US ruling permits import of litchi and longans

The news comes on the back of a US Department of Agriculture (USDA) decision, effective October 6, 2014, to allow their import conditioned upon the products meeting US standards for food safety and hygiene.

Specifically, they must be grown at registered location and monitored by the Plant Protection Department and each batch of product must be accompanied with a certificate issued by the Plant Protection Department.

Most importantly, these fruit must be in strict compliance with regulations governing levels of pesticides.