Mexico and Canada tighten restrictions on imports as apple moth spreads in California
Mexico and Canada tighten restrictions on imports as apple moth spreads in California
It has been just over a year since the first light brown apple moth, an invasive pest species native to New Zealand and Australia, was found in California. Since that first find in the San Francisco Bay area in February 2007, the moth has spread to 14 California counties.
While most of those counties are in Northern California, recent finds were made far to the south in Santa Barbara County. In all, some 17,000 moths have been trapped in the past year, and millions of dollars have been spent on ongoing efforts to suppress and eradicate the pest.
According to the California Department of Food & Agriculture, "more than 2,000 species of plants are known to be susceptible to attack" by the light brown apple moth, including more than 250 commercial crops -- citrus, grapes and deciduous fruit tree crops among them.
CDFA estimated that if California "becomes generally infested, the moth could cause billions of dollars in crop damage annually. Additionally, it would hinder export opportunities and interstate commerce."
The potentially serious effect of the pest on trade is underscored by the fact that Canada and Mexico have both recently put into place "revised and expanded regulations" that will "make it substantially more difficult for growers" in counties infested by the moth to certify their crops as free from the pest, which is a requirement for exports to those countries, stated a March 11 news release from CDFA.
"These heightened restrictions on California growers are indicative of the serious measures taken by trading partners to keep the most significant invasive pests out," the release stated. In general, the more stringent requirements call for growers to conduct "costly, labor-intensive trapping efforts on any agricultural field inside an infested county - even if that field is miles from the infested area. Previously, certification at the packinghouse was deemed acceptable."
To date, quarantines have been enacted in Monterey, Santa Cruz, San Mateo, Contra Costa, Marin, San Francisco, Alameda and Solano counties, according to the release.
"Now that the light brown apple moth has also been found in Santa Barbara, that tends to indicate its potential range along the coast is growing, so the real necessity to have a credible treatment protocol is very important," said Barry Bedwell, president of the California Grape & Tree Fruit League in Fresno, CA. If the moth were to become established in the Central Valley, "it would have severe implications. We're talking about potentially hundreds of millions of dollars" in lost revenues just due to "quarantines in the Central Valley."
CDFA and the U.S. Department of Agriculture have established quarantined areas with buffer zones around the pest finds. But "our trading partners ... continue to set quarantines by political -- that is, county -- boundaries rather than actual quarantine boundaries. It really doesn't make a whole lot of sense," Mr. Bedwell said.
The number of traps per square mile for which Mexico is asking is "an incredibly significant number," said Matt McInerney, executive vice president of the Western Growers Association in Irvine, CA. "It would be not only economically but almost physically impossible to have the density of trapping that they are suggesting."
The light brown apple moth is "capable of attacking almost any ... fruit and vegetable crop here in California," so its continued spread "would give us great cause for concern," Mr. McInerney said.
"I think everyone is concerned about the LBAM," said Chris Zanobini, executive director of the California Pear Advisory Board in Sacramento, CA. "We are watching the situation very closely." Pest infestations have been found in counties adjacent to some of the state's major pear growing areas. Already, control measures imposed by Canada and Mexico on exports from counties that have infestations of the moth are putting "real pressure ... on strawberries, cut flowers and the vegetable growers" on the Central Coast, he said.
"I don't begrudge" Mexico's efforts to keep the light brown apple moth from spreading into Mexico, said Joel Nelsen, president of California Citrus Mutual in Exeter, CA. "We would be doing much the same thing" if the situation were in reverse. "In fact, we were doing it until somebody decided that they were above the law" and brought in products from overseas that were infested with the pest. "It isn't going to take much for the moth to move over into the south San Joaquin Valley."
Complicating the issue is the fact that "you have radicals" opposing the eradication effort, Mr. Nelsen said. "It is an unfortunate set of dynamics, and the innocent victims [California's growers] are suffering the economic damage. It is a triangle that threatens to squeeze the life blood out of production agriculture."
Not only have Mexico and Canada "raised issues with us" over the light brown apple moth, said Ted Batkin, president of the Citrus Research Board in Visalia, CA, but "other states have raised the question to a very high level because they don't want the pest getting out of California."
