§ 318.13-20 - Sharwil avocados from Hawaii to the continental United States.

§ 318.13-20 Sharwil avocados from Hawaii to the continental United States.

Cross Reference

Link to an amendment published at 83 FR 46638, Sept. 14, 2018.

Commercial shipments of Sharwil avocados may be moved interstate from Hawaii to the continental United States without treatment under the following conditions:

(a) Registration. Persons wishing to move Sharwil avocados in accordance with this section must register the avocados' place of production and the packinghouse that packs the avocados. A registration form may be obtained from local APHIS offices in Hawaii. Persons registering places of production or packinghouses must agree to allow inspectors access to the places of production and packinghouses as necessary to monitor compliance with this section.

(b) Grove sanitation. Avocado fruit that has fallen from the trees must be removed from each place of production at least once every 7 days and in compliance with any schedule specified in the compliance agreement required in paragraph (h) of this section. Fallen avocado fruit may not be included in field containers of fruit brought to the packinghouse to be packed for interstate movement.

(c) Trapping and orchard control.

(1) Beginning at least 1 month before harvest, the place of production of the avocados must have a trapping system in place for B. dorsalis that complies with all conditions specified in the compliance agreement required in paragraph (h) of this section. APHIS-approved traps and APHIS-approved lures must be used, and the place of production or the packinghouse must retain, for at least 1 year, data regarding the number and location of the traps, as well as any fruit flies that have been caught, and make this information available to APHIS upon request.

(2) If B. dorsalis is detected by the trapping at an actionable rate as specified in the compliance agreement, control actions required by the compliance agreement or ordered by an inspector must be taken.

(d) Harvesting requirements. Avocados may only be harvested between November 1 and March 31. Avocados must be hard ripe fruit at the mature green stage with stems attached. Fruit must not indent with moderate finger pressure and no part of the fruit shall be soft. The fruit must be moved to a registered packinghouse within 3 hours of harvest or must be protected from fruit fly infestation until moved. The fruit must be safeguarded by an insect-proof screen or plastic tarpaulin while in transit to the packinghouse and while awaiting packing.

(e) Packinghouse requirements. During the time registered packinghouses are in use for packing avocados for movement to the continental United States, the packinghouses may only accept avocados that are from registered places of production and that are produced in accordance with the requirements of this section and of the compliance agreement required in paragraph (h) of this section.

(1) Avocados must be packed within 24 hours of harvest in an insect-exclusionary packinghouse. All openings to the outside of the packinghouse must be covered by screening with openings of not more than 1.6 mm or by some other barrier that prevents pests from entering.

(2) Fruit must be packed in insect-proof packaging, or covered with insect-proof mesh or a plastic tarpaulin, for transport to the continental United States. These safeguards must remain intact until arrival in the continental United States.

(3) Fruit boxes must be clearly marked “Distribution limited to the following States: CO, CT, DE, DC, ID, IL, IN, IA, KS, KY, ME, MD, MA, MI, MN, MO, MT, NE, NH, NJ, NY, ND, OH, PA, RI, SD, UT, VT, VA, WA, WV, WI, and WY; DISTRIBUTION TO OTHER STATES PROHIBITED” and each consignment must be identified in accordance with the requirements of § 318.13-3(g).

(f) Inspection. A biometric sample of a size determined by APHIS will be visually inspected for quarantine pests by an inspector, and a portion of the fruit will be cut open to detect internal pests, including B. dorsalis. If any quarantine pests are found, the entire consignment of avocados will be prohibited from interstate movement unless it is treated with an approved quarantine treatment monitored by APHIS. If any B. dorsalis are found, the entire consignment of avocados will be prohibited from interstate movement, and the place of production producing that fruit will be suspended from the interstate shipment program until APHIS conducts an investigation and appropriate remedial actions have been implemented.

(g) Limited distribution. No Sharwil avocados moved under this program may be shipped to or distributed in locations in the continental United States other than Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Dakota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming. If the means of conveyance carrying a shipment stops en route in any other State, the Sharwil avocados may not be unloaded in that State.

(h) Compliance agreement. Persons wishing to move avocados in accordance with this section must sign a compliance agreement in accordance with § 318.13-3(d) in which he or she agrees to comply with such conditions as may be required by the inspector in each specific case to prevent infestation.

(Approved by the Office of Management and Budget under control number 0579-0403)

[78 FR 56131, Sept. 12, 2013]