LIGHT BROWN APPLE MOTH PROCEDURES FOR USA CITRUS EXPORT PROGRAM – (Updated June 2006)
Light brown apple moth (LBAM, Epiphyas postvittana) is an actionable pest for the USA.
The United States Department of Agriculture – Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (USDA – APHIS) require the Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service (AQIS) and the Australian citrus industry to take corrective action to prevent this pest being associated with citrus fruits being exported to the USA.
This procedure is intended to outline grower and packing shed and exporter responsibilities to minimise the risk of LBAM being introduced for fruit being packed for the USA citrus market.
Orchard Management
Growers should monitor their citrus blocks/properties for incidence of LBAM during the growing season. The grower will maintain records of any LBAM corrective action undertaken including chemicals used and the concentration rates, dates of application and blocks covered. Records of any corrective action applied on the “blocks” or property must be retained.
Packing Shed Procedures
Packing sheds are required to undertake inspections for LBAM by one or more of the following procedures:
1. Fruit receival inspections.
2. In-line inspections
3. End point (finished product) inspections.
Sampling must include all growers with fruit destined for the USA.
Sampling must be at a rate not less than 600 fruit for any production run, and must be proportionally representative of all growers’ fruit in the production run. It is recommended that 10% of all fruit being sampled have the buttons removed so that eggs, if present, can be detected. Sampling and inspection for LBAM must be conducted and recorded separately from any other quality or quarantine related inspection function being undertaking in the packing shed.
For the purposes of this protocol, a production run is considered to be of 12 hours or less.
Where more than one production run is scheduled in a 24 hour period, sampling is increased proportionally. E.g. for two production runs (shifts) the sampling increases to 1200 fruit irrespective of the procedure used in the packing shed.
Packing sheds that do not have an approved arrangement (AA) with AQIS and require AQIS end point inspections, must undertake either receival, or in line inspection procedures to ensure all growers are inspected for the presence of LBAM in accordance with the aforementioned systems. Records of all packers LBAM inspections must be made and retained, and made available to AQIS inspectors prior to AQIS undertaking end point inspection.
All packing sheds will have in place, a written procedure to enable the identification and trace-back of fruit to individual grower/s.
In the event trace-back cannot be immediately identified to one grower, (packing sheds who use time-codes to identify packed fruits), all growers run in that time-code shall be classed as “at risk”. In the event of LBAM detection during inspection, all growers in that time-code will be suspended from the program until a full investigation and corrective action is implemented. (See ‘LBAM Detection in Australia’ below).
In the event that a LBAM detection is made during on-arrival inspection in the USA and to enable APHIS to accurately advise AQIS of the offending time-codes or grower numbers, packing sheds through their exporters, must advise DNE World Fruit Sales (the sole Australian citrus importer in the USA) of where time-codes or growers numbers will appear on all packages/pallets of fruits exported to the USA. Once these details are provided to DNE World Fruit Sales, no changes can be made to location of this information for the balance of the season.
NOTE:
In the event of LBAM detection being made during APHIS inspections, packing sheds who do not advise DNE of where grower numbers or time-codes are located on cartons/pallet cards or the details cannot be easily determined, may be suspended from the balance of the USA marketing arrangements for that season.
LBAM Detection in Australia
Detection of one or more egg/larvae of LBAM in a packing shed shall result in the packing shed instigating a varietal suspension of the fruit block or property from packing for the USA. The grower/s shall be suspended from the USA in respect of the particular block and variety in which the detection was made.
The packing shed must notify the Australian Citrus Growers Inc. (ACG) immediately of the details of the grower rejection. ACG will advise all packers and AQIS of the suspended grower to ensure the grower cannot subsequently supply alternative packing sheds without meeting one or both of the following options prior to any further deliveries for the US program. These are,
Option 1
1. A corrective action spray program targeting LBAM as recommended by registered crop monitors must be implemented by the grower, with application method and rates documented and the records retained for audit; and
2. After completion of the corrective action spray program, and expiration of the withholding period nominated on the label of spray used, a grower can re-commence harvest and delivery. If any further detections of LBAM are made by the packing shed the variety within the nominated block will be suspended for the balance of the season.
