The United States Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) has announced changes to the quarantine requirements for Phyllosticta citricarpa (Citrus Black Spot) and updated packinghouse procedures for citrus fruit originating from areas under quarantine.

The Federal Order requires the removal of leaves and other trees debris prior to moving vehicles and equipment that's been in contact, used to harvest or transport, regulated articles.

The organization also requires retailers to disinfect all field boxes, or bins used to transport leaves, stems, debris, culled fruit, or other regulated plant material intrastate to areas outside the quarantined area. 

The tarping requirements for intrastate movement of citrus fruit to packing houses and processing facilities will also change.

According to the new regulation, "fruit moving intrastate to packinghouse and processing facilities from CBS-positive groves or groves using the same equipment as CBS-positive groves must continue to be tarped."

Fruit leaving certain non-positive groves within the CBS quarantine no longer requires tarping. 

APHIS also provides a protocol for the removal of CBS quarantined areas. The protocol requires the area for removal from quarantine must be within a section of the Public Land Survey System (PLSS), located entirely outside a one-mile radius of any CBS-positive trees. 

That section must have at least three years of CBS-negative survey data from the time the positive tree that triggered the quarantine was removed.

Packing houses procedures

As for the APHIS-approved packinghouse procedures for CBS, APHIS is modifying the required pH range for the sodium hypochlorite solution from “6.0 to 7.5” to “5.5 to 7.0”.

According to the release, the change in pH requirements "enhances the effectiveness of the treatment and aligns with the requirements listed in the APHIS Treatment Manual for citrus canker."