TALLAHASSEE, Fla., Oct. 22 (UPI) -- The U.S. Department of Agriculture said its ban on commercial shipments of Florida citrus to parts of the United States is being lifted.
The Palm Beach Post reported the ban would be lifted Thursday, allowing Florida fruit to be sent to California, Texas and eight other states and territories that had been declared off limits in 2006 to prevent the spread of citrus canker.
The lifting of the ban applies only to commercial packing houses, which means Floridians are still not allowed to send fruit from their own backyard trees to the effected areas.
Nolan Lemon, a spokesman for the department's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, told the Post studies have shown the canker's spread can be blocked if fruit is disinfected before shipment.
"The likelihood of it being spread in that manner is unlikely and an unnecessary burden on the industry in Florida," Lemon said.