Or
Option 2
The grower makes arrangements to have the fruit packed by a packing shed that has post-harvest LBAM oil disinfestation processing systems in place.
Note:
Packing Sheds electing to use oil as a treatment option, must document the use of the oil including method and rates of application, irrespective of whether or not the use of oil is continuous or random. Documentation must be retained for AQIS audit. Please refer to the Footnote at the end of this document.
Procedures for LBAM Detections in the USA.
Should APHIS advise the interception of live LBAM during on-arrival inspections in the USA, they will provide AQIS with the packinghouse name and Phytosanitary certificate numbers for the offending shipment.
1. If APHIS detects live LBAM during arrival plant protection and quarantine (PPQ) inspections, APHIS will advise AQIS and the importer (DNE World Fruit Sales) within 48 hours of initial receipt of the information details of any offending grower/s shipments. The information will detail the vessel name, Phytosanitary certificate number and the lot number.
2. DNE World Fruit Sales or its agent will ensure the full details of the detection are advised to AQIS and the exporter concerned. Details will include the carton code or grower number, pallet and lot number.
3. APHIS will isolate the Phytosanitary certificate numbers and pallet card numbers in the offending shipment and subject them to mandatory fumigation before release.
4. Packing sheds, upon receipt of advice from APHIS - AQIS of an offending grower or time-code must provide details of the grower/s blocks or properties involved. These details must also be passed on to ACG who will alert all industry participants.
Grower numbers will be checked by APHIS and should the information that packing sheds and AQIS provide be proven incorrect, APHIS may reimpose packing shed suspensions.
AQIS Auditing Arrangements
Packing sheds operating under an approved arrangement (AA) with AQIS will be audited for the LBAM procedure as part of the normal AA audit schedule.
Packing sheds without an AA will be subject to AQIS end-point inspection, and must have implemented and recorded either receival, or in line inspections specifically targeting LBAM.
Non AA packing sheds will be audited weekly to ensure the inspection procedures are in accordance with these guidelines. A representative sample of all growers’ fruit must be inspected with a total of not less than 600 fruits inspected in any production run. The procedures implemented, and the results of inspections must be documented and retained for AQIS audit.
Where after a period or three weeks, substantial compliance with all procedures are found at audit, AQIS may vary the audit frequency to fortnightly and then monthly depending on the length of the season.
All packing sheds will also be audited for process controls that ensure grower identification and trace-back of packed cartons can be properly reconciled.
Footnote.
Packing sheds electing to apply post harvest oil either continuously or strategically, must in addition continue with the fruit sampling and inspection process. This will enable industry to determine over time, the commercial efficacy of treatments in support of the research done by Peter Taverner at SARDI. (South Australian Research and Development Institute).
The following guidelines are provided by SARDI for those packers contemplating using post harvest oil, ‘Caltex Citrus Post Harvest Fruit Treatment’ (APVMA Permit PER9316) for the first time.
It is strongly recommended that Peter Taverner (SARDI) be consulted before any equipment or applicators are considered or application of oil undertaken.
Contact Peter by telephone on (08) 8303 9538 or Email:
1. Oil must be applied at the recommended rate of 4.5% solution.
2. Oil can be applied as a dip or flood prior to wax application. Avoid applying the oil immediately prior to waxing.
3. Fruit must be completely wet under the calyx and at the stylar end.
4. The solution must be regularly topped up to maintain a 4.5% solution of oil. A volumetric test kit will be necessary to establish top up rates.
5. Continuous agitation is recommended. However, the shearing action during continuously pumping (recirculation) can gradually (over several hours) reduce the ability of the oil to penetrate under the calyx. Fruit should be regularly monitored to ensure consistent wetness under the calyx (refer to point 3). Spent solution must be dumped (not topped up) and replaced with fresh oil solution when there is reduced wetness under calyx at the recommended rate.
6. Fruit exposure to the oil solution must be at least 30 seconds.
- This product may be incompatible with fungicides and sanitisers used in citrus packing lines. Note: calcium hypochlorite is compatible with this product. Contact Peter Taverner for further details about mixing sanitisers with the oil treatment.
You must always follow the label instructions when using the Caltex Post Harvest Fruit Treatment oil.