Hi SANETers,
Below is part of the text from the USDA site concerning irradiating fruits
and vegies that cross our borders including the docket number and places to
file your comments about this proposal. It seems to me that though this is a
possible solution to preventing insect pests to cross our border, it is an
overuse of a technology that not all consumers are comfortable with. How
will this affect organic imports into the US?
Comments are welcome.
Enjoy your garden,
Thomas Wittman
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTUREAnimal and Plant Health Inspection Service
7 CFR Parts 305 and 319[Docket No. 98-030-1]RIN 0579-AA97
Irradiation Phytosanitary Treatment of Imported Fruits and Vegetables
AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, USDA.ACTION: Proposed
rule.
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SUMMARY: We are proposing to establish regulations providing for use of
irradiation as a phytosanitary treatment for fruits and vegetables
imported into the United States. The irradiation treatment would
provide protection against fruit flies and the mango seed weevil. This
proposal would provide an alternative to the currently approved
treatments (various fumigation, cold, and heat treatments, and systems
approaches employing techniques such as greenhouse growing) against
fruit flies and the mango seed weevil in fruits and vegetables.
DATES: We invite you to comment on this docket. We will consider all
comments that we receive by July 25, 2000.
ADDRESSES: To submit a comment by postal mail, please send your comment
and three copies to Docket No. 98-030-1, Regulatory Analysis and
Development, PPD, APHIS, suite 3C03, 4700 River Road Unit 118,
Riverdale, MD 20737-1238. Please state that your comments refer to
Docket No. 98-030-1.
You may also file comments on this docket electronically, and
review comments filed electronically, at the World Wide Web site http:/
/comments.aphis.usda.gov.
You may read any comments that we receive by postal mail in our
reading room. The reading room is located in room 1141 of the USDA
South Building, 14th Street and Independence Avenue, SW., Washington,
DC, between 8 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, except
holidays. Persons wishing to inspect comments are requested to call
ahead on (202) 690-2817 to facilitate entry into the comment reading room.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For general program and phytosanitary
issues, contact Donna L. West, Import Specialist, Phytosanitary Issues
Management, PPQ, APHIS, 4700 River Road Unit 140, Riverdale MD 20737-
1236; (301) 734-6799. For technical irradiation issues, contact Dr.
Arnold Foudin, Assistant Director, Scientific Services, PPQ, APHIS,
4700 River Road Unit 147, Riverdale, MD 20737-1237; (301) 734-7710.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: BackgroundI. Introduction
II. Critical Control Points: Dose, Dosimetry, Safeguards
III. Irradiation Doses to Control Fruit Flies and Seed Weevils in
Fruits and VegetablesIV. Dosimetry and Dose Control Issues
V. Safeguards for Different Irradiation Situations
VI. Proposed Regulatory Framework for Irradiation Treatments
VII. Proposed Changes to Fruits and Vegetables Import Regulations
VIII. Compliance With Executive Orders, Regulatory Flexibility Act,
National Environmental Policy Act, and Paperwork Reduction ActI. Introduction
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) is aware of
growing commercial interest in the use of irradiation as a treatment
for agricultural products, both for food safety purposes (to kill
pathogens and retard spoilage) and for phytosanitary purposes (to
destroy plant pests). At least 38 countries have approved irradiation
treatment of more than 40 foods or groups of related foods. In Europe
more than 28 billion pounds of food are irradiated annually. With
regard to phytosanitary irradiation treatments to control plant pests,
the World Health Organization, the International Plant Protection
Convention, and the North American Plant Protection Organization have
endorsed the technology as effective and safe.
In anticipation of requests to allow the use of irradiation in
APHIS' regulatory programs, we have been developing policies for
evaluating irradiation methods and have been evaluating research on the
efficacy of irradiation.
