APHIS Provides an Additional Methyl Bromide Fumigation Treatment Option for Interstate Movement of Fresh Citrus Fruit from Mexican Fruit Fly (Anastrepha ludens) Quarantined Areas in Texas

FOR INFORMATION AND ACTION
DA-2025-05
February 14, 2025

Subject:     APHIS Provides an Additional Methyl Bromide Fumigation Treatment Option for Interstate Movement of Fresh Citrus Fruit from Mexican Fruit Fly (Anastrepha ludens) Quarantined Areas in Texas

To:     State, Territory, and Tribal Agricultural Regulatory Officials

Effective immediately, the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) is modifying conditions for the movement of fresh citrus fruit from the Mexican fruit fly (Anastrepha ludens, or Mexfly) quarantined areas within the Lower Rio Grande Valley (LRGV) in Texas.

Currently, growers who intend to move citrus from the core areas of the LRGV Mexfly quarantined areas can process the fruit for juice or complete one of four post-harvest treatments: chamber methyl bromide fumigation, high temperature forced air, cold treatment, or irradiation; see the domestic schedules of the APHIS Treatment Manual retained in its Agricultural Commodity Import Requirements (ACIR) database. Growers located within a quarantined area but outside the infested core area may either apply malathion or spinosad bait spray as a pre-harvest treatment or complete one of the four aforementioned post-harvest treatments. However, some citrus producers in the LRGV Mexfly quarantined areas have indicated that the current post-harvest options are either not feasible or economically viable. This Federal Order provides relief to them by providing an additional post-harvest treatment option.

This option is a modified approach, which uses a tarpaulin (tarped container) methyl bromide treatment equivalent to the existing approved chamber methyl bromide fumigation option (T101-j-2-1). This option applies only to fresh citrus fruit originating from quarantined areas and core areas of Mexfly quarantines in the LRGV, where the fruit is to undergo an APHIS-approved post-harvest treatment. Growers may not use this approach for the international export of fresh citrus fruit from these areas unless the citrus meets existing export certification requirements for regulated articles from fruit fly-quarantined areas.

APHIS regulates the interstate movement of Mexfly regulated articles from all Mexfly-quarantined areas in the United States in accordance with 7 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) § 301.32 et seq. and any applicable provisions of all associated Federal Orders. APHIS posts current Mexfly-quarantined areas and the Mexfly host list (regulated articles) on the APHIS Exotic Fruit Flies webpage. APHIS will add the new treatment option (D301.32-10(b-4)) to the domestic schedules of the APHIS Treatment Manual. APHIS will then publish a Notice in the Federal Register.
 
For additional information about the Mexfly quarantine program, you may contact the Fruit Fly Exclusion and Detection Programs National Policy Manager, Catherine Marzolf, at catherine.a.marzolf@usda.gov or 386-666-9932.

/s/
Dr. Mark L Davidson 
Deputy Administrator
Plant Protection and Quarantine

Attachment: Federal Order (199.08 KB)