09/07/05 Apples back in Japan, Part One

09/07/05 Apples back in Japan, Part One

Apples back in Japan. I'm Andy Patrick. It's official, but what does it really mean for our region's apple growers? Details are coming up on today's "Northwest Fruit Grower Report". U.S.D.A. Secretary Mike Johanns and U.S. Trade Representative Rob Portman had some good news for the U.S. apple industry. Japan had finally agreed to effectively drop its fireblight restrictions that has prevented our apples from entering that market for years. The decision came as a result of a previous World Trade Organization ruling against Japan's fireblight regulations and subsequent push by the U.S. apple industry to remove such regulations completely. ARCHER: We had been eligible to export into Japan for several years but it was particularly difficult to meet this fireblight requirement. It required a 500 meter buffer zone around the export orchard. It required three inspections during the growing season of each tree in the orchard and as well as each tree in the buffer zone, and some other requirements to mitigate risk of introducing fireblight. The United States just simply felt those requirements were not justified , that they were unreasonable, and so we protested and the U.S. Trade Representative's Office took the case to Geneva and ultimately won. So Jim Archer of Northwest Fruit Exporters, what exactly does Japan's decision mean for U.S. and Northwest apple producers and shippers? One point is that U.S. apples are allowed back into Japan effective immediately. But will it have that great of an economic impact? More on that and future fireblight plans pertaining to Japan are discussed in our next program
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