Proceedings of the final research co-ordination meeting organized by the Joint FAO/IAEA Division of Nuclear Techniques in Food and Agriculture, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 27–31 August 1990. The Co-ordinated Research Programme (CRP) was initiated in 1985 with the purpose of determining the radiation doses required to provide quarantine security from insects and other pests infesting food and agricultural commodities in trade, assessing the tolerance of host commodities to the radiation dose(s) required to provide quarantine security and distributing information on the possible use of irradiation as a quarantine treatment of food and agricultural commodities to interested parties. The results of the work carried out under this CRP by laboratories in several countries have demonstrated that irradiation is a viable alternative to ethylene dibromide fumigation of food. These proceedings include the final reports of work carried out by the scientists who co-operated in this CRP, as well as review papers presented at the Second Task Force Meeting on Irradiation as a Quarantine Treatment of Fresh Fruits and Vegetables held in Bethesda, Maryland, USA, in January 1991.