Door set to open for Thai fresh fruit shipments to the U.S.
Door set to open for Thai fresh fruit shipments to the U.S.
BANGKOK, THAILAND -- An agreement between the governments of Thailand and the United States is in place that will allow six fresh-market Thai fruits to be exported to the United States after undergoing treatment with irradiation. And while this means that U.S. marketers would have another source to satisfy the growing consumer demand for Asian and tropical products, there remains some uncertainly about the feasibility of bringing the items to the United States due to the high costs of production and transportation.
During a seminar held here May 19 at the Impact Convention Center in conjunction with the ThaiFex World of Food Asia show, Jane Levy, associate executive director for plant health programs for the Animal & Plant Health Inspection Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, said that irradiation has been used successfully on fruits grown in Hawaii and shipped to the U.S. mainland for the past several years on an experimental basis. The program was finalized in 2005, and Thailand is the first foreign nation to receive approval to ship irradiated fruit to the United States.
"We're counting on you guys to be a shining example of how it's done," she told a group of fruit producers during the seminar. The six fruits that have received approval to be shipped fresh under the program are litchi, longan, mango, mangosteen, pineapple and rambutan. Ms. Levy said that in the next month or two, APHIS will publish a regulation to allow the six fruits, and then there will be a 60-day comment period. The number of comments received will dictate when the final rule will be published, though she estimated that the final rule will be published by the end of the year.
Ms. Levy said that the agreement that was reached exists among APHIS, the National Plant Protection Organization and the irradiation facilities in Thailand, which will operate under the supervision of the Thai government. In order to be in compliance with the framework of the agreement, the facilities must receive preclearance by APHIS, be capable of applying a minimal dose of irradiation (400 grays) and provide a physical barrier between treated and untreated fruit to prevent reinfestation. Fruit also will be required to come from commercial production areas so as to minimize the density of fruit flies in product to be irradiated.
Under the preclearance program, a work plan is developed and reviewed annually, and the cost of inspections is estimated at the beginning of the shipping season. Funds are then deposited into accounts to cover the estimated costs.
Shippers also must comply with several packaging requirements, including treating and shipping items in the same cartons (no repackaging and no irradiating in bulk); strapping or wrapping pallet loads of cartons to prevent removal of cartons; and having methods to prevent fruit flies from getting into cartons, such as storing them in a room that prevents entry of fruit flies and shrink wrapping or netting the cartons prior to removing them from the room.
Additionally, pallets must be labeled as having been treated with irradiation and include the treatment lot number, the packing and treatment facility identification and location, and the dates of packing and treatment. A phytosanitary certificate issued by the National Plant Protection Organization is required for every shipment of irradiated articles, and U.S. importers must obtain an import permit prior to receiving any product.
Ms. Levy said that one adjustment inspectors at the point of entry will have to make stems from the fact that the irradiation process is not designed to kill the fruit fly larvae, but rather render them sterile. The result is that there could be "wigglers" found during inspections, a situation that has in the past caused the suspension of shipments. This happened several years ago when live larvae were found in a shipment of clementines from Spain. The difference, said Ms. Levy, is that a cold treatment process is used on Spanish clementines, and that process is designed to kill the pests.
While this might sound promising for Thai producers looking for another export market, Chusak Chuenprayoth of KC Fresh in Nakornpathorn, Thailand, wondered whether the costs associated with irradiation and transportation will make it prohibitive for Thai producers to send fruit to the United States.
Mr. Chuenprayoth said that the Thai Fruit & Vegetable Producer Association, in which he is involved, was formed a month ago in anticipation of the market opening to U.S. and European Union exports. He said that the group is seeking answers about whether the Thai government will help supplement the cost of setting up and using the irradiation facilities, and whether a market exists in the United States for fruit likely to carry a surcharge well above $3 per kilo due to irradiation treatments and transportation.
