On Oct. 20, the General Administration of Customs of China announced via its website [3] that three types of fresh berries — raspberries, blackcurrants and blackberries — from Kyrgyzstan [4] meeting the stipulated phytosanitary requirements would be permissible for import into China. This marks the first time that China has approved the import of fresh blackcurrants. Kyrgyzstan is also the second country, after Mexico, to receive the GACC’s approval to export fresh raspberries and blackberries to China.

Blackcurrants (Ribes nigrum) are primarily found in temperate and colder regions of the Northern Hemisphere. These small, dark-colored berries have a distinctly tart flavor and can be eaten fresh or used to make jam, juice, yogurt, desserts and other products.

According to the GACC announcement, a total of five quarantine pests of concern have been identified by China. These include the raspberry beetle (Byturus tomentosus), fire blight (Erwinia amylovora), powdery mildew of currant (Podosphaera mors-uvae), tobacco ringspot virus and the fungal plant pathogen Verticillium dahlia.

Orchards intending to export fresh raspberries, blackcurrants and blackberries to China must establish and implement good agricultural practices under the supervision of the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Resources of Kyrgyzstan and adhere to integrated pest management techniques to prevent or minimize the risk of quarantine pests of concern.

Packing facilities handling fresh raspberries, blackcurrants and blackberries destined for China must maintain good sanitary conditions, have hardened floors and implement measures to prevent pest reinfestation, such as installing insect-proof screens. These berries must be packed and stored separately from fruit not intended for export to China. During packing, they must be sorted, inspected and graded to ensure the absence of insects, mites, rotten fruit, branches, leaves, roots, soil and other contaminants.

The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Resources of Kyrgyzstan or its authorized agencies must conduct sampling inspections of each consignment of berries destined for China, with a sampling rate of 2%. If no phytosanitary issues are detected over a two-year period, the sampling rate may be reduced to 1%.

During entry inspection and quarantine, consignments containing berries from orchards or packing facilities not registered with the GACC will be denied entry. If live specimens of quarantine pests of concern to China, soil or plant debris are detected, the consignment will be returned, destroyed or subjected to pest eradication treatment. Consignments found to be non-compliant with China’s food safety laws, regulations or national standards will be returned or destroyed.

Images: Pixabay

This article was based on a Chinese article. Read the original article [5].