The U.S. Department of Agriculture is taking comments until July 1 on a pest risk analysis that could open the door for citrus imports from China.
The USDA said in a Federal Register announcement that the agency’s Animal Plant Health Inspection scientists have determined pomelo, nanfeng honey mandarin, ponkan, sweet orange, and satsuma mandarin fruit from China can be safely imported into the U.S under a systems approach to protect against the introduction of plant pests.
The USDA said the “systems approach” includes imports in commercial consignments only, registration of places of production and packinghouses, certification of propagative material as being free of quarantine pests, periodic inspections of places of production, grove sanitation, and postharvest disinfection and treatment. In addition, the USDA said pomelo fruit must be bagged on trees more than two months prior to harvest.
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