The recent request by the Florida Tomato Exchange (FTE) asking the Department of Commerce to withdraw from the 2019 Tomato Suspension Agreement jeopardizes the availability of the variety of tomatoes that U.S consumers expect at prices they can afford and would harm U.S. businesses says the Fresh Produce Association of Americas (FPAA). Through these actions, the FTE continues to attempt to use antidumping laws for the unintended purpose of creating a monopoly for themselves in the marketplace.
Gassed green versus vine-ripened
“The allegations by the Florida growers are as tired as their gassed green tomatoes,” said Lance Jungmeyer, FPAA president. “Consumers prefer vine-ripened tomatoes over gassed green tomatoes. Mexico is a major supplier of vine-ripened tomatoes, which is one reason why the FTE wants to erect a trade barrier.”
The FTE special interest group fails to mention that many large Florida growers clamoring for protection are also some of the largest financiers/owners of growing operations in Mexico and some of the largest buyers of Mexican tomatoes in the U.S. If the FTE gets its way, a vast majority of U.S. importers would be harmed as FTE members expand their control of what tomatoes consumers can buy at significantly higher prices.
Tomatoes sold in the U.S. from Mexico are controlled by the U.S. Department of Commerce through the Tomato Suspension Agreement, which sets minimum pricing, puts in place requirements for sales between importers and buyers, requires exhaustive inspections for quality, and has stringent enforcement and compliance monitoring measures in place.
Failed to innovate
Florida grows gassed green tomatoes much in the same way they were produced during World War I, which is to say that they are picked green and “degreened” by placing them in gas rooms and exposing them to ethylene.
They have also failed to innovate in other ways as well -- not the least of which is how they have ignored protected agriculture. The rest of the world has evolved and learned to use greenhouses, shadehouse, and similar protected agriculture technologies that offer advantages in quality, increased yields, and food safety protections.
Florida has been hampered by high costs of production, weather-related volatility like hurricanes, pest pressures, and poor soil quality that limits competitiveness. They also have limited options in the environment in that they grow tomatoes, where shadehouse, greenhouse, and organic tomato production are very difficult.
What FTE members have discovered is they can invest in Mexico themselves, construct repack operations to control access to the market, cry for protection for their inferior tomatoes grown in Florida, and ask the U.S. government to give them the keys to control the entire North American tomato market by driving other U.S. importers out of business through the imposition of duties.
For more, see the full release here.
For more information:
Lance Jungmeyer
Fresh Produce Association of the Americas
[email protected]
www.freshfrommexico.com
Allison Moore
Fresh Produce Association of the Americas
[email protected]
www.freshfrommexico.com