WORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONG/SPS/GEN/444
29 October 2003
(03-5745)
Committee on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures Original:  Spanish
ASPARAGUS INTEGRATED PEST MANAGEMENT
Communication from Peru
1. The National Agrarian Health Service (SENASA), in conjunction with the Peruvian
Asparagus Institute (IPE), has launched the project "Asparagus integrated pest management, with
particular emphasis on Copitarsia incommoda  in Peru's main agro-exporting valleys", the objective of
which is to improve the competitiveness of fresh asparagus destined for international markets.
2. This is a particularly relevant project, given that Peru has more than 20 thousand hectares
planted with this crop and is the leading exporting country of high-quality fresh asparagus to over 40
countries worldwide (25 per cent of fresh fruit and vegetable exports).  However, Peru currently faces
cost overruns of approximately US$2 million per year as a result of the quarantine treatment of freshasparagus exports for the pest Copitarsia incommoda , which is exotic to the United States of America.
3. The project, in order to achieve its stated objective, involves the following, inter alia :
(i) Organizing and training teams of specialists in integrated pest management (IPM)
with a view to solving the problem of Copitarsia incommoda  in all asparagus
production areas;
(ii) negotiating the lifting of the quarantine restriction imposed by the United States
Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS);
(iii) creating a coordinated system of smallholdings and packaging plants with a view to
managing phytosanitary information which supports appropriate decision-making and
enhances the traceability of production and export processes;
(iv) strengthening the public-private partnership to ensure efficient control of
phytosanitary problems.
4. Project costs will amount to approximate ly US$1,400,000 and will be co-financed by the
SENASA, asparagus producers and the United States' PL-480 (Public Law 480) Programme.
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