The US Animal Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) approved a treatment for the blueberries that Uruguay exports to that country, a decision that will increase the confidence that American customers have on the fruit's quality and that will help that market to be more sustainable.
Horacio Ozer Ami, President of the Union of Producers and Exporters of Fruit and Vegetable from Uruguay (Uprefruy), confirmed the news and said that this authorization will allow them to fumigate the fruit in the place of origin at 15°C instead of 21°C, which will ostensibly improve the quality of the fruit.
Yesterday, the US Embassy released a statement that said, "APHIS had published in the Federal Register a notice of availability of a document on the evaluation of treatments on fumigation of blueberries," something that the fruit export industry from Uruguay had been asking for a long time.
The new protocol considers additional treatment for the fumigation of blueberries with methyl bromide to combat the Mediterranean and South American fruit flies.
Ozer Ami said that this stems from an initiative by Argentine producers, backed by and with an economical contribution from Upefruy, which led to a series of tests in Tucuman, at a cost of US $60, 000; the results of which satisfied US authorities.
Source: Elobservador.com.uy