The Medfly Eradication Programme was initiated in Belize in 1977 when a Memorandum of Understanding was signed between the United States Department of Agriculture and the Ministry of Agriculture, Belize.

Since then, the programme continues to be very efficient and effective in maintaining Belize's Medfly free status. The data collected over the years indicates that the Mediterranean fruit fly, Ceratitis capitata, is an exotic pest and has never been established in Belize. A testament to this was when Belize was officially recognized by the USDA as a medfly free country on August 28th, 2001.

The Mediterranean fruit fly, Ceratitis capitata, is a devastating insect that lays its eggs inside of host fruits. It has an average life cycle of twenty-five days and each female is capable of laying more than three hundred (300) eggs. The size of the fruit fly is two-thirds the size of a housefly with banded patterns on its wings. The Medfly has over 300 hosts that include: tomatoes, cashew, coffee, papayas, peppers, mangos, tropical almond, all citrus, apples, cantaloupe, guavas and grapes among others. Established medfly populations can cause up to 25% in production losses but more importantly the exporting country eventually losses its markets to countries that are free of this pest.

The medfly programme is divided into three components:

Surveillance: The country is divided into six working areas, twenty-five trapping routes and approximately 1300 medfly traps including Jackson, C& C and phase four traps.

Eradication: Interception of a gravid female Medfly triggers an emergency plan that includes quarantine for a period of ninety (90) days, commencing from the date of the interception., fruit stripping within a delimited area, chemical applications every seven (7) days using Success, a environmentally friendly chemical that is non-toxic to humans and several quarantine check points may be established to prohibit the movement of fruits and vegetables from the area under quarantine.

Certification: All medfly host commodities that are exported to the United States must be certified by BAHA as meeting the phytosanitary requirements as stipulated in the export protocol. This includes field and packing facility certification by qualified BAHA personnel.

The Medfly is exotic to Belize. This means that it is not present here. To ensure that it stays out, DO NOT bring in fruits or vegetables without a valid import permit from the Belize Agricultural Health Authority.