(Ecofin Agency) - U.S has just lifted the temporary ban it previously imposed on citruses exported from Berkane in Morocco. This was revealed on December 17, 2017, by the national office for food safety (ONSSA).

The ban was imposed since last year, on December 23, after Mediterranean fruit fly larvae or Ceratitis was found in two cargoes of clementine which were to be exported to the United States.

According to the ONSSA, the ban was lifted after a favorable audit conducted by the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) of the US department of agriculture (USDA), between October 16 and 20, 2017, in the concerned region.  

“The decision to lift the ban is the satisfaction of the American technical services and phytosanitary requirements through the reinforced operational action plan, developed in consultation between ONSSA professionals”, a statement from the institution indicates.  

Let’s recall that between October 26 and December 7, this year, the Berkane region exported about 27,930 tons of clementine, mainly to Russia (48%), Europe (38%) and Canada (12%).

In 2016/2017, Morocco has produced 1.28 million tons of citruses, and exported about 470,000 tons of this output, according to the USDA’s estimates.

Espoir Olodo