APHIS Factsheet

Plant Protection and Quarantine April 2007

Questions and 

Answers: Importing 

Indian Mangoes to 

the United States

Q. When did APHIS publish the final rule to allow 

mango imports from India?

A. On March 12, 2007, the U.S. Department of 

Agriculture’s (USDA) Animal and Plant Health 

Inspection Service (APHIS) published in the Federal 

Register under Title 7 Code of Federal Regulations, 

Part 319.56-2tt, a final rule to allow, under certain 

conditions, the importation of commercial shipments of 

fresh mangoes from India into the continental United 

States.

Q. What are the requirements for exporting 

mangoes from India to the United States?

A. To ensure plant pests of quarantine significance 

do not enter the United States through the importation 

of this fruit, the mangoes are first inspected for the 

presence of pests by an APHIS preclearance officer 

in India. If there are no pests present, the fruit will be 

authorized to be treated with specified doses of irradiation prior to export at an APHIS-certified facility. If, 

however, live pests are found during the preclearance 

inspection, the shipment will be refused treatment and 

will not be eligible for export to the United States. 

 Mangoes must be packed in insect-proof boxes 

and safeguarded after treatment to prevent reinfestation. It must also be accompanied by a phytosanitary 

certificate issued by the national plant protection organization (NPPO) of India with additional declarations 

certifying that the treatment and inspection of the mangoes were made in accordance with the regulations.

Q. How do I begin the process of importing 

mangoes from India? 

A. To begin the process of importing mangoes from 

India, you need to apply for an APHIS permit. You 

can apply for the permit online via APHIS’ ePermiting 

system at www.aphis.usda.gov/permits by completing 

the Plant Protection and Quarantine (PPQ) Form 587 

for fresh fruits and vegetables. ePermits is a Webbased tool that allows you to apply for a permit, check 

its status, and view it online. You may also submit 

your application to PPQ’s Permit Services unit. The 

address is: Permit Services, USDA-APHIS-PPQ, 

4700 River Road, Unit 133, Riverdale, MD 20737. 

The permit application form is available online at 

http://www.aphis.usda.gov/ or by calling (877) 770-

5990. The permit to import mangoes from India is 

valid for 1 year from its issuance date. 

Q. Are there any other requirements to import 

mangoes from India?

A. Yes. In addition to USDA requirements, the Food 

and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Department 

of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Customs and Border 

Protection (CBP) have specific requirements to import 

mangoes from India. For information about FDA’s 

requirements, please e-mail industry@fda.gov. 

For more information on CBP’s requirements, please 

visit www.cbp.gov. You may also contact an international customs broker who will help you with inspection and shipping logistics as well as the various 

agency approvals.

Q. What happens when my shipment arrives in the 

United States?

A. When your mangoes arrive at a U.S. port-of-entry, 

CBP inspectors will verify three documents accompanying the shipment to ensure it was properly treated 

and inspected: 

 • PPQ Form 203—Foreign Site Certificate 

 of Inspection—signed by an APHIS officer in 

 the exporting country;

 • Phytosanitary certificate issued by India’s 

 NPPO to certify that the shipment has been 

 treated; and 

 • APHIS import permit, verifying that the 

 shipment has been authorized by USDA to 

 be imported into the United States.

 If these entry requirements are not met, the shipment will be prohibited entry. In addition, CBP inspectors may further inspect precleared commodities at the 

port of first arrival. 

Q. Can I carry fresh mangoes from India to the 

United States on my next flight?

