Tucuman Governor Juan Luis Manzur is optimistic the U.S. market will be re-opened for his country's lemons very soon, after an absence from the market that has lasted since 2001.

As the political leader of Argentina's leading lemon-exporting province, Manzur has been in meetings with representatives of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) to try and seal a working protocol for exports of the fruit.

"They told us that in approximately 60 days the re-entry of lemons into the United States will e approved, and we hope that next year the trade for this product will be re-opened with the United States," Manzur told Télam from Washington D.C.

Tucuman Citrus Association president Roberto Sánchez Loria is accompanying Manzur, and highlighted the progress was the result of procedures and efforts undertaken over the past 10 years, the press outlet reported.

"This is the first time that we find this willingness on the part of the U.S. officials," Sánchez Loria was quoted as saying.

"They told us they were willing to resolve the problem and they fixed a tentative date in the North American fall, to have the necessary ruling ready for the entry of our lemons to the country's market."

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