China to Import US Oranges

China has agreed to import oranges from the US, as of March 20 this year. In a joint notice made public Thursday, the Ministry of Agriculture, the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation and the State Administration of Inspection for Import and Export Commodities (AIIEC) agreed on orange imports from the states of Texas, Arizona, Florida (currently confined only to the seven counties of Indian River, St.Lucie, Martin, Palm Beach, Collier, Hendry and Lee) and California (currently confined only to the six counties of Fresno, Tulare, Kern, Madera, Ventura and Monterey).

According to the notice, the oranges destined for China must come from orchards, carriers/packing plants and storage sheds designated by both the AIIEC and the US Department of Agriculture and under certain inspection requirements, details of which can be found at http://WWW.ciq.gov.cn.

The decision was made on the conclusion made by the Chinese experts following their inspection of oranges from those areas to evaluate the risk of pests entering the country, in line with China's Law on Exit and Entry Quarantine of Animals and Plants and related regulations, and agreements between the governments of China and the US, the notice says.

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