U.S. agency licenses 2nd rambutan-growing area
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Vietnam’s second standardized rambutan-growing area has been licensed in the Mekong Delta’s Ben Tre Province by the U.S. Plant Health, Plant Protection and Quarantine Agency and its Vietnamese counterpart.
Chanh Thu Co Ltd in Cho Lach District owns the 26-hectare area.
The U.S, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) and Post-Import Plant Quarantine Center No.2 licensed the first rambutan-growing area, located in Chau Thanh District in the Mekong Delta’s Tien Giang Province, last Thursday. The 34-hectare area belongs to the Tien Phu Cooperative.
The two agencies are under the management of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Vietnam Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development respectively.
The USDA approved the importation of fresh rambutan into the U.S. from Vietnam and Malaysia last month, provided it is irradiated according to U.S. standards and meets other sanitary requirements. If irradiation takes place outside of the U.S., APHIS inspectors in the country of origin must clear each shipment.
The rambutan can also only be imported for commercial purposes.
Irradiated rambutan is already allowed into the U.S. from Hawaii and Thailand. The fruit can be imported into the U.S. from Mexico and Central America without irradiation.
