US apple sellers hope Chinese ban will end
US and Chinese health inspectors "are working closely towards normalizing trade in apples," Workabeba Yigzaw, a spokesman for the Department of Agriculture (USDA), said. "We look forward to enhancing our bilateral trade relationship and continuing our work toward this mutually beneficial goal with China."
The ban was imposed on Washington, which supplies 80 percent of America's apples, after a shipment to China in early 2012 was declared to be carrying "postharvest diseases."
US agricultural officials fought the ban last year, claiming that any diseases in the 2012 shipment only affected crab apples for pollination.
According to the Northwest Horticultural Council, agricultural representatives from both countries met in Xiamen, China, earlier in November, and agreed to new inspections by Chinese officials of Golden Delicious and Red Delicious apples in Washington.
With a surplus forecast of 15 million bushels of apples in Washington over the next few years because of increased plantings, Washington growers hope to cash in on the growing Chinese market even as the potential opening of the US market will possibly have them competing with Chinese brands at home.
"In the long run, we simply need the Chinese market with the crop sizes we have right now," said Chris Schlect, president of the Northwest Horticultural Council, in an interview with the Yakima Herald. "Our fruit has to go somewhere."
The USDA stressed the importance of growing trade between the two countries. "Strong agricultural exports contribute to a positive US trade balance, create jobs, boost economic growth and support President Obama's National Export Initiative goal of doubling all US exports by the end of 2014," Yigzaw said.
Source: chinadaily.com