Update – Movement of Fruit From a Huanglongbing Quarantine Zone

To protect California citrus from Huanglongbing (HLB) and support the citrus industry, the California Department of Food and Agriculture will allow bulk citrus fruit grown in a HLB quarantine area to be shipped for final packing to a packer or processer outside of its original HLB quarantine area. To do so, all growers, transporters and packers involved must operate under a signed compliance agreement with the Asian citrus psyllid/HLB Program.

CDFA will provide growers, packers and haulers involved with citrus fruit from a HLB quarantine zone with a new compliance agreement.

The following outlines compliance standards for growers, packers and processers involved with fruit grown in the HLB quarantine area.

Growers
Growers in an HLB quarantine sending their fruit for packing outside of its original quarantine area will be required to meet either option (1), or both options (2) and (3) below to achieve the required pest risk mitigation performance standard:

1. The fruit must be run through a wet wash which includes thoroughly wetting the fruit by spraying/dunking/drenching with water and brushing/cleaning.

If the wet wash option is not chosen, both of the following mitigations must be used:

2. The grove must be treated with a CDFA agreed upon pre-harvest product effective against psyllids within 14 days of harvest.

3. Fruit must be field cleaned and be free from all stems, leaves and other extraneous host material prior to leaving the grove of origin.

Packers/Processers
Packers/processors located outside of the HLB quarantine area who receive citrus fruit grown in an HLB quarantine area shall give priority to such shipments for receiving, unloading and cleaning.

HLB quarantine zones are identified as Zone 5 in the Asian citrus psyllid regional quarantine for bulk citrus movement that went into effect earlier this year. Maps and a FAQ about the new Asian citrus psyllid regional quarantines can be viewed here.

Read the original Pest Exclusion Advisory about this announcement here.

Questions? Contact Anmol Joshi, the Southern California quarantine supervisor, at anmol.joshi@cdfa.ca.gov.