UNITED STATES 30th November 2010

The Hawaii state Board of Agriculture in late November established two quarantine zones on the "Big Island" of Hawaii to restrict the movement of coffee plant materials, green beans and bags in order to prevent the spread of coffee berry borer.

The emergency move came in response to the discovery earlier this year that the insect pest had reached the coffee growing areas of the Kona region.

Under the new rules, the Agriculture Board said, the primary quarantine zone is the area of South Kona that is currently infested with coffee berry borer, with a second zone encompassing the rest of the island of Hawaii.

The Agriculture Board has approved several treatment and mitigation methods to allow green beans to be transported from the quarantine zones to other islands. These include fumigation, heat treatment and other methods that can be used for organic beans, the Board said.