Florida shut out of citrus states

It is barely past midnight, and the June 21 Federal Register has already crossed the wire. There are two notable rules. One deals with irradiated fruit from Thailand and the other is the closely watched proposed rule on movement of Florida citrus from canker infested regions.

Here is the summary of the canker rule:

We are proposing to amend the citrus canker regulations to modify the conditions under which fruit may be moved interstate from a quarantined area. Under this proposed rule, we would eliminate the requirement that the groves in which the fruit is produced be inspected and found free of citrus canker, and instead require that fruit produced in the quarantined area be treated with a surface disinfectant treatment in a packinghouse operating under a compliance agreement and that each lot of finished fruit be inspected at the packinghouse and found free of visible symptoms of citrus canker. We would, however,retain the current prohibition on the movement of fruit from a quarantined area into commercial citrus-producing States. These proposed changes would relieve some restrictions on the interstate movement of fresh citrus fruit from Florida while maintaining conditions that would help prevent the artificial spread of citrus canker.

TK: This proposed rule apparently keeps the door shut on all Florida citrus movement (from canker infested areas) into California, Arizona and Texas. I think you will see Florida object to these restrictions, and I would think they would argue the pest risk assessment the USDA completed earlier supported the movement of fruit free of visible symptoms of citrus canker to all states, provided safeguards are in place. However, peer review of the PRA and other input put the kibosh on allowing shipments to all states. Comments are accepted throughh July 23. California should be pleased with this proposed rule, and I don't see how this rule can be changed in the short time before the season begins.

Here is the USDA's explanation:

While the conclusions of both our PRA and RMA indicate that fresh citrus fruit is an unlikely pathway for citrus canker infection, we cannot conclusively rule out any type or variety of citrus fruit as a potential source of citrus canker infection at this time. In addition, the probabilistic model presented in our RMA document finds that if such distribution were to take place, fruit with symptoms of citrus canker disease could end up in citrus-producing States.