COM 0931.020 1996-1998 - Laserfiche WebLink

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2 Because tropical fruits and vegetables do not tolerate fumigation with methyl bromide, EDB's replacement, most research concentrated on physical treatments, such as heat and cold. Some 13 years after the EDB ban took effect in Hawaii, the following treatments have been approved: cold treatments for carambola, citrus, and avocado (with a heat preconditioning period required for avocado); hot water treatment for lychee; high temperature forced air treatment for citrus and rambutan (near approval); and radiation treatment for carambola, lychee, and papaya. These treatments are relatively difficult for farmers in Hawaii to use and they have the potential to cause unacceptable levels of damage to the fruit. In 1989, the USDA published a regulation certifying radiation as a quarantine treatment for papaya grown in Hawaii to enter the Mainland. Provisions of the regulation included that the papaya must be treated in Hawaii, and that the detection of live larvae (wigglers) when treated papaya were inspected in the Mainland would result in the papaya being destroyed or sent back to Hawaii. This latter requirement addressed the concerns of several states that untreated papaya labeled as treated by fraud or mistake, could be shipped to the Mainland. The regulation was never used to ship papaya because: (1) there was no irradiator in Hawaii and, (2) since wigglers are known to occur from time to time in papaya treated with irradiation, shippers risked losing considerable amounts of money if shipments were destroyed because wigglers were found. Probably this risk alone, regardless of whether there was an irradiator in Hawaii, would have prevented using an irradiation treatment to export papaya. It was clearly evident in the early- to mid-1990s that for Hawaii agriculture to reach its potential, more and better quarantine treatment options must be made available to farmers in Hawaii. At that time, ARS began developing an irradiation treatment quarantine regulation that satisfied the needs of Mainland states for protection against exotic pests and yet was practical for farmers in Hawaii. The first of many irradiation meetings involving ARS and APHIS personnel, together with representatives of Hawaii and other states with fruit fly concerns, was held in Gainesville, Florida, February 1-3, 1994. The resulting radiation quarantine treatment regulation recently adopted by the USDA has three important provisions: (1) the presence of wigglers will not cause the shipment to be destroyed or returned, (2) the treatment can be done in Hawaii or in northern Mainland cities where climatic conditions prevent fruit flies from establishing and, (3) the treatment dosages were established generically for the important fruit flies in Hawaii. Generic treatment dosages facilitate rapid approval of irradiation quarantine treatments for different fruits and vegetables if the quarantine pest is listed in the regulation--no time-consuming research would be required.