Port Manatee has gained federal approval to receive direct imports of select cold-treated South American produce via an expanding pilot program.
Port Manatee may begin participation in the Florida Perishables Trade Coalition pilot program effective Oct. 1, according to approval received Sept. 10 from officials of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
The approval comes following a July 9 meeting at Port Manatee with federal officials and stakeholders. During the meeting, officials of USDA’s APHIS were joined by counterparts from U.S. Customs and Border Protection and the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services in explaining the pilot program’s procedures and benefits.
Perishables brought to Florida ports in this manner can offer U.S. consumers fresher, more economical product than that which follows the traditional routes to Philadelphia and other ports north of the 39th parallel. Thanks to new technologies for shipboard cold treatment, it is no longer necessary for ships to take South American fruit to northern climates to alleviate pest concerns.
The pilot program was initiated in fall 2013 with allowance of imports of cold-treated grapes and blueberries from Peru and Uruguay into ports of South Florida’s Miami Dade and Broward counties. The expanded program now also encompasses citrus from Peru, as well as blueberries, apples and pears from Argentina.