A. No. The rule only applies to commercial shipments of mangoes. Individuals traveling from India to 

the United States cannot bring mangoes, even if they 

have been treated, in their personal baggage. The 

mangoes must enter the United States via commercial 

channels (air or ship) where quarantine security can 

be assured. Boxes of mangoes leaving that chain of 

custody are prohibited entry into the United States.
United States Department of Agriculture • Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service • Safeguarding American Agriculture

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) prohibits discrimination in all its programs and activities on the basis of race, color, 

national origin, age, disability, and where applicable, sex, marital 

status, familial status, parental status, religion, sexual orientation, 

genetic information, political beliefs, reprisal, or because all or part 

of an individual’s income is derived from any public assistance 

program. (Not all prohibited bases apply to all programs.) Persons 

with disabilities who require alternative means for communication of program information (Braille, large print, audiotape, etc.) 

should contact USDA’s TARGET Center at (202) 720–2600 (voice 

and TDD). To file a complaint of discrimination, write to USDA, 

Director, Office of Civil Rights, 1400 Independence Avenue, S.W. , 

Washington , D.C. 20250–9410 , or call (800) 795–3272 (voice) or 

(202) 720–6382 (TDD). USDA is an equal opportunity provider and 

employer. 

Q. Can I send mangoes from India to the United 

States through the mail?

A. No. As stated above, mangoes can only be commercially shipped to the United States. The mangoes must be sent directly from the irradiation facility 

to its means of commericial conveyance (air or ship) 

and then exported directly to the United States. This 

ensures a strict chain of custody in the event the 

imported fruit shows signs of pest infestation.

Q. Why haven’t Indian mangoes been allowed 

into the United States until now?

A. Indian mangoes are the first fruit irradiated in 

a foreign country and approved for importation 

into the United States. APHIS approved the use of 

irradiation as a quarantine treatment for fruits and 

vegetables in October 2002. Then, in January 2006, 

APHIS published another rule approving a minimum 

generic dose (400 gray) of irradiation for imported 

fruits and vegetables. Until the availability of this 

generic dose, the pests associated with the mangoes, specifically the mango seed weevil and the 

mango pulp weevil, could not be mitigated with any 

other APHIS-approved treatments. 

Q. What is food irradiation?

A. Irradiation involves briefly exposing food to ionizing energy for a specific length of time in order 

to destroy or sterilize bacteria, microorganisms, 

or other pests of concern. Food is irradiated in a 

special processing facility and never comes in direct 

contact with the energy source. It is important to 

note that irradiation does not necessarily kill the 

pest, it will however sterilize it, rendering it incapable of reproducing or emerging from a host to an 

adult. Thus, there may be instances where you will 

see insects on your fruit; however, if they’ve been 

treated, they are not harmful to you or the fruit. 

Q. How does the process of irradiation affect the 

pests?

A. The energy waves produced during the irradiation process physically breaks the molecular structure of the pests’ DNA, killing or sterilizing them. 

However, at specified doses, the structure of the 

atom is not affected. 

Q. Is it safe to eat irradiated fruits and/or 

vegetables?

A. Yes. The FDA has evaluated the safety of this 

technology over the last 40 years and has found 

irradiation to be safe under a variety of conditions 

and has therefore approved its use for many foods. 

The agency determined that the process is safe 

and effective in decreasing or eliminating harmful 

bacteria, insects, and parasites. In certain fruits and 

vegetables it inhibits sprouting and delays ripening, 

which allows for a longer shelf life.

 Food irradiation is currently used in over 50 

countries to control plant pests and is approved by 

the World Health Organization, the American Medical 

Association, and many other organizations around the 

world. Although food irradiation has been in existence 

since the 1950s, scientists have just recently begun 

focusing on its ability to control harmful pests and 

diseases associated with fruits and vegetables.

Q. How do I know if my food has been irradiated?

A. The FDA requires that irradiated foods include 

labeling with either the statement, “treated with irradiation” or “treated by irradiation” along with the international symbol for irradiation, called the Radura. 

Q. Where can I find out more information on this 

subject?

A. To learn more about imports of Indian mangoes 

into the United States, please visit the APHIS Web site 

at http://www.aphis.usda.gov/newsroom/hot issues/

index.shtml and, under “Hot Issues” click on the link 

for Indian Mango Imports.