The U.S. government wasn’t purely motivated by foreign policy concerns when it lifted a ban on lemon imports from Argentina, a federal judge ruled late Tuesday.
The U.S. Citrus Science Council and five growers sued the U.S. Department of Agriculture and Secretary Sonny Perdue this past May, claiming they ignored science and made a politically motivated decision to lift the ban on Argentine citrus.
The United States banned Argentine lemons in 1947, due to plant pests and diseases there. The growers say the Argentinean government has a history of not reporting disease outbreaks. They particularly cited citrus black spot, which has devastated the citrus industry in Florida.
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