New Zealand and Australia have announced they will import fresh lychees and longan from Thailand beginning this year, says Science and Technology Minister Pichet Durongkaveroj.
He said it is the first time New Zealand and Australia would import the fruits from Thailand, which will undergo irradiation treatment to eradicate plant pests.
A researcher at the Office of Atoms for Peace shows a newly developed radioactivity detector. Devices such as this will help screen fruits to be sold to Australia and New Zealand under a new export deal. Chanat Katanyu
Mr Pichet said the two countries recently approved the imports after they sent their plant quarantine experts to visit the Irradiation Centre under the Thailand Institute of Nuclear Technology (TINT) (Public Organisation) last year.
They were apparently happy with what they saw.
The centre carries out irradiation of food products and agricultural produce such as spices, herbs, fruits and seafood products.
"We expect the value of exports of the two types of fruits will rise to 2.3 billion baht a year [after New Zealand and Australia import them]," he said.
Speaking at a briefing yesterday at the Science and Technology Ministry to announce the development, Mr Pichet said he was told both countries decided to import the fruits because their experts were satisfied with the effectiveness of the irradiation treatment.
Mr Pichet said he was also told the irradiation is carried out in line with international standards that can eliminate any diseases and bugs in those fruits and other farm products.
"New Zealand and Australia are concerned about plant diseases and bugs that may come from local plants so all fruit shipments must first undergo irradiation treatment," he said.
He said many countries have their own measures to inspect and restrict some fruit imports from other countries because of the spread of transboundary plant diseases and pests.
For example, the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) of the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) requires seven types of Thai fruits exported to the US to be subject to irradiation treatment and inspections.
The fruits are longan, lychee, mango, mangosteen, pineapple, rambutan and dragon fruit.
Mr Pichet said the ministry has approved a budget of 600 million baht for the TINT to buy another type of device, an X-ray or electron-beam machine, used to irradiate large quantities of agricultural and fruit products.
He said the machine will help boost irradiation capacity from 20 tonnes to 100 tonnes a day, in response to the growing number of fruits and vegetables that require irradiation treatment before export.