HAWAII DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

On March 14, 2017, the Board of Agriculture (Board) voted to expand the designated Coffee Berry Borer (CBB), Hypothenemus hampei, infested areas in the State to include the entire Island of Maui. The Board’s designation of Maui as an expanded CBB-infested area authorizes the Hawaii Department of Agriculture (HDOA), Plant Quarantine Branch (PQB) under its rules to implement quarantine measures to restrict movement of coffee and other CBB hosts from all areas on Maui. The Board’s designation becomes effective on May 01, 2017.

The Board is authorized to expand a designated CBB infested area to implement quarantine measures to prevent further spread of CBB and its plant or commodity hosts from the designated expanded area of infestation to restricted (uninfested) areas (Sections 4-72-12(e) and 4-72-4.5(a), Hawaii Administrative Rules (HAR).). Due to recent findings of CBB in two locations on Maui, Hana and Kipahulu, it was determined after consultation with qualified persons with relevant expertise on this subject that an island wide quarantine for Maui is necessary to prevent the further spread of CBB to other islands not known to have this destructive pest. So far, CBB has not been detected on Kauai, Molokai, and Lanai.

The Board’s designation of Maui as an expanded CBB infested area means that coffee and related CBB host material from Maui are subject to the quarantine restrictions specified in section 4-72-12, HAR, (Restrictions on coffee), the same restrictions that apply to Hawaii Island and Oahu, both designated CBB infested areas. The quarantine restrictions as specified in section 4-72-12, HAR, among other things, prohibit movement or transportation of coffee plants and parts thereof, including green (unroasted) coffee beans, used coffee bags, and coffee harvesting equipment, including baskets, sacks, or containers, from a CBB infested area to an area that is uninfested by CBB, except by permit issued by the HDOA. A permit may be issued by the PQB chief (chief) for the transportation of a commodity or item listed in the preceding sentence with conditions established by the chief appropriate for each of the following circumstances, subject to appropriate conditions established by the chief: (1) coffee plants and plant parts for propagation when subject to treatment with an approved pesticide, and grown and monitored in quarantine for a period of not less than one year at a State facility; (2) coffee plants and plant parts that are shipped using safeguards approved by the chief to an approved facility for research purposes; (3) roasting of green coffee beans that have been subjected to treatments approved by the chief; (4) roasting of untreated green coffee beans that are shipped using safeguards approved by the chief to an approved facility that is located at least five miles away from a commercial coffee growing area; (5) used coffee bags that have been subjected to treatments approved by the chief; or (6) coffee harvesting equipment that has been subjected to treatments approved by the chief. In addition, the chief is authorized to approve treatments and mitigative measures as they are scientifically validated and may revise permit conditions accordingly, as necessary to prevent movement of the CBB from the infested area and to preserve the quarantine. Organic treatment methods are available, as approved by the chief.

Export (out-of-state) shipments of coffee plants and plant parts, green coffee beans, and used coffee bags are not subject to quarantine restrictions, provided that they are exported directly from the CBB infested area and are not transshipped through a CBB uninfested area in the State. Coffee plants and plant parts, green coffee beans, and used coffee bags for export that move from one infested area to another or that are exported via transshipment through a CBB uninfested area must be double-bagged in thick, transparent, non-permeable plastic bags that are sealed and labeled to identify their contents as being from a specific CBB infested area, provided that the chief is authorized to revise these required safeguards, as necessary.

Under the Board’s designation of Maui as an expanded CBB infested area, the movement of green (unroasted) coffee, coffee plants and plant parts, used coffee bags, and coffee harvesting equipment between CBB infested areas, i.e., between Hawaii Island, Oahu, and Maui will require a permit. HDOA’s Plant Intrastate Rules, chapter 4-72, HAR, provides that the PQB chief may authorize the transportation of an untreated infested commodity to an island or area where the pest is known to be established. As it is still important to limit the spread of CBB on an island designated as CBB infested, permits for shipments between CBB infested areas will require appropriate safeguards, such as bagging requirements.

The quarantine restrictions apply to all Maui coffee growers and roasters and to any individual or entity that transports coffee and related CBB host material from Maui interisland.
(TGI972699 3/19/17)~