Thailand tropicals

Here is the summary from the Federal Register rule about Thailand tropical fruit.

We are amending the fruits and vegetables regulations to allow the importation into the United States of litchi, longan, mango, mangosteen, pineapple, and rambutan from Thailand. As a condition of entry, these fruits must be grown in production areas that are registered with and monitored by the national plant protection organization of Thailand, treated with irradiation in Thailand, and subject to inspection. The fruits must also be accompanied by a phytosanitary certificate with an additional declaration stating that the fruit had been treated with irradiation in Thailand. In the case of litchi, the additional declaration must also state that the fruit had been inspected and found to be free of Peronophythora litchii, a fungal pest of litchi. Additionally, under this final rule, litchi and longan imported from Thailand may not be imported into or distributed to the State of Florida, due to the presence of litchi rust mite in Thailand.This action allows the importation of litchi, longan, mango,mangosteen, pineapple, and rambutan from Thailand into the United States while continuing to provide protection against the introduction of quarantine pests into the United States.


Later...

According to a press release of the Thai Minister of Agriculture and Cooperatives posted on the Web site of the National Bureau of Agricultural Commodity and Food Standards in Thailand, that country iscapable of producing approximately 5 million metric tons (MT) of the fruits covered in the final rule. This production may be divided as follows: 80,000 MT of litchi (lychee), 200,000 MT of mangosteen,500,000 MT of rambutan, 500,000 to 700,000 MT of longan, 1.8 million MTof mango, and 2 million MT of pineapple. Given the production data reported by the OAE, these production values seem reasonable. However,only a fraction of this is likely to be exported given historical export data, as well as the fact that the existing irradiation facility will not be able to accommodate these estimated volumes of fruit. Since a new facility will not be constructed until regulations are in place,it is not likely that Thailand will be able to treat and ship volumes of this magnitude in the immediate future.


TK: First India, now Thailand with irradiated fruit. Right now it is hard to figure how much treated fruit from Thailand will actually be marketed here, and exactly when that fruit will arrive.