A problem is that in California, there are "two opposing forces pushing against each other," Mr. Batkin said. CDFA and USDA are "dedicated to eradication of the pest," and the pheromones and other control methods being used are "totally safe to human health." But "several legislators are listening to misinformed constituents," who claim otherwise.
While most of those counties are in Northern California, recent finds were made far to the south in Santa Barbara County. In all, some 17,000 moths have been trapped in the past year, and millions of dollars have been spent on ongoing efforts to suppress and eradicate the pest.
According to the California Department of Food & Agriculture, "more than 2,000 species of plants are known to be susceptible to attack" by the light brown apple moth, including more than 250 commercial crops -- citrus, grapes and deciduous fruit tree crops among them.
CDFA estimated that if California "becomes generally infested, the moth could cause billions of dollars in crop damage annually. Additionally, it would hinder export opportunities and interstate commerce."
The potentially serious effect of the pest on trade is underscored by the fact that Canada and Mexico have both recently put into place "revised and expanded regulations" that will "make it substantially more difficult for growers" in counties infested by the moth to certify their crops as free from the pest, which is a requirement for exports to those countries, stated a March 11 news release from CDFA.
"These heightened restrictions on California growers are indicative of the serious measures taken by trading partners to keep the most significant invasive pests out," the release stated. In general, the more stringent requirements call for growers to conduct "costly, labor-intensive trapping efforts on any agricultural field inside an infested county - even if that field is miles from the infested area. Previously, certification at the packinghouse was deemed acceptable."
To date, quarantines have been enacted in Monterey, Santa Cruz, San Mateo, Contra Costa, Marin, San Francisco, Alameda and Solano counties, according to the release.
"Now that the light brown apple moth has also been found in Santa Barbara, that tends to indicate its potential range along the coast is growing, so the real necessity to have a credible treatment protocol is very important," said Barry Bedwell, president of the California Grape & Tree Fruit League in Fresno, CA. If the moth were to become established in the Central Valley, "it would have severe implications. We're talking about potentially hundreds of millions of dollars" in lost revenues just due to "quarantines in the Central Valley."
CDFA and the U.S. Department of Agriculture have established quarantined areas with buffer zones around the pest finds. But "our trading partners ... continue to set quarantines by political -- that is, county -- boundaries rather than actual quarantine boundaries. It really doesn't make a whole lot of sense," Mr. Bedwell said.
The number of traps per square mile for which Mexico is asking is "an incredibly significant number," said Matt McInerney, executive vice president of the Western Growers Association in Irvine, CA. "It would be not only economically but almost physically impossible to have the density of trapping that they are suggesting."
The light brown apple moth is "capable of attacking almost any ... fruit and vegetable crop here in California," so its continued spread "would give us great cause for concern," Mr. McInerney said.
"I think everyone is concerned about the LBAM," said Chris Zanobini, executive director of the California Pear Advisory Board in Sacramento, CA. "We are watching the situation very closely." Pest infestations have been found in counties adjacent to some of the state's major pear growing areas. Already, control measures imposed by Canada and Mexico on exports from counties that have infestations of the moth are putting "real pressure ... on strawberries, cut flowers and the vegetable growers" on the Central Coast, he said.
"I don't begrudge" Mexico's efforts to keep the light brown apple moth from spreading into Mexico, said Joel Nelsen, president of California Citrus Mutual in Exeter, CA. "We would be doing much the same thing" if the situation were in reverse. "In fact, we were doing it until somebody decided that they were above the law" and brought in products from overseas that were infested with the pest. "It isn't going to take much for the moth to move over into the south San Joaquin Valley."
Complicating the issue is the fact that "you have radicals" opposing the eradication effort, Mr. Nelsen said. "It is an unfortunate set of dynamics, and the innocent victims [California's growers] are suffering the economic damage. It is a triangle that threatens to squeeze the life blood out of production agriculture."
Not only have Mexico and Canada "raised issues with us" over the light brown apple moth, said Ted Batkin, president of the Citrus Research Board in Visalia, CA, but "other states have raised the question to a very high level because they don't want the pest getting out of California."
A problem is that in California, there are "two opposing forces pushing against each other," Mr. Batkin said. CDFA and USDA are "dedicated to eradication of the pest," and the pheromones and other control methods being used are "totally safe to human health." But "several legislators are listening to misinformed constituents," who claim otherwise.
