USDA inspectors review Haiti fruit treatment

USDA inspectors review Haiti fruit treatment A team of inspectors from the U.S. Department of Agriculture arrived in Haiti this week to conduct a review of treatment of mangoes intended for export to the United States, just days after a U.S.-imposed ban on mango imports from Haiti took effect.
   The temporary ban on mango imports from Haiti was imposed after fruit fly larvae were discovered on a shipment from Haiti to Port Everglades on June 25. That led to inspections on shipments that had not left Haiti, and fruit flies were found on two other shipments there.
   U.S. Animal Plant Health Inspection Services spokeswoman Melissa O'Dell told the Florida Caribbean Connection that all of the fruit had been treated in Haiti, yet the pests were not eliminated.
   'The fruit came from three different treatment facilities in Haiti and that indicates there had to be a systematic failure,' she said. 'We have sent a review team to check the facilities and make recommendations on improvements.'
   Until the treatment problems have been discovered and remedied there can be no mango shipments into the U.S.
   O'Dell said she could not make an accurate estimate of how long it would take to fix the problem because there are many things to check in a 'trace back' along the supply chain.
   Shipments will be resumed 'as soon as possible' once officials are 'comfortable that the treatment problems have been resolved.'