U.S. market opens for fresh NZ persimmons
U.S. authorities have announced fresh persimmons from New Zealand are now eligible for import into the country under a systems approach. 
The U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) said the regulations would require orchard certification, orchard pest control, post-harvest safeguards, fruit culling, traceback, and sampling.
"In addition, the fruit must be treated with hot water or undergo modified atmosphere cold storage to kill any leafroller moth larvae," it said.
"The persimmons must also be accompanied by a phytosanitary certificate stating that they were produced under the systems approach and were inspected and found to be free of quarantine pests."
The final rule will publish in the Federal Register on Oct. 3, 2017, and will become effective 30 days after publication on Nov. 2, 2017.
According to the New Zealand Persimmon Industry Council, in recent years export volumes have fluctuated around 12,800 metric tons (MT).
The leading market in 2016 was Australia, followed by Thailand, Singapore and Hong Kong.
Photo: www.shutterstock.com
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