Hawai'i exotic fruit growers may be getting a break, and they say it's about time.

Since earlier this year, growers in Thailand have been able to ship mangosteen, dragon fruit and Korean melons to the U.S. Mainland. But Hawai'i farmers haven't been allowed to ship their mangosteen and other fruits to the Mainland for years even though the state has been asking for the right since 1997.

The U.S. Agriculture Department finally is doing something about the inequity, proposing that the same rule applied to Thailand apply to America's 50th state.

Export would be allowed as long as the fruit is irradiated, a treatment that kills insects and other pests.

"It's about time," said Bob Hamilton, a tropical fruit farmer and distributor on the Big Island. "We have mangosteen growing here. It's unfortunate that now Thailand can sell it on the Mainland and we can't."

Specialty tropical fruit sales are one of the bright spots in Hawai'i's agriculture industry. An estimated 1.45 million pounds of fruit sold for about $2.6 million last year.

The proposed rule change for Hawai'i growers was published in the federal registry on Nov. 15, according to U.S. Rep. Neil Abercrombie's office. Abercrombie, D-Hawai'i, helped arrange a video conference last year between USDA officials and Hawai'i fruit growers upset over a rule change that allowed Thailand to export fruits to the United States, while Hawai'i growers couldn't send to the Mainland.

"It's very frustrating when our government gives other countries (the ability to sell fruit on the Mainland) and won't give it to us," Hamilton said.

The rule change for Thailand was approved earlier this year. Hamilton said so far there hasn't been much of an effect on Hawai'i growers.

The USDA is taking comments on the proposed rule change for Hawai'i until Jan. 14, said Lyle Wong, plant quarantine administrator for the state Department of Agriculture.

The rule could be approved and published sometime in February, Wong said. Once that happens, Hawai'i growers will be able to export fruit to the Mainland with irradiation treatment.

Wong thinks there's a market for not only mangosteen, but Korean melon, breadfruit and jack fruit.

But he said foreign growers still have an advantage over Hawai'i because the approval process to bring in new fruits from other countries has been expedited, meaning new foreign fruits and vegetables can be approved within a year or two.

Hawai'i's applications must still go through a longer quarantine review process. Wong said Hawai'i is still waiting for the federal government to act on applications to approve shipping of Hawai'i citrus and guava filed nearly a decade ago.

"It (the rule change) still doesn't put us on par with the rest of the world," Wong said.