Brazil: Laboratory helps producers export Tahiti lime to the European Union

Unit The Department of Plant Health of the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock (Mapa) recently recognized the Phytopathology Laboratory of Embrapa Cassava and Fruticulture (BA) as capable of issuing a report for citrus wart disease. This fungal disease limits the shipping of Tahiti lemon fruits, or acid lime, to the European Union (EU) due to phytosanitary restrictions on Elsinoë spp., a pest considered quarantine, that is, non-existent, on that continent. Although Bahia does not record the occurrence of the disease, as do some other Brazilian regions, the absence of a report certifying the health of the batches makes exports to the EU difficult. Around 200 samples from producers in the states of Bahia (especially the Cruz das Almas region), Sergipe and Minas Gerais have already benefited, since the beginning of April, from the proximity of the laboratory, which issues the reports in the period from one to ten days, depending on demand and the presence or absence of symptoms in ...