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US to tighten apple export control after moth larva found

The US has agreed to tighten controls on apple exports to Taiwan after a codling moth larva was found in a shipment of Fuji apples from Washington state.

"The US will provide us with information on the orchard and the packaging plant which supplied the shipment of apples, within two days, and submit the investigation report within a week," said Liu Hsing-shan (劉興善), deputy chief of the economic affairs section at the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the US.

The orchard where the apples were grown has also been banned from exporting its fruit to Taiwan for one production season, the official said.

"Apple production season in the US runs from August this year until July next year," Liu said.

Quarantine inspectors at Kaohsiung Harbor found the larva in a Fuji apple in a container from Washington state on Tuesday.

The Council of Agriculture has ordered the 1,029 boxes of apples in the container to be returned to the US or destroyed, and has tightened controls on US apples.

Tthe council will double the amount of US apples checked for pests from the current 2 percent to 4 percent; if a pest is found again, the council will double the percentage of sampled apples to 8 percent; if a pest is found for a third time, apple imports from the US will be banned.

Taiwan is the third-largest importer of US apples after Mexico and Canada.
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