APHIS ISSUES RULE ON IRRADIATION PHYTOSANITARY TREATMENTS
The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service is establishing regulations to provide for the use of irradiation as a phytosanitary treatment for fruits and vegetables imported into the United States.
Irradiation treatment is to control species of fruit flies and the mango seed weevil in imported fruits and vegetables. Irradiation could provide an alternative to current control methods, such as fumigation and cold and heat treatments, APHIS said.
The final rule will require additional inspection and monitoring of foreign irradiation facilities, and will triple the does required for one pest, the mango seed weevil.
Information on the rule can be found on the Internet at http://www.aphis.usda.gov/ppd/rad/weberpor.html.