ARTICLE - U.S. BAN ON DRIED MANGOES

HAITIAN MAYOR LASHES OUT AT U.S. BAN ON DRIED MANGOES
(Defend Haiti) -

GROS-MORNE - A dried mango plant in Gros-Morne was closed due to the decision of the United States to ban the sale of dried mangoes from Haiti, a decision Vice-Mayor Beauger Rubin calls a "slap in the face," to Haitian local production.

Hygiene conditions in the treatment of mangoes were not to the taste of U.S. authorities, according to the decision-makers.

Vice-Mayor Rubin of the township of Gros-Morne in the Upper Artibonite, did not accept the prohibition of the sale of dried mangoes from Haiti in the U.S.

In an interview, Rubin expressed regret at the U.S. decision, and said that it has forced producers in the city to lose an important market for their delicious mangoes.

"It is a blow to local authorities, who have opened a plant for drying mangoes," said the deputy mayor. "Due to this measure, the Gros Morne plant was closed. The U.S. is a major potential customer to sell this product..."

"Dried mangoes were exported to the U.S. by a previous company," he says, and "had never caused health problems in the U.S. population."

Beauger Rubin wonders why every time the Haitian authorities take measures to lift the people out of poverty, there are always other institutions (national or international) that react adversely.

"The hygiene problem raised by the United States to prohibit the sale and consumption of dried mangoes from Haiti, is a false problem... this is a slap to the Haitian people" said the Deputy Mayor.