Tallahassee, Florida, Dec. 19 - A judge on Wednesday let stand Florida's quarantine against the shipment of California citrus into the state.
Florida agriculture officials ordered the quarantine on Dec. 7 to protect the state's citrus industry from a plant fungus called Septoria citri.
Florida Circuit Judge William Gary denied a temporary injunction sought by California citrus growers. He ruled in part that they had failed to show the quarantine is unconstitutional or that they are likely to suffer irreparable harm pending final resolution of the case.
The quarantine requires California fruit to be inspected and treated with a fungicide before it can be shipped to Florida.
The citrus industries in the two states are about equal in size, but most of Florida's oranges are turned into juice, while the bulk of California's crop is sold as fresh fruit.
California exports about $75 million worth of citrus to Florida each year.
"It's extremely disappointing," Joel Nelson, president of the California Citrus Mutual, said of Wednesday's ruling. "It's unfortunate this action was taken to punish family farmers in California over a pest that most countries worldwide - including the U.S. Department of Agriculture - do not consider to be a major problem."
The nonprofit, which represents farmers who grow 200,000 acres of citrus, and Sunkist Growers are the case's lead plaintiffs.
The USDA has classified Septoria citri as a disease of "minor significance" to citrus crops.
To meet Florida's quarantine, California growers and shippers say they will have to radically change the way they package and haul California citrus to Florida and elsewhere.
Growers will have to tailor shipments to Florida and document them, a process that will cost more, require more trips and drive up citrus prices, growers say.
California growers sued Florida, claiming the ban on California imports amounts to violations of interstate commerce and unjustifiably discriminates against California products. There were just two documented cases of the fungus in California last year, according to the lawsuit.
California growers are convinced the quarantine is retaliation for federal rules that have banned Florida orange exports to California, Texas and other citrus-growing states. Those rules are an attempt to prevent the spread of the more infectious citrus canker disease.
Florida officials dispute that the quarantine is malicious or retaliatory. They say Septoria citri, which is not found in Florida, could scar more of the state's harvest.
The disease first appears as small, pitted lesions and can ultimately can cause premature fruit drop.
South Korea began requiring inspections of citrus from two California counties for Septoria citri four years ago. The U.S. and South Korea remain embroiled in a trade dispute over the inspections. The U.S. has called the inspections an artificial trade barrier.