EPA, reclassifies Chinese Jujube as Stone Fruit Group.

Korea Food and Drug Administration (KFDA) announced that they anticipate the exporting of Chinese jujube to increase, following the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)'s decision to add this commodity to the revised Stone Fruit Group.

Previously, Korean industry experienced difficulty in exporting Chinese jujube to the US due to a violation in standards as this commodity did not belong to specific crop group and the ‘zero tolerance policy’ was applied accordingly.

In November 2011, the KFDA submitted to the EPA the supporting data and requested that Chinese jujube be reconsidered as a member of stone fruit group. After review, EPA concluded it would be appropriate to include Chinese jujube as a member of Stone Fruit Group and corresponding maximum residue limit be applied.

KFDA noted that with the revision to the standards, Korea anticipates for the significant increase in the trade volume of Chinese jujubes to the US.