To set a framework for developing APHIS' irradiation policy, we
published a notice entitled ``The Application of Irradiation to
Phytosanitary Problems'' in the Federal Register on May 15, 1996 (61 FR
24433-24439, Docket No. 95-088-1). Among other things, the notice
discussed how APHIS, in collaboration with the Agricultural Research
Service (ARS), would evaluate scientific research to determine the
minimum irradiation doses necessary to kill or render sterile
particular pests associated with particular articles. The notice
emphasized that minimum dose levels are important and necessary, but
that dose levels by themselves do not constitute a complete treatment
schedule or an adequate regulatory framework. Treatment schedules, in
addition to specifying minimum doses, may employ irradiation as a
single treatment, as part of a multiple treatment, or as a component of
a systems approach combined with other pest mitigation measures. The
regulatory framework for employing irradiation treatments must also
address system integrity or quality control issues, including methods
to ensure that the irradiation is properly conducted so that the
specified dose is achieved, and must address matters such as packaging
or safeguarding of the treated articles to prevent reinfestation.
This proposed rule discusses these various issues and how they must
be integrated to achieve effective irradiation treatments, and then
proposes specific standards for an irradiation treatment for fruit
flies and the mango seed weevil in imported fruits and vegetables.
II. Critical Control Points: Dose, Dosimetry, Safeguards
We have identified three critical control points in the activities
involved in irradiating imported fruits and vegetables to prevent the
spread of fruit flies and the mango seed weevil. These are points where
errors will definitely reduce the long-term effectiveness of the
treatment and where, on the other hand, correct procedure will ensure
effective treatments. The three critical control points are:
Dose: The dose of ionizing radiation, calculated in Gray, must be
sufficient to[[Page 34114]]
prevent adult emergence of each species of fruit fly in fruits and
vegetables. Each dose is set at the lowest level that achieves this
effect; the dose will not necessarily kill larvae immediately after
treatment. These doses are based on research conducted by ARS and
others, as discussed below.
It is important that the dose be set at the lowest effective level
for regulatory, economic, and product quality reasons. The Food and
Drug Administration has issued regulations providing that fruits and
vegetables may receive up to 1 kiloGray (=1,000 Gray) of irradiation
(21 CFR 179.26). This current limit of 1 kiloGray for fruits and
vegetables is significant because industry irradiation methods can only
ensure that all articles in an irradiated lot receive a guaranteed
minimum dose, at the cost of having some articles in the lot subjected
to two or three times the minimum dose. Therefore, to achieve a minimum
absorbed dose of 250 Gray, some articles in a lot may be subjected to a
dose of 750 Gray or more. Obviously, this encourages us to set the dose
at the minimum effective level to avoid the possibility of any articles
being subjected to a dose above 1 kiloGray. Also, the higher the dose,
the greater the cost of the irradiation treatment. Finally, irradiation
causes many fruits and vegetables to suffer changes in color and
texture that increase at higher doses.
Dosimetry: If establishing the required dose correctly is the first
critical control point, delivering the expected dose accurately and
consistently is the second critical control point. Accurate dosimetry
ensures that this happens. An effective dosimetry system is necessary
to ensure that irradiated articles do in fact receive the minimum
required dose of ionizing radiation. An inaccurate dosimetry system
that records received doses as higher than they actually are could
allow survival of fruit flies or mango seed weevils in treated
articles. An inaccurate dosimetry system that records received doses as
lower than they actually are could result in doses exceeding the 1
kiloGray limit, as well as unacceptable changes in the color and
texture of the fruits and vegetables.
Safeguards: The third critical control point, safeguards, addresses
the movement and identification of articles before and after they are
irradiated. There is always a risk that treated articles may become
reinfested with pests after treatment, and safeguards are necessary to
control this risk. If the fruits and vegetables are irradiated after
arriving in the United States, safeguards must also be employed to
ensure that pests do not escape from articles en route through the
United States to the irradiation facility. Finally, internal
safeguards, such as recordkeeping, labeling, and monitoring and
enforcement of regulatory requirements, are necessary to ensure that
articles are not accidentally or intentionally presented as properly
irradiated when they have not been.
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