The U.S. Department of Agriculture is taking comments until Jan. 13 on a pest risk assessment that should open the door for U.S. imports of South Korean (Republic of Korea) carrots.
“Based on the analysis, we have determined that the application of one or more phytosanitary measures will be sufficient to mitigate the risks of introducing or disseminating plant pests or noxious weeds via the importation of fresh carrots from the Republic of Korea,” the USDA said Nov. 12.
The agency said any carrot shipments from South Korea will be minimal in volume, stating that Korea proposes to export about 100 metric tons annually to the U.S. That is less than a hundredth of 1% of U.S. production and less than five hundredths of 1% of U.S. imports in 2017.
