The US Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) has approved papaya imports from Malaysia for commercial sale in the US, provided they are irradiated, reports The Packer.
Papayas irradiated outside the US must be pre-cleared by APHIS inspectors in Malaysia and jointly inspected by Malaysian staff.
APHIS announced its Malaysian papaya approval on August 11, and on the same day opened a 60-day comment period for fresh gooseberry imports from Chile.
If granted US access, the gooseberries would be inspected on arrival, and would require a phytosanitary certificate from Chile stating they had been checked prior to export and were pest-free.
US Foreign Agriculture Service statistics show that total US papaya imports reached 153,990 tonnes in 2010. Over 115,200 tonnes came from Mexico.
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