Manila bans Chinese fruit

Manila bans Chinese fruit

Reuters, Manila

The Philippines said on Friday it had imposed a temporary ban on the import of corn, apples and other fruits from China after finding the codling moth pest in some shipments of Chinese apples.

Besides apples, other fruits covered by the ban included pears, apricots, peaches, plums, cherries, almonds, quinces and walnuts.

Manila issued the ban on Thursday after quarantine inspectors found live codling moth larva in 342 tons of Chinese apples that arrived in the country last week, the Department of Agriculture said in a statement.

"This temporary ban is our first line of defense against the possible attack of a vicious foreign pest," Agriculture Secretary Leonardo Montemayor said.

He said he had ordered the "stoppage/confiscation of all shipments arriving into the country of the affected commodities originating from China."