The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Agency has issued a public statement which authorizes imports of five commercially produced citrus fruits from China. Scientists determined that Chinese pomelos, Nanfeng tangerines, ponkan tangerines, sweet oranges and Wenzhou tangerines could be safely imported into the U.S. after plant pest screening.
The system consists of a series of measures which together minimize the risk of pests. The measures include limiting imports to commercial shipments only, registering production sites and packaging plants, certifying that imports are free of harmful organisms, employing fruit fly traps, regularly inspecting production sites and performing appropriate disinfection and disposal of harvest waste.