AIT Statement on U.S. Apple Imports
Taiwan’s Bureau of Animal and Plant Health Inspection and Quarantine (BAPHIQ) informed AIT on November 7, that U.S. apple exports had been temporarily suspended due to the detection of a codling moth larva in a shipment of apples from Washington State. AIT, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), and the Washington State apple industry all take this detection extremely seriously. The goal of both the USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) and BAPHIQ is to prevent the introduction of codling moth to Taiwan from the United States. For 25 years, the United States has been exporting apples to Taiwan without a single detection of codling moth. As the result of the recent detection, AIT and APHIS will propose a strengthened inspection plan for codling moth to BAPHIQ. AIT and APHIS will also invite a BAPHIQ inspector to the United States to review the strengthened inspection plan in action. We sincerely hope that through these efforts at improved inspection, BAPHIQ will lift the temporary import suspension.