File Photo: VCG

Manzhouli, in North China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, has announced a ban on fruit imports from Sunday as a requirement for epidemic control and prevention.

The ban comes after the surface of imported fruits tested positive for COVID-19 in multiple cities and is aimed at preventing the spread of the virus through imported fruits, the announcement said.

The importation of fruits into Manzhouli city is suspended from Sunday and, for imported fruits that have arrived in the city and were in transit before Sunday, the buyers must register with the market supervision department, put the fruit under centralized management, and suspend sales. 

The buyers must provide documents, including customs declaration form, inspection and quarantine certificate, disinfection certificate and nucleic acid test certificate for the fruit, and have a professional disinfection agency to decontaminate the fruit before they are allowed to put the fruit in market shelves.

In the past two weeks, imported fruits such as pitaya, longan and banana have tested positive for COVID-19 on the surface and packaging. 

On Saturday, the packaging of a batch of imported banana in North China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region tested positive for COVID-19. Earlier, multiple cities including Jinhua, Lishui and Shaoxing reported that red pitaya imported from Vietnam also tested positive for COPVID-19 on its packaging. Yinchuan, a city in Northwest China's Gansu Province, reported a batch of imported longan positive for COVID-19 on its peel and outer packaging.