03/30/06 Potatoes on display

U.S. Potatoes on display. I'm Greg Martin with today's Line On Agriculture. When we think of exporting food to a foreign country, Canada is not usually one of the first names that comes to mind but they are the nearest foreign market for Washington and Oregon fresh potatoes. This past week the Canadian Produce Marketing Association held their annual convention and trade show in Vancouver, BC. The CPMA Annual Convention and Trade Show is the largest fresh produce event of its kind in Canada. It averages over 3,600 guests and over 310 exhibits per year. According to Dave Long, CEO of the WA/OR UNITED Potato Coop the Canadian market is an important one. LONG: It's a very vibrant, very high energy area with a long of younger people up in there and they consume an awful lot of potatoes. And it's one of the best markets we've got and we expect it to grow in the future. Recently changes were made in the export process. Long explains. LONG: There was an import duty imposed on all potatoes coming out of the Columbia Basin of Washington. The duty on 80 count cartons and larger was removed, done away with so that open up another segment of the market that we can go into without paying any duty. The purpose of the Washington and Oregon UNITED Fresh Potato Growers Cooperative is to improve the overall sustainability of fresh potato producers in Washington State. Over 80% of the fresh potato shipment volume in Washington State and Oregon is represented by the Coop. That's today's Line On Agriculture. I'm Greg Martin on the Northwest Ag Information Network.