Apple industry fights E.U. directive as trade barrier
Apple industry fights E.U. directive as trade barrier
WASHINGTON " A new European Union rule slated to go into effect April 1 will require that all U.S. apples for the European market be inspected, a move that has infuriated U.S. apple companies.
The U.S. apple industry has been pushing the U.S. Department of Agriculture to fight the April 1 rule as a trade barrier, and its efforts may be paying off as new Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns pledged to help resolve the issue at a congressional hearing last month.
Much is at stake for the apple industry. The European Union is a critical market for U.S. apples, with 1.7 million bushels ($24 million worth of apples) shipped in 2003, said the U.S. Apple Association. Not only would the apple industry lose money, it would lose market share because the April 1 start date for these inspections coincides with the peak marketing season for Chile and New Zealand and other Southern Hemisphere apple-producing nations.
?What makes this directive so unfair is the fact that many of our competitors have received a waiver from the ruling and will be required to conduct a smaller number of phytosanitary inspections," said USApple President and CEO Nancy Foster. "To the best of our knowledge, there has never been a detection of quarantined plant pests or diseases in U.S. apples sent to the E.U., but the new directive sets up arbitrary criteria for deciding which country can be eligible for reduced inspections."
The E.U."s Plant Health Directive requires that all U.S. apples shipped to the European Union be tested for plant pests and diseases upon arrival. In the past, U.S. apples have been subject to testing on only a portion of the apples imported.
This policy change is not based on past evidence of plant pest or disease, said Ms. Foster, and competing exporters, such as Chile, China, Brazil and New Zealand, have already qualified for scaled-back inspections. Only up to half of the apples from those countries for the E.U. market would be inspected, she said.
The directive will be costly to U.S. apple exporters. Fruit quality also may suffer if the cold-storage chain cannot be adequately maintained due to congestion and delay at points of entry in the European Union. Congestion is an increasingly pertinent issue as the inspections are to be done pre-Customs.
At a recent hearing, Mr. Johanns questioned the scientific basis of a new European Union regulation, and said that the USDA was actively "engaging with the E.U." to resolve the matter before the April 1 implementation.
?The commitment of the Bush administration is critical to the resolution of this unfair trade barrier," said Ms. Foster. "The U.S. has an abundant crop of excellent-quality apples that deserve fair and equal access into the E.U."
?The E.U. is implementing a regulation that clearly discriminates against U.S. apples, will unduly restrict trade and is not based on scientific principles," Mark Powers, vice president of the Northwest Horticultural Council, said in a recent statement. "The U.S. should quickly bring its resources to bear to remove this unwarranted barrier to trade."
?It is vital that the U.S. apple industry continues to have equal access to the E.U. market," noted Kris Marceca of the U.S. Apple Export Council. "This is a market that is important to many apple growers in different parts of the U.S., particularly given the abundant U.S. apple crop this year."
The U.S. apple industry has been pushing the U.S. Department of Agriculture to fight the April 1 rule as a trade barrier, and its efforts may be paying off as new Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns pledged to help resolve the issue at a congressional hearing last month.
Much is at stake for the apple industry. The European Union is a critical market for U.S. apples, with 1.7 million bushels ($24 million worth of apples) shipped in 2003, said the U.S. Apple Association. Not only would the apple industry lose money, it would lose market share because the April 1 start date for these inspections coincides with the peak marketing season for Chile and New Zealand and other Southern Hemisphere apple-producing nations.
?What makes this directive so unfair is the fact that many of our competitors have received a waiver from the ruling and will be required to conduct a smaller number of phytosanitary inspections," said USApple President and CEO Nancy Foster. "To the best of our knowledge, there has never been a detection of quarantined plant pests or diseases in U.S. apples sent to the E.U., but the new directive sets up arbitrary criteria for deciding which country can be eligible for reduced inspections."
The E.U."s Plant Health Directive requires that all U.S. apples shipped to the European Union be tested for plant pests and diseases upon arrival. In the past, U.S. apples have been subject to testing on only a portion of the apples imported.
This policy change is not based on past evidence of plant pest or disease, said Ms. Foster, and competing exporters, such as Chile, China, Brazil and New Zealand, have already qualified for scaled-back inspections. Only up to half of the apples from those countries for the E.U. market would be inspected, she said.
The directive will be costly to U.S. apple exporters. Fruit quality also may suffer if the cold-storage chain cannot be adequately maintained due to congestion and delay at points of entry in the European Union. Congestion is an increasingly pertinent issue as the inspections are to be done pre-Customs.
At a recent hearing, Mr. Johanns questioned the scientific basis of a new European Union regulation, and said that the USDA was actively "engaging with the E.U." to resolve the matter before the April 1 implementation.
?The commitment of the Bush administration is critical to the resolution of this unfair trade barrier," said Ms. Foster. "The U.S. has an abundant crop of excellent-quality apples that deserve fair and equal access into the E.U."
?The E.U. is implementing a regulation that clearly discriminates against U.S. apples, will unduly restrict trade and is not based on scientific principles," Mark Powers, vice president of the Northwest Horticultural Council, said in a recent statement. "The U.S. should quickly bring its resources to bear to remove this unwarranted barrier to trade."
?It is vital that the U.S. apple industry continues to have equal access to the E.U. market," noted Kris Marceca of the U.S. Apple Export Council. "This is a market that is important to many apple growers in different parts of the U.S., particularly given the abundant U.S. apple crop this year."
