Interagency Offshore Pest Exclusion Program

In response to introductions and interceptions of the Asian gypsy moth in the early 1990s in the U.S., an offshore program in Russian Far Eastern Port Areas was initiated to exclude this and two other exotic major pests of forest and urban trees and shrubs.  This program, which was initiated in 1993, has tracked the population density and distribution of three pests of Lymantria species, including the Asian gypsy moth (L. dispar), the nun moth (L. monacha), and the rosy gypsy moth (L. mathura) and implemented measures to minimize the risk of their introduction into the United States since the initiation of this monitoring program.

This cooperative project between the United States Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), the USDA Forest Service, the Federal Forest Service of Russia, and the State Plant Quarantine Service of Russia is largely supported with funds provided by APHIS and the Forest Service.  During FY 2001, APHIS and the Forest Service will jointly provide about $150,000.  Most of these funds are provided by APHIS.  Populations of the Asian and rosy gypsy moths typically begin to peak in the Russian Far East during the late spring and early summer.  This translates into a higher risk of artificial movements of these pests on ships and cargo. 

NASDA urges the U.S. Department of Interior and USDA to fund this program for as long as these pests pose a significant risk of introduction into North America.  NASDA also urges USDA-APHIS and the USDA  Forest Service to evaluate the risks arising from the movement of ships and cargo from other areas infested by these pests, such as Japan, Korea, and China.  NASDA encourages the expansion of this program to cover other known pest threats and threats which may be identified through the timely completion of pest risk analyses in the future.

The detection, in early 2002, of live Mediterranean fruit fly larvae in Spanish Clementine citrus fruit delivered throughout the U.S. poses a serious threat to all fruit and vegetable areas. This unfortunate phytosanitary certification program failure makes it abundantly clear that proper safeguards were not adequately developed to protect our valuable agricultural resources from exotic plant pest introductions. The Spanish Clementine/medfly phytosanitary failure indicates there may be other agricultural protocols that are not adequate to protect our valuable food and fiber resources.  USDA should take immediate steps to review the safeguards that are needed to assure all fruits and vegetables from any foreign country, as well as the current situation including citrus fruit from Spain are pest and disease free upon entry. The reviews should include treatment efficacy, pest surveilance, mitigation at origin, inspection at port of export, and inspection upon arrival. The expertise of NASDA as well as the expertise of the USDA-ARS, National Plant Board, and university system should be involved in the review which should be ongoing as new programs are proposed.