China's General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (AQSIQ) has issued an alert notification for imports of dragonfruit from Thailand and Vietnam, as well as the latter country's bananas.

The authority has cited several quarantine pest interceptions from its Guangxi branch as behind the tighter measures, which will include increased spot checks.

The move follows an interception of Dysmicoccus neobrevipes - a type of mealybug commonly found on pineapples - in a shipment of Vietnamese bananas, as well as the pests Pseudococcus jackbeardsleyi, Diaspis echinocacti and Ferrisia virgata Cockerell in dragonfruit imports from the two countries.

While Pseudococcus jackbeardsleyi is not on the official pest list, it has not yet been reported to be found in China and is potentially "dangerous", according to the government body.

If symptoms of these pests are found in fruit from these two countries, shipments will be held while samples are taken to the lab, and lots will be destroyed if positive identifications are made.

AQSIQ has urged local China Inspection and Quarantine Bureau (CIQ) to ramp up on inspection intensity for these fruits and the warning is valid for up to one year from the issue date, which was on May 29.

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