Quarantine procedures:
1. If the flavescence doree (FD) pathogen is reported to
occur in the countries, the imported hardwood cuttings are to be treated
in 30 °C hot water for 72 hours.
2. The hardwood cuttings are planted, propagated and
maintained in the quarantine green house.
3. Buds from imported vines are chip grafted into the
three grapevine indicator plants for field indexing.
a. Vitis rupestris "Saint George" for
fanleaf, fleck, stem pitting
b. Hybrid LN-33 for corky bark
c. Vitis vinifera "Cabernet Franc" for
leafroll
4. The Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) will be
performed to detect the above listed grapevine viruses.
5. Grape selections that pass the indexing tests can be
released after the permission is granted from USDA-APHIS.
6. Grape selections that are positive for grapevine
viruses will be subjected to the thermotherapy and retested for
grapevine viruses before release.
7. The entire procedure requires minimum three years.
The
purpose of the grape importation program is to provide the Midwest grape
growers with superior grapevines while prevent introducing exotic pests and
pathogens from foreign countries. The Missouri State Fruit Experiment
Station (MSFES) was granted an importation permit (USDA Departmental Permit
61586) in 1993 to import grapevines from other countries. Before release of
imported grapevines, we must perform the tests on viruses to comply with the
quarantine laws that are enforced by US Department of Agriculture (USDA),
Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS). Since 1993, 165
cultivars have been introduced to the MSFES. 
