Source: the-scientist.com

The US Department of Agriculture plans to bar Florida from shipping fresh citrus fruit to other citrus-growing states in order to stop the spread of citrus canker. But critics said the semi-quarantine, set for the forthcoming shipping season this fall, isn’t required to stop canker spread, and the USDA is in its place just setting up a trade barrier for the state.

“Scientifically, it’s safe to ship this fruit as long as it’s been washed and waxed the way [Florida government regulators] propose to do it,” Dean Gabriel, a professor of plant pathology and the citrus fruits canker expert at the University of Florida in Gainesville, told The Scientist.

“The fact of the matter is USDA’s own scientists have concluded that asymptomatic fruit -- that is, fruit with no evidence of disease -- is not a pathway toward the spread of citrus canker,” Terence McElroy, press secretary for the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services in Tallahassee, told The Scientist. McElroy said the state, along with citrus fruits growers, is looking into having the decision overturned.