The Minister of Industry and Commerce, Jose del Castillo Savinon, has admitted that the ban on exports of certain fruits and vegetables to the United States market will have a negative impact on the producers of these food items. The ban was imposed after Mediterranean fruit fly (medfly) was detected in the country. The Minister recalled that as a consequence of the measure ordered by the US phyto-sanitary (plant health) authorities, seven articles would not be allowed to enter the market, representing a loss of US$61 million. Del Castillo Savinon said that although this number might be small in terms of total exports, this represents a serious problem for the vegetable, mango and avocado producers. The Minister was interviewed by Hector Herrera Cabral on the D’Agenda program on Telesistema, Channel 11 yesterday, Sunday 29 March 2015.