03/31/05 E.U. deadline on fruit inspections, Pt.1

Tomorrow is an important deadline for the Northwest fruit industry. The European Union has new rules in effect, starting April First that would require one hundred per cent inspections of imported plant products. That is unless the commodities qualify for reduced inspections based on prior safety records. So Mark Powers of the Northwest Horticultural Council, what's the concern of U.S. tree fruit growers and shippers? POWERS: At this point, our commodities & apples, pears, and cherries & have not qualified for reduced inspection levels. But just as important, competitors to U.S. fruit products such as South Africa, Chile, Argentina, and Turkey have qualified for such exemptions, and therefore gain a trade advantage. Powers joined other U.S. trade officials in discussions with European counterparts over the matter. And Powers says E.U. officials acknowledge it was an unintentional oversight on their part. POWERS: Our commodities do not present a plant health risk to the E.U. The way that the system was designed; they didn't have the data to prove that our products didn't present a risk. They weren't inspecting at high levels precisely because they knew that we weren't sending pest and diseases on our products. And as a result, they didn't have data to show that our products weren't a risk. But E.U. officials are working to rectify the situation, and in a way that will not be detrimental to U.S. fruit growers and shippers this year. More on that in our next program.