Florida Citrus Show Title Coverage: Fresh Fruit Win
May 1, 2010 
Speaking at the Florida Citrus Show, Dan Richey praised many of the players involved in recent breakthroughs that have changed shipping rules for citrus in canker-infected groves. Richey, CEO of Riverfront Packing Co. and the 2007 Florida Grower Citrus Achievement Award winner, also was very involved in working with USDA and the political structure to get the shipping rules eased for fresh fruit.
The rule changes have been hailed by Florida’s fresh fruit industry as a major win. One statistic shows 1.2 to 2 million cartons of fresh fruit were being shipped to other citrus-producing states before canker restrictions kicked in. Growers hope to capture much of that market share back under the new system.
Eased Movement
In effect, the new rules amended the citrus canker regulations to modify the conditions under which fruit may be moved interstate from a quarantined area. It eliminated the requirement that each lot of finished fruit be inspected at the packinghouse and found to be free of visible symptoms of citrus canker. The rules changes also removed the prohibition on the movement of fruit from a quarantined area to commercial citrus producing states.
The new rules will continue to require fruit moved interstate from a quarantined area to be treated with an approved disinfectant and to be packed in a commercial packinghouse that operates under a compliance agreement. These changes will relieve some restrictions on the interstate movement of fresh citrus fruit from quarantined areas while maintaining conditions that will prevent the artificial spread of citrus canker.
Meanwhile, In Japan
In the time since Richey’s Florida Citrus Show presentation, another significant development has occurred in that Japan will now allow imports of Florida fresh fruit, following a similar path as the recent USDA rules changes. While the rules still have to be formally written, it will mean new business for fresh fruit growers.
Emergency action was enacted right away in order to keep CBS from spreading. Growers fear that the confirmation could result in new shipping restrictions after such a long fight to ease canker restrictions.
According to Michel Sallin, IMG Citrus, the new export rules for Japan come a bit late to benefit this season, but he looks forward to next year. “We had two very good news items this year,” he says. “One was our ability to ship within the U.S. and the other is we can now ship to Japan. The Japanese season is almost over, so it won’t make much of a difference for us this year, but next year, it will be huge.”
Doctor’s Call
The August 2009 issue of Florida Grower featured Dr. Tim Gottwald’s research that helped build the scientific foundation for the eased shipping rules related to canker. Gottwald is research leader of plant pathology at the USDA’s Horticultural Research Lab in Ft. Pierce. Some of the key findings of his research were:
– Postharvest treatments reduce the viability of canker bacteria on fruit.
– The viability of bacteria on fruit diminishes after it is harvested.
– The low potential for spread from fruit to suitable hosts has now been reported by several sources.
– Rinds of infected fruit are unlikely to provide inoculum for disease if they have been discarded in the field at least eight days.
– Fruit parts, even those that are in direct contact with susceptible trees, are unlikely to spread the disease.
– Citrus canker disease development between harvest and packinghouse, via wounding for example, is not likely.
– The viability of canker bacteria that survive the packing process will further diminish during shipping.
– The cool temperatures at which citrus fruit are stored and shipped and the duration of storage reduce the ability of canker to reproduce and cause infection.
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