Mango imports from Taiwan suspended

The General Administration of Customs' decision to suspend mango imports from Taiwan to the mainland is a legal, scientific and standard biosecurity precautionary measure, a spokeswoman for the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council said on Monday.

Customs officials on the mainland have discovered passion-vine mealybugs, a harmful species of insect, in mangoes imported from Taiwan this year. The mealybugs pose a major threat to the mainland's agricultural production and ecological security, spokeswoman Zhu Fenglian said.

The discovery led the General Administration of Customs to suspend mango imports from Taiwan indefinitely, starting from Monday.

The administration has notified Taiwan of the suspension through channels established under the cross-Strait agricultural product quarantine and inspection cooperation agreement, which was signed in December 2009, and requested that the island further improve its plant quarantine management system, Zhu said.

These measures are normal, scientific and reasonable biosecurity precautions and in line with the mainland's laws, regulations and standards, she said.