He said that some producers might wish to just continue shipping the frozen and processed products the United States currently allows from Thailand, since they require no additional treatments and do not have to be shipped by air like the fresh products.
One such producer that does a brisk business of shipping fresh fruit to other Asian and Pacific nations -- and frozen and processed fruit products to other markets including the United States -- is Vachamon Food Co. Ltd. in Bangkok, one of the larger grower- shippers in the region. According to Pavin Jeeyasak of Vachamon, China, Hong Kong and New Zealand are major export markets for the company's fresh fruit, while it ships frozen and processed products to the United States and other areas around the world.
In fact, the company is in the process of constructing a large warehouse and cold-storage facility that will increase its capacity to handle frozen products that will be sent to overseas markets, including the United States.
Also during the May 19 seminar, Roger West, director of agricultural safeguarding for the office of field operations of the U.S. Customs & Border Protection, briefed fruit producers about the requirements pertaining to wood packaging materials used in pallets and crates. During his presentation, titled Protecting America's Natural Resources from Foreign Animal & Plant Pests & Diseases, Mr. West gave background on the creation of his department, which operates under the purview of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, and its mission, which is to protect the U.S. agriculture industry from the accidental or intentional introduction of pests or diseases.
Mr. West said that on a typical day, the agency processes over 1.1 million passengers, 65,000 commercial conveyances and 375,000 vehicles. Chief among the threat to agriculture is wood-boring pests that can often be found in wooden packaging materials.
"Wood-boring pests have cost the U.S. government millions and millions of dollars through the years through efforts to prevent damage to forestry," said Mr. West, who added that the pests are almost always introduced to the wood before the lumber is even cut and the packing materials manufactured.
In order to be in compliance with regulations set forth by his agency, Mr. West said that any shipment which utilizes wood materials greater than six millimeters thick must be heat treated or fumigated and must bear a seal attesting to that.
Currently, said Mr. West, the rule is in phase two of its enforcement, meaning that port directors at point of entry have discretion over whether to refuse a shipment outright and send it back to the source or accept the shipment with conditions for disposing of the wood materials. In July, full enforcement of the rule will take effect, and non-compliant shipments will be refused in all circumstances. He said that due to the perishability of produce shipments, they are usually processed within 24 hours.
During a seminar held here May 19 at the Impact Convention Center in conjunction with the ThaiFex World of Food Asia show, Jane Levy, associate executive director for plant health programs for the Animal & Plant Health Inspection Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, said that irradiation has been used successfully on fruits grown in Hawaii and shipped to the U.S. mainland for the past several years on an experimental basis. The program was finalized in 2005, and Thailand is the first foreign nation to receive approval to ship irradiated fruit to the United States.
"We're counting on you guys to be a shining example of how it's done," she told a group of fruit producers during the seminar. The six fruits that have received approval to be shipped fresh under the program are litchi, longan, mango, mangosteen, pineapple and rambutan. Ms. Levy said that in the next month or two, APHIS will publish a regulation to allow the six fruits, and then there will be a 60-day comment period. The number of comments received will dictate when the final rule will be published, though she estimated that the final rule will be published by the end of the year.
Ms. Levy said that the agreement that was reached exists among APHIS, the National Plant Protection Organization and the irradiation facilities in Thailand, which will operate under the supervision of the Thai government. In order to be in compliance with the framework of the agreement, the facilities must receive preclearance by APHIS, be capable of applying a minimal dose of irradiation (400 grays) and provide a physical barrier between treated and untreated fruit to prevent reinfestation. Fruit also will be required to come from commercial production areas so as to minimize the density of fruit flies in product to be irradiated.
Under the preclearance program, a work plan is developed and reviewed annually, and the cost of inspections is estimated at the beginning of the shipping season. Funds are then deposited into accounts to cover the estimated costs.
