Chinese inspectors find quarantine pest in South African grapefruit
Chinese inspectors have intercepted a shipment of South African grapefruit in the port of Jiuzhou and have sent it back due to the detection of Cryptophlebia leucotreta, commonly known as false codling moth.
A release from the Zhuhai Inspection and Quarantine Bureau in Guangdong said this was the first time the port had returned substandard fruit products.
The announcement states that on August 19, the shipment of 1,435 cartons with a value of US$24,528, was reported by a Zhuhai-based company.
Back in March this year, the bureau discovered the pest in South African grapefruit carried by an inbound traveler at the Gongbei customs checkpoint.
The Chinese Academy of Inspection and Quarantine later confirmed this was the first interception of such a pest nationwide.
The false codling moth is considered to be native to Ethiopia, and has spread to South Africa and islands in the Atlantic and Indian Oceans.
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