The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) has proposed that fresh pummelo fruit can be safely imported from Vietnam into the United States. The proposal is part of a pest risk assessment and risk management document that APHIS prepared.
Vietnam’s Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Tran Thanh Nam said in early January that U.S. authorities announced that Vietnamese pummelos will officially enter the U.S. market in 60 days.
APHIS has proposed specific phytosanitary measures for fresh pummelo consignments that it stated, if met, will minimize the risk of introducing plant pests and noxious weeds into the United States.
APHIS is making the pest risk analysis available to the public for review and comment. The agency will consider all comments received on or before Feb. 25. Those wanting to comment can visit regulations.gov and enter APHIS-2020-0106 in the search field. After reviewing comments, APHIS will announce a final decision regarding the authorization of fresh pummelo fruit from Vietnam.
Tran Thanh Nam suggested that businesses wishing to export the fruit to the United States should coordinate with the plant quarantine units of Vietnam to complete the necessary documents to allow shipments.
According to Vietnam’s Department of Crop Production, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, the Southeast Asian country has 105,400 hectares (ha) of pummelos, with an output of nearly 950,000 tons. Vietnam’s Red River Delta has nearly 13,000 hectares with an output of more than 170,000 tons. The northern midland and mountainous area have more than 30,000 ha with output of 220,000 tons. The Mekong Delta has about 32,000 hectares with an output of about 340,000 tons.
From now until the first quarter of 2022, Vietnam expects to harvest about 140,000 tons of pummelos.
Sources: The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service and Vietnam’s Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development
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