Guidance for packing, shipping, holding and release of sterile flies in areawide fruit fly control programmes

There has been little harmonization of the processes involved in the handling and release of sterile insects after production in mass rearing facilities. There are no standard guidelines available to transfer this technology to FAO or IAEA member countries that want to embark on sterile insect technique (SIT) activities. There is also increased interest by the private sector in investing in sterile insect production and/or other SIT activities, and these harmonized guidelines on the post-production phase will facilitate SIT application and foster the commercialization of the SIT. This guideline resulted from two FAO/IAEA consultants' meetings with representatives of relevant SIT programmes, the first held in Sarasota, Florida, United States of America (April 2004) and the second in Vienna, Austria (August 2005). It has identified a number of gaps in knowledge as well as procedures that are often based on conventional wisdom but which need scientific verification or optimization.