Effective immediately, the United States Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) is amending entry requirements for importation into the United States of Buxus spp., Euonymus spp., and Ilex spp. plants for planting imported from Canada.
Box tree moth (Cydalima perspectalis) is a serious pest of boxwood (Buxus spp.), Euonymus (Euonymus spp.), holly (Ilex spp.), and curry leaf tree (Murraya spp.) plant species, which are pathways for entry of the box tree moth into the United States. Currently, the importation of all propagative plant material, except seeds, of certain hosts of box tree moth are Not Authorized Pending Pest Risk Analysis (NAPPRA). Buxus spp. are NAPPRA from all countries except Canada, and Ilex spp. are NAPPRA from all countries except Canada and the Netherlands. Euonymus spp. is NAPPRA from Europe and Postentry Quarantine from all other countries except Canada and Japan. Murraya spp. are NAPPRA from all countries.
In November 2018, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency confirmed the presence of box tree moth in Toronto (Ontario), Canada, and later posted an official pest report on The North American Plant Protection Organization Phytosanitary Alert System. Box tree moth symptoms include green-black frass and silk threads on the host plant. Larvae feeding on leaves cause loss of leaves and mortality. Bark feeding by larvae results in extreme dryness and death of plants.
To prevent the introduction of box tree moth into the United States, APHIS is restricting the importation of Buxus spp., Euonymus spp., and Ilex spp. plants for planting imported from Canada by requiring the plants to be free of box tree moth as specified in the attached Federal Order. Currently, APHIS considers propagative hosts a high risk pathway for the introduction of box tree moth. According to the conditions of the Federal Order, imports of propagative material must be free from box tree moth, based on origin of plants from an area where the pest is absent, or based on negative results by visual inspection.
For additional information regarding this Federal Order, please contact Senior Regulatory Policy Specialist Narasimha Chary Samboju at 301-851-2038 or narasimha.c.samboju@usda.gov.
