Costa Rica’s melon and watermelon export sector has reportedly made an excellent start to the year after all shipments were cleared for entry into destination markets without any phytosanitary concerns.
According to the Ministry of Agriculture, not one shipment of Costa Rican melons or watermelons has been subject to quarantine or rejections at the ports of entry to date this year.
“There has been no need for fumigation and there hasn’t been a single case of interception due to pests, microbiological contamination or even pesticide residues,” Arturo Segura, supervisor for the Inspection Programme at Costa Rica’s National Phytosanitary Agency, told local a news source.
Mr Segura added that the results served to reaffirm the credibility of Costa Rican-produced fruits.
So far in 2008, the Central American country has exported almost 13m tones of melons and watermelons, of which 54 per cent was shipped to the US market and the remaining 46 per cent to Europe.
After bananas, pineapples and coffee, melons are the fourth-largest agricultural export item in Costa Rica, generating some US$82.5m in revenue each year.
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