Shipping Florida Citrus Out of State from the Treasure Coast

Yes, but only through a commercial packinghouse: federal rules let Treasure Coast citrus from a canker quarantined area cross state lines with a certificate once it is packed, treated and cleaned under an APHIS compliance agreement.

The controlling text for St. Lucie and Indian River County growers is 7 CFR 301.75-7, under which regulated fruit produced in a quarantined area, or moved into one for packing, may be moved interstate with a certificate if four conditions are met: the fruit was packed in a commercial packinghouse whose owner or operator has entered into a compliance agreement with APHIS, it was treated in accordance with part 305, it is free of leaves, twigs and other plant parts except stems less than 1 inch long attached to the fruit, and anyone who repackages it before it leaves the quarantined area holds a compliance agreement of their own and issues the certificate (7 CFR 301.75-7). Fruit that cannot meet those terms may leave only for immediate export, under a limited permit and in a container sealed by APHIS that travels directly to the port of export.

For Treasure Coast growers, the starting point is the statement of the USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service that citrus canker is found throughout Florida and in limited areas of Alabama, Louisiana and Texas (USDA APHIS citrus canker page). The regulation does not name counties. Instead, 7 CFR 301.75-4 says the APHIS Administrator lists each State or portion of a State where canker is found, publishes that quarantine list on the Plant Protection and Quarantine (PPQ) website with the date of its last update, and announces each change in the Federal Register (7 CFR 301.75-4). That online list, not this guide, is the live record of where the quarantine applies.

Not on their own: APHIS tells the public not to mail or transport home-grown citrus fruit or plants out of a quarantined area, so Treasure Coast backyard fruit can leave only after commercial packing and treatment.

For a St. Lucie or Indian River County household, the same advice appears twice on the APHIS site, on the citrus canker page and on the citrus greening and Asian citrus psyllid page, each listing it among the steps that help prevent spread (APHIS citrus canker; APHIS citrus greening). The history behind it is in the Federal Register. In its November 19, 2007 final rule, APHIS described dooryard growers as typically homeowners who have citrus trees in their yards and wish to ship the fruit to friends or family. Under the rules in force before that notice, interstate fruit had to come from a grove inspected and found free of citrus canker, and because dooryard growers could not comply, the interstate movement of dooryard fruit was effectively halted (Federal Register, November 19, 2007).

The 2007 rule did not create a separate homeowner path for yard trees on the Treasure Coast or anywhere else. It says the regulations do not distinguish between dooryard growers and commercial growers, that anyone can move fruit interstate if it is packed at a commercial packinghouse and treated and inspected as the rule describes, and that APHIS expected some commercial packinghouses to set up processes to handle dooryard fruit. A commenter had proposed letting dooryard growers ship up to 20 boxes a season from inspected trees; the final rule allowed dooryard fruit only if it is commercially packed, treated and inspected by APHIS (2007 final rule, Dooryard Fruit).

A Treasure Coast packinghouse qualifies when it exists mainly to disinfect and pack citrus for sale, holds the state license, registration or certification for citrus, and has signed an APHIS compliance agreement.

The federal definitions in 7 CFR 301.75-1 set out each piece for a packer in the Indian River area. A commercial packinghouse is an establishment in which space and equipment are maintained for the primary purpose of disinfecting and packing citrus fruit for commercial sale, and it must also be licensed, registered or certified for handling citrus fruit with the State in which it operates. A compliance agreement is a written agreement between APHIS and a person in the business of growing, processing, handling, packing or moving regulated articles, in which that person pledges to comply with the canker subpart. A certificate is an official USDA stamp, form or other document authorizing interstate movement from a quarantined area into any area of the United States, while a limited permit restricts the areas the article may enter (7 CFR 301.75-1).

Florida law supplies the state half. The Florida Citrus Code defines a packinghouse as any building, structure or place where citrus fruit is packed or otherwise prepared for market or shipment in fresh form (Florida Statutes 601.03), and the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (FDACS) Division of Fruit and Vegetables says it licenses all citrus dealers, registrants and agents of licensed fruit dealers, packinghouses and processing plants (FDACS Division of Fruit and Vegetables). The same division inspects and certifies fresh shipments of fruit, vegetables and nuts covered by state and federal marketing orders.

Anyone on the Treasure Coast who deals in citrus for money other than by growing it, a gift fruit shipper included, needs a citrus fruit dealer license for each shipping season under Florida Statutes 601.55.

