Tuesday, November 27, 2007

USA Exporting Rotten Apples to India?


The Commonwealth Agricultural Bureau International (CABI) reported last month that apples being imported to India from the United States of America are infested with around a 100 pests. It is believed that many of these might need phytosanitary measures which are aimed at dealing with risks related to food safety.

Interestingly, officials in the Ministry of Agriculture, which is responsible for the quarantine of fruits and vegetables, had no clue about this report. On the other hand an official at the National Bureau of Plant & Genetic Resources (NBPGR) noted that India has very weak quarantine measures.

CABI, which is located in the United Kingdom notes that in all there are 381 known pests. Of these a total of 184 are present in the USA, and 111 in India.

Image via: Wikimedia Commons

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