The US apple industry continues to hit hurdles in its bid to regain access to the Chinese market, with some authorities suggest a trade deal may not be reached until next year, according to media reports.
Northwest Horticulture Council president Chris Schlect confirmed talks with Chinese officials had once again hit a wall at last week’s Washington Apple Commission meeting in Yakima.
“We didn’t get the breakthrough we were told we were getting this winter,” Schlect was quoted by the Yakima Herald.
China imposed a ban on all US apple imports in August 2012, following claims it had detected a post-harvest diseases in consignments of fruit sent from the North American nation.
The US industry had hoped to see a resolution to the impasse with China in time to ship for the important Lunar New Year holidays, following a positive round of bilateral phytosanitary talks between the US Department of Agriculture and China’s Administration of Quality Supervision Inspection in November last year. However, China has since added a number of additional terms to a proposed deal, which industry some industry officials have labeled “virtually impossible” to meet.
“China continues to be a major concern for our industry and (a matter that) needs to be resolved,” Todd Fryhover, president of the Washington Apple Commission, told Asiafruit. “Coming away from the bilateral meetings (between the USDA and Chinese plant quarantine), we thought we had a workable protocol, but they’ve since come back with a supplemental protocol that is completely unmanageable for our industry.”
As recently as the 2010/11 season, China's imports of Washington-grown apples totalled more than 700,000 cartons. As of 1 February, only 5,990 cartons had been shipped so far this season.
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