Apple Maggot Quarantine
The purpose of the apple maggot quarantine is to stop the spread of apple maggot into pest-free areas of the state. State law prohibits the movement of homegrown fruit and municipal waste from a quarantined area into or through a pest-free area.
To help you comply with state law, WSDA has created a searchable map. Enter an address into the search bar and the map will tell you if the address is within the quarantine boundary or not. For a printable version of the quarantine map, click here.
Are you in the apple maggot quarantine area?
Watch this video to learn more about the quarantine and what you can do to help stop the spread of apple maggot. If you live in a quarantine boundary, please visit our Quarantine Area Residents webpage to learn more about restrictions associated with your area.
Regulated Commodities
Apple maggot is spread through homegrown fruit, municipal solid waste, and municipal green waste. Fruit regulated under the apple maggot quarantine includes all fresh fruit of apple (including crab apple), cherry (except cherries that are commercial fruit), hawthorn, pear (except pears that are commercial fruit from CA, ID, OR, UT, and WA), plum, prune, and quince.
Municipal solid waste is a regulated commodity as defined under WAC 173-350-100 and includes unsegregated garbage, refuse, and similar solid waste material discarded from residential, commercial, institutional and industrial sources. Municipal green waste is also a regulated commodity for apple maggot and includes yard debris, organic feedstocks, organic materials, and agricultural wastes as defined under WAC 173-350-100. These wastes are host mediums for apple maggot containing or likely to contain host fruits.
What about store-bought fruit?
WSDA inspects fruit before it goes to the grocery store and certifies that it is pest-free. Store-bought fruit may be taken into or through a pest-free area. However, store-bought fruit may be prohibited from entering your garbage. Check with your local waste hauler to learn more.
New soil rule
Effective July 11, 2020, certain soils and growing mediums are regulated as part of the apple maggot quarantine. This means that soil meeting the circumstances outlined below cannot be transported from an apple maggot quarantine area to a pest-free area in Washington.
Under the revised rules, plants with soil that originate from a quarantined area must have a phytosanitary (phyto) certificate stating the following if they will be moved into the pest- free area:
Host plants (apple, crabapple, hawthorn, cherry, pear, plum, prune, and quince)
The following remain unregulated, even under the new rule change:
Under the revised rules, plants with soil that originate from a quarantined area must have a phytosanitary (phyto) certificate stating the following if they will be moved into the pest- free area:
Host plants (apple, crabapple, hawthorn, cherry, pear, plum, prune, and quince)
- Have not produced fruit and were not located in the drip line of host plants that have fruited, or
- Originated in an area where apple maggot is not considered established based on official trapping surveys, or
- Had soil or growing medium treated with an appropriate pesticide treatment just prior to shipping.
- Originated in an area where apple maggot is not considered established based on official trapping surveys, or
- Had soil or growing medium treated with an appropriate pesticide treatment just prior to shipping.
The following remain unregulated, even under the new rule change:
- Bare root plants (host and non-host) – host plants cannot have fruit attached
- Plants (host and non-host) originating from the WSDA pest free area
- Non-host plants that were not grown in the drip line of fruiting host plants
Shipping into Washington from another state
Nurseries in quarantine states, which include major trading partners (California, Oregon, Idaho, etc), who wish to ship plants in soil into the protected Washington pest-free area, must obtain a phyto certificate from their state department of agriculture detailing how the plants meet the quarantine requirements. Notification of impending shipments must be sent in advance to WSDA by email or fax, and include a phyto certificate copy. For frequent shippers, WSDA may establish a compliance agreement with your state, in lieu of phyto certificates for each load.Washington Administrative Codes (WAC) related to the apple maggot quarantine
- WAC 16-470-101: Establishing quarantines for apple maggot and plum curculio.
- WAC 16-470-105: Area under order for apple maggot - Pest free area - Quarantine areas.
- WAC 16-470-111: Commodities regulated for apple maggot.
- WAC 16-470-113: Requirements to ship commodities regulated for apple maggot from a state under quarantine into the pest free area for apple maggot.
- WAC 16-470-115: Requirements for shipment of regulated commodities from the quarantine area for apple maggot into the pest free area within Washington state.
- WAC 16-470-118: Requirements within Washington state to ship fresh fruit into, within, or through the pest free area for apple maggot from an orchard or production site that is infested or threatened with infestation.
- WAC 16-470-122 Requirements to ship regulated articles from Oregon, Idaho, or Utah into the pest free area for apple maggot.
- WAC 16-470-124: Special permits for solid waste and organic waste transport and disposition.