(Yicai) Aug. 22 -- Chinese mainland authorities have suspended shipments of mangoes from Taiwan after customs officials found mealybugs in the fruit.

To prevent the risk of a plant epidemic, the General Administration of Customs stopped accepting customs declarations for Taiwan mangoes yesterday after detecting the omnivorous insect.

Mealybugs, or planococcus minor, which can infest and kill plants such as bananas, soybeans, corn, and potatoes, was added to China’s phytosanitary pests list in 2007.

The GACC suspended the entry of sugar apples and java apples from Taiwan in September 2021 because of the presence of mealybugs.

The mango entry restriction will not greatly impact mainland firms as the country’s mangos mainly come from the provinces of Yunnan, Sichuan, Hainan, and Guangdong and Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, a market source said. Those used by leading juice maker Suniko are from Guangxi and Sichuan, for example.

Mango production in the mainland is also expanding. Between 2012 and 2021, output soared 272 percent to nearly 4 million tons, according to agriculture ministry data.

Editors: Zhang Yushuo, Futura Costaglione