Washington, Nov. 16 - The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service is proposing to amend its fruit and vegetable regulations to allow, under certain conditions, the importation of mangoes from India into the continental United States.
To ensure that plant pests do not enter the United States through the importation of this commodity, APHIS is proposing to require that the mangoes be treated with specified doses of irradiation at an APHIS-certified facility. Each shipment would also have to be accompanied by a phytosanitary certificate issued by the national plant protection organization of India with additional declarations providing specific information regarding the treatment and inspection of the mangoes, as well as the orchards from which they were grown. In addition, the fruit would be subject to inspection at the port of first arrival.
This action would allow for the importation of mangoes into the continental United States while continuing to provide protection against quarantine pests, such as the melon fly, a significant pest of melon crops.