06/30/05 Oregon fruit and CAFTA-DR

Several fruit commodity groups have come out in favor of the Central American  Dominican Republic Free Trade Agreement. And in the state of Oregon where both the tree fruit and berry industries produce several economic benefits for communities and the state as a whole, various groups are making it known to their Congressional delegation to get behind C.A.F.T.A.  D.R. BASHUE: We know that Congressman Walden's office has received letters from the Northwest Horticultural Council, the Oregon Cherry Growers, the Fruit Growers League of Jackson County, and others. So it's not just a Farm Bureau perspective on this. That's Barry Bashue of the Oregon Farm Bureau, whose organization held a press conference urging support of C.A.F.T.A.-D.R. He notes that with several specialty crops seeing tariffs into C.A.F.T.A.-D.R. nations receiving immediate duty elimination under the agreement, Oregon's fruit industry stands to gain about $739,000 dollars in annual revenue. As an example, Oregon's pear and apple producers currently face duties as high as twenty-five per cent for their products when entering into many Central American countries. C.A.F.T.A.-D.R. will soon come under Congressional consideration after President Bush last week signed the trade deal. BASHUE: It's relevant to note in the state of Oregon that both of our Senators, one being a Republican and one being a Democrat, voted to pass this out of the Senate Finance Committee and I think that is a good sign. There is obviously some bi-partisan support on this issue and we have fans in both political parties and that's always a good sign.