The General Administration of Customs grants first-time entry to Rwandan fruits.

On December 4, the General Administration of Customs issued a notice on the quarantine requirements for the import of fresh food avocados from Rwanda, allowing the import of fresh food avocados from Kenya that meet relevant requirements. This is Rwanda's first fresh fruit to gain access to the Chinese market, making it the fifth African country, after South Africa, Kenya, Tanzania, and Zimbabwe, to be authorized to export avocados to China. Rwandan avocados are rapidly becoming a new emerging economic crop following traditional export agricultural products such as coffee and tea, and their market is expanding in the Middle East, especially in the UAE. Data from the Rwanda National Agricultural Export Board (NAEB) shows that the country's avocado exports increased from USD 440,000 in 2013 to USD 6.3 million in 2023. In 2023, Rwanda exported 3,200 tons of avocados at an average price of USD 2 per kilogram. With the government planning to increase avocado exports to 31,000 tons by 2029, large markets such as China and India have become key targets for local producers. The notice from the General Administration of Customs shows that the quarantine pests of concern to China include the Mediterranean fruit fly, Natal fruit fly, apple codling moth, sea grey wing moth, West African mealybug, and avocado scab pathogens. The fruit gardens exporting to China should establish and implement Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) under Rwandan supervision and execute integrated pest management (IPM) to avoid or minimize the occurrence of the quarantine pests of concern on the avocados. During the processing, the avocados should undergo water washing, brushing, manual picking, and grading to ensure they are free from any live insects, bad fruits, inferior fruits (overripe fruits, stem-attached fruits, scarred fruits, black-spotted fruits, deformed fruits, etc.), branches, leaves, and soil. The fruit stems should not be longer than 3 mm. The avocados exported to China should be treated with phosphine fumigation before export under the supervision of authorized personnel in Rwanda to eliminate fruit flies and apple codling moths. The fumigation treatment indicators are as follows: Image source: unsplash2025 International Fruit and Vegetable Report. All rights reserved. For reprints, please contact the International Fruit and Vegetable Report for permission and credit.