Section 601.55 applies statewide, from Fort Pierce to Vero Beach and beyond: no person shall act as a citrus fruit dealer in Florida without first applying for and obtaining a current license for each shipping season, or portion of one (Florida Statutes 601.55). A renewal by a dealer licensed the previous season covers the full August 1 to July 31 season when approved by August 1; a new license runs from the date it is issued through July 31, and each applicant may file one application per season. The Citrus Code fixes the shipping season as August 1 of one year through July 31 of the next (Florida Statutes 601.03).

For a Treasure Coast business, the definition of citrus fruit dealer in 601.03 lists consignors, commission merchants, consignment shippers, cash buyers, brokers, associations, cooperatives and express or gift fruit shippers, and excludes retail establishments whose sales are direct to consumers and not for resale. An express or gift fruit shipper is any person with an established place of business who ships or delivers citrus fruit to a consumer and not for resale (Florida Statutes 601.03). An application must give, among other items, the applicant's name and address, how long it has been in the Florida citrus business, any delinquent accounts with producers and the number of standard-packed boxes it intends to handle that season (Florida Statutes 601.56). Before a license is approved, the applicant delivers a cash bond, certificate of deposit or surety bond in an amount the Department of Citrus sets by rule, and a bond exempt license must state that the holder is not a bonded citrus fruit dealer (Florida Statutes 601.61).

The current canker rule text no longer bars it: a 2009 rule removed the 2007 ban on shipping canker quarantine fruit, Treasure Coast fruit included, to commercial citrus-producing States, though packing and treatment rules remain.

For Indian River citrus, as for all Florida fruit, the earlier rule was stricter. The 2007 Federal Register notice said that, as of August 1, 2006, Arizona, California, Louisiana, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands and Texas no longer received fresh citrus shipments from Florida, and its final rule retained the prohibition on moving fruit from a quarantined area into commercial citrus-producing States (Federal Register, November 19, 2007). On October 22, 2009, APHIS published a final rule that eliminated the requirement that each lot of finished fruit be inspected at the packinghouse and removed that prohibition, while continuing to require an approved disinfectant and packing in a commercial packinghouse under a compliance agreement (Federal Register, October 22, 2009). Readers of older guidance should note the two notices differ because the rule changed between them; the current section text cites the 2009 rule as its source.

The list of commercial citrus-producing areas still matters for other parts of the rule, such as limited permits. Table 1 of 7 CFR 301.75-5 names Alabama, American Samoa, Arizona, California, Florida, Guam, Hawaii, Louisiana, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, Texas and the Virgin Islands of the United States (7 CFR 301.75-5). APHIS adds that canker was found in Louisiana in 2013, Texas in 2016 and Alabama in 2021 (APHIS citrus canker history).

For Treasure Coast fruit they add their own federal quarantines: APHIS says citrus greening is found throughout Florida and citrus black spot, at this moment, only in southern Florida.

For a St. Lucie or Indian River County grower, the APHIS greening page is the federal description of the disease: it is spread in the United States by the Asian citrus psyllid, and APHIS says infected trees produce fruit that is poorly colored, possibly lopsided and bitter, and that such fruit can only be sold for juicing (APHIS citrus greening and Asian citrus psyllid). For citrus black spot, a fungal disease first identified in the United States in 2010 in Florida, APHIS states that at this moment it is only found in southern Florida, and the agency's page links its Conditions of Movement federal orders and the APHIS-approved packinghouse procedures for the disease (APHIS citrus black spot).

For Treasure Coast households, the advice is the same on the canker and greening pages: keep home-grown fruit, plants, branches and green waste inside the quarantined area (APHIS citrus greening).

For Treasure Coast shippers, the APHIS quarantine boundary pages and the eCFR are the live records of the federal rules, and FDACS handles the state license.

Treasure Coast growers and households can check the APHIS canker page, which includes a Quarantine Boundaries section where APHIS publishes the legal description of current quarantine areas and lets users search by State and pest, and it asks anyone who sees signs of the disease to report them to a State Plant Health Director (APHIS citrus canker). Under 7 CFR 301.75-4, lists of quarantined areas may also be requested from any local PPQ office (7 CFR 301.75-4). The eCFR page for 301.75-7 shows its amendment timeline (eCFR 7 CFR 301.75-7). For the state license and bond, the FDACS Division of Fruit and Vegetables is the licensing office (FDACS Division of Fruit and Vegetables).

Last verified: October 22, 2026, for the Treasure Coast shipping rules, by reading 7 CFR 301.75-1, 301.75-4, 301.75-5 and 301.75-7 on the eCFR, the APHIS canker, greening and black spot pages, the 2007 and 2009 Federal Register canker rules, Florida Statutes 601.03, 601.55, 601.56 and 601.61, and the FDACS Division of Fruit and Vegetables page.