Mandarins under a countywide quarantine in Tulare County are getting some good news on enforced regulations.
Update for Mandarins Inside Quarantine
The California Department of Food and Agriculture released an amended pest exclusion advisory last week that stated mandarin fruit with attached stems and leaves, grown within an ACP only quarantined area, may now be shipped intrastate to any processor/packer. Tulare County Agriculture Commissioner Marilyn Kinoshita says some mandarin growers and packers in her county had been shut down since the original quarantine. Several years later, the United States Department of Agriculture realized that changes needed to be made. Kinoshita said she is glad the changes were made, as blanket policies aren’t always the best fit for every state’s situation.