Chilean Restrictions on Lettuce

Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on: (1) the Chilean government's ban on the sale of certain fresh produce in all commercial food establishments; and (2) a U.S. fast food chain's efforts to have the ban lifted. GAO noted that: (1) Chile imposed the ban in 1991 as a precaution against possible outbreaks of cholera; (2) in September 1994, the Chilean Ministry of Health indicated that it would lift the ban on lettuce for the U.S. corporation if it guaranteed that the lettuce was cholera-free and other Chilean government bodies agreed; (3) because it could not import lettuce, the U.S. corporation proposed using a closed system for the production, processing, and distribution of fresh lettuce; and (4) as of November 1994, the Chilean government had not completed action on lifting the ban.