With the coming into force of the safety law from the United states Department of Agriculture (USDA), reviews and returned shipments, has increased, due to the lack of security in safety seal pallets.
Cesar Cortez Bello, president of the Persian lime product system, reported that on April 12th there will be a meeting called by the National Director of Senacica Javier Trujillo, where the three national sweet citrus systems have been called, Mexican lime and Persian lime.
He noted that there is great concern especially in the National Guild of Persian lime, and said sadly that some shipments have been returned because of the lack of security in safety seal pallets.
He stressed that this worries him as the national representative of the guild, because for some exporters, lime inspections have been very strong when they are about to go to the United States, which means that this law is coming stricter.
So he said the Director General of Health in the country, as a result is calling for a meeting on April 12th to see how they are going to address this matter with the U.S. and ask for a little more flexibility on shipments.
In addition, he reported that on April 27th they will have the second international meeting on "Save the Citrus" in California. In this meeting they will try to find a way to continuing working as they have been doing with the U.S, bearing in mind that if the U.S wants to apply this law, it should start with them. He pointed out that U.S warehouses do not meet the standards in the new law. He stressed that they can not request what they themselves can not comply with.
He also noted that the drought is affecting them a lot. Production has been deteriorating in quality and has a very low price, so for producers it makes it very difficult to meet all of the requirements overnight. He also asks federal and state authorities to think about the people who live in the countryside and now need support. Because if that law is strictly enforced, automatically 50 percent of the Lime Persian Guild exports are going to be affected.
Source: EL MUNDO DE CÓRDOBA