Shippers also must comply with several packaging requirements, including treating and shipping items in the same cartons (no repackaging and no irradiating in bulk); strapping or wrapping pallet loads of cartons to prevent removal of cartons; and having methods to prevent fruit flies from getting into cartons, such as storing them in a room that prevents entry of fruit flies and shrink wrapping or netting the cartons prior to removing them from the room.
Additionally, pallets must be labeled as having been treated with irradiation and include the treatment lot number, the packing and treatment facility identification and location, and the dates of packing and treatment. A phytosanitary certificate issued by the National Plant Protection Organization is required for every shipment of irradiated articles, and U.S. importers must obtain an import permit prior to receiving any product.
Ms. Levy said that one adjustment inspectors at the point of entry will have to make stems from the fact that the irradiation process is not designed to kill the fruit fly larvae, but rather render them sterile. The result is that there could be "wigglers" found during inspections, a situation that has in the past caused the suspension of shipments. This happened several years ago when live larvae were found in a shipment of clementines from Spain. The difference, said Ms. Levy, is that a cold treatment process is used on Spanish clementines, and that process is designed to kill the pests.
While this might sound promising for Thai producers looking for another export market, Chusak Chuenprayoth of KC Fresh in Nakornpathorn, Thailand, wondered whether the costs associated with irradiation and transportation will make it prohibitive for Thai producers to send fruit to the United States.
Mr. Chuenprayoth said that the Thai Fruit & Vegetable Producer Association, in which he is involved, was formed a month ago in anticipation of the market opening to U.S. and European Union exports. He said that the group is seeking answers about whether the Thai government will help supplement the cost of setting up and using the irradiation facilities, and whether a market exists in the United States for fruit likely to carry a surcharge well above $3 per kilo due to irradiation treatments and transportation.
He said that some producers might wish to just continue shipping the frozen and processed products the United States currently allows from Thailand, since they require no additional treatments and do not have to be shipped by air like the fresh products.
One such producer that does a brisk business of shipping fresh fruit to other Asian and Pacific nations -- and frozen and processed fruit products to other markets including the United States -- is Vachamon Food Co. Ltd. in Bangkok, one of the larger grower- shippers in the region. According to Pavin Jeeyasak of Vachamon, China, Hong Kong and New Zealand are major export markets for the company's fresh fruit, while it ships frozen and processed products to the United States and other areas around the world.
In fact, the company is in the process of constructing a large warehouse and cold-storage facility that will increase its capacity to handle frozen products that will be sent to overseas markets, including the United States.
Also during the May 19 seminar, Roger West, director of agricultural safeguarding for the office of field operations of the U.S. Customs & Border Protection, briefed fruit producers about the requirements pertaining to wood packaging materials used in pallets and crates. During his presentation, titled Protecting America's Natural Resources from Foreign Animal & Plant Pests & Diseases, Mr. West gave background on the creation of his department, which operates under the purview of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, and its mission, which is to protect the U.S. agriculture industry from the accidental or intentional introduction of pests or diseases.
Mr. West said that on a typical day, the agency processes over 1.1 million passengers, 65,000 commercial conveyances and 375,000 vehicles. Chief among the threat to agriculture is wood-boring pests that can often be found in wooden packaging materials.
"Wood-boring pests have cost the U.S. government millions and millions of dollars through the years through efforts to prevent damage to forestry," said Mr. West, who added that the pests are almost always introduced to the wood before the lumber is even cut and the packing materials manufactured.
In order to be in compliance with regulations set forth by his agency, Mr. West said that any shipment which utilizes wood materials greater than six millimeters thick must be heat treated or fumigated and must bear a seal attesting to that.
Currently, said Mr. West, the rule is in phase two of its enforcement, meaning that port directors at point of entry have discretion over whether to refuse a shipment outright and send it back to the source or accept the shipment with conditions for disposing of the wood materials. In July, full enforcement of the rule will take effect, and non-compliant shipments will be refused in all circumstances. He said that due to the perishability of produce shipments, they are usually processed within 24 hours.
