According to the foreign agricultural service (FAS) of the US department of agriculture, California Citrus Mutual and the California Grape and Tree Fruit League have agreed to sue the USDA's animal and plant health inspection service (Aphis). The California producer associations claim Aphis's rule of October 15 to allow imports of Spanish clems will not protect California from Mediterranean fruit fly and is based on flawed science.
The FAS reports two instances of breakdown in the system when Spanish clems were found in Florida although all boxes are clearly labelled not for distribution in Arizona, California, Florida, Louisiana, Texas, Puerto Rico or Virgin Islands. Two containers of clems have also reportedly not received adequate cold treatment.
Confidence of a successful result is running high among California growers given their success in overturning a new rule to allow the import of Argentinean citrus two seasons ago.
