Transboundary shipment of sterile insects has taken place on a continuous basis for 55 years (since 1963). The total number of sterile insects shipped has been estimated at one trillion in thousands of shipments across borders to 23 recipient countries from 50 sterile insect factories in 25 countries. During this long period and many precedents, no problems associated with possible hazards have been identified, and thus the shipment of sterile insects have never been subjected to any regulatory action. The table below shows the history of transboundary shipments which started in 1963 with the shipments of sterile
Mexican fruit fly (Anastrepha ludens,
Loew),
from Monterrey, Mexico, to Texas, USA.
Table of the history of transboundary shipment of sterile insects
Year | Species | Site of production | Approximate amount shipped
(million pupae) | Recipient | Observations | 1963-1990 | Mexican fruit fly,
Anastrepha luden | Monterrey, Mexico | Unknown | Texas, USA | | 1970/71 | Mediterranean fruit fly,
Ceratitis capitata | Seibersdorf, Austria | Unknown | Procida, Italy, and Greece | Relatively small amount since sterile flies were used for field trials | 1970 | Mediterranean fruit fly | Costa Rica | Unknown | Nicaragua | Relatively small amount since sterile flies were used for field trials | 1975-1977 | Mediterranean fruit fly | Madrid, Spain | 302 | Canary Islands | Sterile pupae shipped from the IAEA laboratories (Seibersdorf) to a packing and emergence facility in Guatemala for field trials and staff training in SIT techniques | 1978 | Mediterranean fruit fly | Seibersdorf, Austria | Unknown | Guatemala | | 1979-2017 | Mediterranean fruit fly | Metapa, Chiapas, Mexico | 357 600 | Guatemala | Transboundary shipments have been carried out periodically for the past 36 years | 1989-1994 | Mediterranean fruit fly | Metapa Chiapas, Mexico | 6 670 | California, USA | To assist the CDFA in eradication of medfly outbreaks | 1989-1990 | Mediterranean fruit fly | Seibersdorf, Austria | Unknown | Israel | Pilot trials | 1990 | Mediterranean fruit fly | Metapa Chiapas, Mexico | 552 | Chile | Sterile flies donated by the Mexican government to Chile | 1990-1991 | New World Screwworm (NWS)
Cochliomyia hominivorax | Tuxtla Gutierrez, Chiapas, Mexico | 1 800 | Tripoli, Lybia | To assist the eradication of a NWS outbreak | 1990-1997 | Tsetse fly
(Glossina
spp.) | Seibersdorf, Austria | 8 | Tanga, Tanzania | To assist Tsetse eradication from Tanzania | 1993-2006 | NWS | Tuxtla Gutierrez, Chiapas, Mexico | 107 000 | Central American Countries | To assist NWS eradication from Central America | 1994 | Mediterranean fruit fly | Seibersdorf, Austria | 60 | Tunisia | Pilot trials | 1996-2000 | Mexican fruit fly | Metapa Chiapas, Mexico | 2 511 | California, USA | To assist the CDFA in eradication of Mexican fruit fly outbreaks | 1994-2017 | Mediterranean fruit fly | El Pino, Guatemala | 152 100 | California, USA | To assist the CDFA in eradication of medfly outbreaks and as part of the preventive release programme | 1997/98 | Mediterranean fruit fly | Madeira, Portugal | 206 | Israel | In support of pilot suppression programme | 1997-2000 | Mediterranean fruit fly | El Pino, Guatemala | 3 700 | Israel | In support of pilot suppression programme | 1998-2017 | Mediterranean fruit fly | El Pino, Guatemala | 97 720 | Florida, USA | To assist the State of Florida in eradication of medfly outbreaks and as part of the preventive release programme | 1999-2000 | Mediterranean fruit fly | El Pino, Guatemala | 720 | South Africa | In support of pilot suppression programme | 2003-2006 | Mediterranean fruit fly | Mendoza, Argentina | 1 681 | Valencia, Spain | In support of suppression programme | 2011-2013 | Mediterranean fruit fly | Valencia, Spain | 425 | Croatia | In support of suppression programme | 2008-2017 | Mediterranean fruit fly | Bio-Fly Israel | 650 | Jordan | In support of suppression programme | 2010, 2012, and 2014 to 2017 | Mediterranean fruit fly | Bio-Fly Israel | 3 289 | Croatia | In support of suppression programme | 2010-2018 | Tsetse fly | Slovakia | 9 | Senegal | To assist Tsetse eradication from Senegal | 2014-2017 | Mediterranean fruit fly | Valencia, Spain | 600 | Morocco | In support of suppression programme | 2015-2017 | Mediterranean fruit fly | El Pino, Guatemala | 4 000 | Dominican Republic | In support of eradication programme | 2016-2017 | NWS | COPEG Panama | 194 | Florida, USA | In support of outbreak eradication | 2008-2017 | Mediterranean fruit fly | El Pino, Guatemala | *260 000 | Metapa Chiapas, Mexico | In support of eradication and containment programme | | | Total | 1 001 797 | | |
* Only
in
this
case,
insects
were
shipped
as
eggs.
Read more information on
Packing, Shipping, Holding and Release of sterile insects. |