China will accept all U.S. apple exports

With this new agreement, the U.S. apple industry estimates that exports to China will reach 5 million bushels annually within two years.    The U.S. Department of Agriculture has reached agreement with the Chinese government to allow all U.S. grown apples to be exported to China.
   “This will allow a greater share of U.S. apple exports to China in the coming months and has the potential to increase U.S. fresh apple exports, which were valued at more than $1 billion in 2013, by approximately 10 percent” USDA said.
   With this new agreement, the apple industry estimates that within two years exports to China will reach 5 million bushels annually, a value of about $100 million per year.
   The agreement was reached this weekend during bilateral discussions between USDA and China’s General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (AQSIQ) in San Francisco.
   Tom Vilsack, U.S. agriculture secretary, said the efforts of the USDA to open the Chinese market to U.S. grown apples “will result in high quality, fresh U.S. apple varieties available for consumers in China and a significant boost in sales for American apple producers.”
   “Our growers produce premium-quality apples of many varieties, and this year’s record crop makes it even more exciting to see a new export market open up. But, what our industry has had to do — and will need to continue doing — is assure those growers’ best interests are considered both abroad in new markets like China and here in the domestic market where other apples could in turn be brought in,” said Jim Bair, president and chief executive officer of the U.S. Apple Association, in a statement. 
   The decision for China to open its market to all U.S. apples will take effect in about 45 days and allow direct shipment of all U.S. varieties from all states. 
   In early November 2014, China lifted a suspension on red and golden delicious apple imports from Washington state. 
   In 2012, China suspended access for Washington red and golden delicious apples due to the repeated interception of three apple pests — speck rot, bull’s-eye rot and Sphaeropsis rot.
   To lift this suspension, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service worked with the U.S. apple industry to develop additional safeguards to address China’s concerns about these pests. Some of the new measures include cold storage and visual inspection of apples prior to shipping to ensure there is no evidence of disease.
   According to USDA, the Chinese market for Washington apples alone was valued at $6.5 million in 2011.