(Seoul=Yonhap News) Reporter Kim Yoon-gu = The Animal and Plant Quarantine Agency announced on the 25th that it has agreed to ease quarantine requirements for the export of watermelons to Australia.
Domestic watermelons concluded an export negotiation with Australia in June 2023, and 14 tons have been exported since February of last year.
Previously, to export watermelons to Australia, it was necessary to prove that the Australian quarantine pest, the cucurbit fruit fly, had not occurred, and it was required to install traps that could catch pests inside and outside the greenhouse for eight months each year (November to June of the following year) and conduct inspections every week or every two weeks.
The Quarantine Agency has been negotiating with Australia since March of last year and recently agreed to abolish the requirement for external greenhouse trap inspections.
This easing of export quarantine measures will apply from watermelons shipped in December.
As a result, the Quarantine Agency expects a significant reduction in the cost of installing traps for watermelon exporting farmers.
Go Byung-gu, Director of the Plant Quarantine Division at the Quarantine Agency, said, "The easing of export requirements will greatly simplify the quarantine procedures and increase the number of participating farms," and added, "We will continue to pursue the easing of export requirements."
ykim@yna.co.kr