Prescreening Procedures  Any finding of 1% or more wormholes in a lot should be reported to the responsible packing house official and to the State Department of Agriculture inspector

Prescreening Procedures  Prescreening records will indicate the degree of codling moth damage found during the prescreening process  The prescreening records must contain the name of the trained technician  The standard prescreening inspection record will be utilized  The prescreening records must be legible

Prescreening Procedures  Packing house officials will present to the State Department of Agriculture inspector: – prescreening records documenting the grower lot, variety, and day of prescreening AND – either the Orchard Codling Moth Control Worksheet or the Bin Sampling Record for that grower lot

Prescreening Procedures  If a variety of a grower lot underwent a second sampling to determine it’s eligibility to pack for export to Taiwan under the systems approach, documentation of the results of both samples must be presented to the State Department of Agriculture inspector

Prescreening Procedures  It is the responsibility of the packing house to ensure that each carton presented for export to Taiwan can be uniquely identified as to grower lot, variety, and date that the fruit was packed or presized.

Phytosanitary Export Procedures  Prior to the phytosanitary export inspection, the State Department of Agriculture inspector is responsible for reviewing the prescreening inspection records and either the orchard codling moth control worksheet or the bin sampling worksheet to verify that the cartons offered for export inspection are eligible for export to Taiwan the State Department of Agriculture inspector is responsible for reviewing the prescreening inspection records and either the orchard codling moth control worksheet or the bin sampling worksheet to verify that the cartons offered for export inspection are eligible for export to Taiwan

Phytosanitary Export Procedures  A rejected lot may NOT be reconditioned or resubmitted for inspection under the systems approach

Phytosanitary Export Procedures  State Department of Agriculture officials will inspect an equivalent of 3 percent of the cartons in the shipment  All fruit in each carton will be inspected  All suspect fruit and 1 percent of the total fruit in each carton will be cut, with a minimum of two fruit per carton to be cut

Phytosanitary Export Procedures  Shipments containing fruit with insect holes/tunnels will be rejected and ineligible for phytosanitary certification under the systems approach  Shipments containing more than 0.5 percent fruit with codling moth stings will be rejected and ineligible for phytosanitary certification under the systems approach

Phytosanitary Export Procedures  Should live codling moth be found during the export inspection of a grower lot, the shipment will be rejected and apples from (that variety of) that grower lot will be excluded from export to Taiwan under the systems approach for the remainder of the season

Phytosanitary Export Procedures  If live larvae are found during the export inspection, APHIS will conduct an investigation to identify and address any deficiencies in the system

Phytosanitary Export Procedures  The phytosanitary certificate will contain the Additional Declaration stating:  “ The fruit has been thoroughly inspected and found free from Cydia pomonella, Conotrachelus nenuphar, Erwinia amylovora, Frankliniella occidentalis and Rhagoletis pomonella.”

Phytosanitary Export Procedures  The name of the packinghouse and the location (city and state) must be stated on the phytosanitary certificate  The name of the packinghouse must either be on each carton of fruit, or it must be on a pallet tag affixed to the pallet of fruit.

Phytosanitary Export Procedures  The grower lot and the date the fruit was packed or sized must be on each carton

Phytosanitary Export Procedures  Fruit consignments not exported within two weeks of the inspection date must be re- inspected before shipment  A new phytosanitary certificate will be issued at that time

Safeguarding Requirements  Consignments transiting through third countries must follow transiting requirements as outlined in EXCERPT

Any questions?

Thank you!