Effective immediately, the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) is adding 37 sections in Charlotte County, 17 sections in Collier County, 45 sections in Glades County, 68 sections in Hendry County, and 28 sections in Lee County, to the citrus black spot (CBS) quarantine area in Florida. We are taking this action because of confirmed detections of P. citricarpa (formerly known as Guignardia citricarpa), the causal agent of CBS, during annual surveys conducted during the 2019 and 2020 growing seasons by APHIS, the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services Division of Plant Industry (DPI). APHIS is applying safeguarding measures and restrictions on the interstate movement, or entry into foreign trade, of regulated articles from these areas. Federal Order DA-2012-09 outlines these measures and restrictions and parallels DPI's state-interior quarantine and intrastate movement requirements.
In 2010, CBS was first identified in the Collier and Hendry Counties of Florida. Symptoms of CBS are most evident on mature fruit, with little to no symptoms on leaves. Fresh citrus fruit moved interstate from the CBS quarantine areas must be processed using APHIS-approved methods and packed in commercial citrus packinghouses operating under a compliance agreement with APHIS. APHIS prohibits the movement of any other citrus plant parts outside the quarantine area.
As established in Federal Order DA-2012-09, APHIS will publish a description of this CBS quarantine area expansion on the website listed below. This website contains a description of all the current CBS quarantine areas, Federal Orders, and APHIS-approved packinghouse procedures: https://www.aphis.usda.gov/planthealth/blackspot
For more information:
Shailaja Rabindran
APHIS
Tel: (301) 851-2167