10/28/05 Spud issues at NAPPO

10/28/05 Spud issues at NAPPO

Farm and Ranch October 28, 2005 Exporters of potatoes to Mexico will have more time to comply with a new standard regarding wood pallets used in shipping. That's what Matt Harris, Director of International Trade for the Washington State Potato Commission, learned at the annual meeting of the North American Plant Protection Organization held in Mexico earlier this month. To prevent the spread of a host of wood pests and diseases, September 16th was supposed to be the date for enforcement to begin of a standard requiring heat treatment or fumigation of wood pallets. But Harris says that has changed due to the results of a survey. Harris: "And found that only 30% of exporters and importers were actually abiding by this rule." As a consequence a decision has been made to delay full implementation until February 1st of 2006. Harris: "And so it is not a zero tolerance just. February 1st they will begin a zero tolerance. That is kind of good news to the industry. It gives us some time to adopt this standard." An agreement exempts U.S. shipments to Canada from the standard. Currently fresh potato shipments to Mexico are inspected and certified to be free of certain pests but Harris learned that Mexico is preparing a proposal for pest free zones, citing five specific potato pests, several of which can be found in the Pacific Northwest. Harris says that proposal could be viewed as a trade barrier and the U.S. industry will be commenting on it at a future meeting. That's the Northwest Farm and Ranch Report. Brought to you in part by the Washington State Potato Commission. Nutrition today. Good health tomorrow. I'm Bob Hoff on the Northwest Ag Information Network.
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