Sutter County Municipal Code Ch. 751 Apple Maggot Prevention Program

Apple maggot, Rhagoletis pomonella, is a serious apple pest not known to occur in Sutter County. To protect Sutter County's apple industry it is necessary to restrict movement of hosts and possible carriers of this pest into the county and to treat any commercial orchards in which the pest is detected.

The following articles and commodities are declared to be hosts and possible carriers of apple maggot:

(a) Apple fruit, of both commercial and noncommercial production.

(b) Apple trees.

Hosts and possible carriers are prohibited entry into Sutter County except as follows:

(a) Commercially packed apples produced using conventional pest control practices are not restricted. The term "conventional pest control practices" means treatment with pesticides at labeled dosages and on a schedule effective against apple maggot.

(b) Commercially packed organic apples (apples produced by growers in compliance with, and registered under, the California Organic Foods Act of 1990) may enter the county if the producing orchard was trapped and found negative for apple maggot.

(c) Commercially produced apples may enter the county in bulk for packing, juicing, and processing under a compliance agreement between the importer and Sutter County. Such compliance agreements—

(1) Shall specify the conditions under which bulk fruit may enter the county and the manner in which fruit; and fruit waste shall be handled by the importer; and

(2) Shall obligate the importer to reimburse Sutter County, at rates set by the Sutter County Board of Supervisors, for the cost of monitoring agreement compliance and inspecting incoming shipments.

The Sutter County Agricultural Commissioner is authorized to enter into such compliance agreements on the county's behalf.

(d) Apple trees may enter the county, subject to inspection by the Sutter County Agricultural Commissioner, if they are—

(1) Free of fruit and bareroot; or

(2) Free of fruit and certified by origin agricultural officials as being treated with a soil drench effective against apple maggot.

Growers of apples within Sutter County who wish to have their fruit certified by the Sutter County Agricultural Commissioner as being free of apple maggot shall enter into a "Commodity Trapping and Harvest Identity Compliance Agreement for Apple Maggot" with Sutter County. This compliance agreement shall comply with Quarantine Commissioner's Circular Number 204, Supplement 7, issued by the California Department of Food and Agriculture, Division of Plant Industry, Pest Evaluation Branch (May 28, 1993), and shall obligate the grower to reimburse Sutter County, at rates set by the Sutter County Board of Supervisors, for the cost of implementing the agreement. The Sutter County Agricultural Commissioner is authorized to enter into such compliance agreements on the county's behalf.

(a) If apple maggot is detected in a commercial orchard, the orchard owner shall treat the orchard, at the cost of the orchard owner, using conventional pest control practices in a manner approved by, and under the supervision of, the Sutter County Agricultural Commissioner. The owner shall reimburse Sutter County, at rates set by the Sutter County Board of Supervisors, for the cost of supervising the treatment.

(b) If apple maggot is detected in an orchard and the treatment described in subsection (a) is not conducted as required, the pest shall be abated as provided in Food and Agricultural Code section 5401 et seq.

(c) Fruit from an orchard in which apple maggot has been detected shall not be moved from the orchard unless the treatment described in subsection (a) is conducted or the fruit is moved for processing under written authorization of the Sutter County Agricultural Commissioner.

Any person, firm, partnership, association, or corporation that violates or causes the violation of any provision of this ordinance shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction, shall be punished by a fine up to the maximum amount allowed for a misdemeanor by Penal Code section 19, or by imprisonment in the Sutter County Jail for a period of up to the maximum period allowed for a misdemeanor by Penal Code section 19, or by both such fine and imprisonment.

(Ord. 1181, Sec. 1; June 15, 1993)