First Pakistani mangoes arrive in U.S.

First Pakistani mangoes arrive in U.S.    The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced the arrival of the first shipments of Pakistani mangoes into the continental United States.
   'The United States and Pakistan have worked closely to open this new market to mango growers in Pakistan and make additional choices available to U.S. consumers,' said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, in a statement on Friday. 'Irradiation treatments allow USDA to facilitate the safe importation of mangoes from Pakistan while protecting U.S. agriculture from harmful pests and diseases.'
   USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service approved the import of commercial shipments of fresh mangoes from Pakistan in August 2010.    To ensure that plant pests of quarantine significance do not enter the United States, the mangoes must be treated with specified doses of irradiation at an APHIS-certified facility. Irradiation treatment may be applied prior to or upon arrival into the United States.

Vilsack

   In addition, each mango shipment must be accompanied by a certificate issued by the national plant protection organization of Pakistan with additional declarations certifying the consignment was inspected and found free of the causal agent of mango bacterial black spot. The fruit will also be subject to inspection at the first U.S. port of arrival.
   USDA in 2002 approved irradiation as a treatment on all pests for fruits and vegetables entering the United States. Irradiation provides an alternative to other pest control methods, such as fumigation, cold and heat treatments, the department said.