Coffee Quarantine A Go, Chemicals Optional
Editor’s Note: Read our previous coverage of the coffee berry borer:
Organic farmers now can forego chemicals and still comply with a newly-approved quarantine on Big Island-grown coffee.
The Hawaii Board of Agriculture on Tuesday unanimously approved an emergency quarantine to prevent the world’s worst coffee pest from spreading from Kona to the rest of the islands.
But before the vote, the state made clear that permits, required when moving beans from Kona to the rest of the Big Island or from the Big Island to elsewhere in the state for roasting, will allow chemical-free techniques.
Beans treated in the organic-friendly manner can’t be shipped to facilities within five miles of unaffected coffee fields. Unroasted green coffee beans must be double-bagged in sealed, impermeable packaging instead of burlap sacks. The protocol also calls for the bags to be destroyed after use and opens up safeguarding areas to state inspection.
The Hawaii Department of Agriculture’s Plant Quarantine Branch inserted the language identifying a six-part protocol designed to stop the infamous coffee berry borer beetle from spreading without pesticides. Plant Quarantine Branch Manager Carol Okada said the change, made in the days since the Plant and Animal Advisory Committee recommended the quarantine at its meeting last week, came after working with those in the industry to make sure the quarantine’s permit requirement is “palatable” for everyone involved.
The board went out of its way to stipulate in the rules that the quarantine requirements are “appropriate for organic or inorganic coffee” — an attempt to reduce the stigma of chemical treatments.
Previously identified techniques include spraying dried beans with methyl bromide or ProFume — pesticides that violate rules for organic food products. Farmers could opt to use those chemicals, but the organic method is meant to give Big Island farmers another choice. They had said limiting the quarantine to chemical treatments would seriously diminish their product’s value.
“If the reputation of Kona and other coffees becomes associated with pesticide treatment … we run the risk of a very substantial downturn in what we receive for our product,” said Kona Coffee Farmers Association President Bruce Corker.
Corker has repeatedly argued against any type of quarantine and said Tuesday that by inserting new language on such short notice, the Department of Agriculture wasn’t giving Kona farmers — those who stand to benefit from less restrictive permit requirements — a chance to review the proposed rules.
Under the original proposal, farmers could also heat beans to 315 degrees for at least five minutes, a technique that Okada described as “almost like a pre-roast.” She said it’s already in use by Hawaii Coffee Co. for organic coffee imported to Hawaii, but some in the coffee industry said it’s a costly procedure that adds to the coffee price.
It’s unclear how the new six-part protocol will impact small Kona farmers or the final price of Kona coffee to consumers.
All the preventive measures described in the proposal are merely examples of what the state might require. The Department of Agriculture is responsible for permitting, and the board gave Okada the express power to add or modify mitigation methods.
“There are examples given … but it is not an exhaustive list,” said Sandra Lee Kunimoto, chair of both the Department of Agriculture and the Board of Agriculture.
The quarantine will take effect as soon as the rules are published in a statewide newspaper and will remain in effect for one year. At some point next year, the state will begin work on a permanent rule change — a process that will include public hearings in all four Hawaii counties.
Read the Hawaii Department of Agriculture’s full 22-page filing with the Board of Agriculture:
