The EU's Plant Health Directive 2000/29 requires that all U.S. apples shipped into the EU be tested for plant pests and diseases upon arrival. In the past, U.S. apples have been subject to testing on only a portion of the apples imported.

"What makes this Directive so unfair is the fact that many of our competitors have received a waiver from the ruling and will be required to conduct a smaller number of phytosanitary inspections," noted USApple President and CEO Nancy Foster. "To the best of our knowledge, there has never been a detection of quarantined plant pests or diseases in U.S. apples sent to the EU, but the new directive sets up arbitrary criteria for deciding which country can be eligible for reduced inspections."

The criteria for eligibility for the reduced inspection burden includes the level of previous export shipments and inspections over the past several years, and is not tied to evidence of plant pest or disease concerns. Nations such as Chile, China, Argentine, Brazil, South Africa and New Zealand have all qualified for reduced inspections.

"The EU is implementing a regulation that clearly discriminates against U.S. apples, will unduly restrict trade, and is not based on scientific principles," said Mark Powers, vice president of the Northwest Horticultural Council. "The U.S. should quickly bring its resources to bear to remove this unwarranted barrier to trade."

"The EU is an extremely critically important export market for U.S. apples, with over 22,000 metric tons shipped in 2003, worth more than $24 million," key apple groups reported to Secretary Veneman in a recent letter seeking her assistance.

"It is vital that U.S. apple industry continues to have equal access to the EU market," noted Kris Marceca of the U.S. Apple Export Council. "This is a market that is important to many apple growers in different part of the U.S., particularly given the abundant U.S. apple crop this year."

The Directive will add unnecessary costs to U.S. apple exports, making the product less competitive in the market, and increases the challenges involved in maintaining fruit quality. Fruit quality may suffer if the cold storage chain cannot be adequately maintained due to congestion and delay at points of entry in the EU. Congestion is an increased issue as the inspections are to be done pre-customs.

"There is no question that the U.S. apple industry will continue to supply top-quality product to the EU market, whether the Directive is removed or not, but the effort required to keep the cold chain complete will be more challenging under the new ruling," Foster noted.

"The U.S. apple industry should not be placed at a competitive disadvantage to due phytosanitary control issues without scientific merit nor based on plant health risk," the groups told Veneman. "We seek your support to help the U.S. apple industry regain the opportunity to compete fairly with foreign apple producers in the important EU market."

While the Directive was officially effective on Jan. 1, 2005, the United Kingdom has delayed implementation until April 1. The UK is the largest export market in the EU for U.S. apples.

The Northwest Horticultural Council, the U.S. Apple Export Council and the Washington Apple Commission join USApple in this effort.

Note: The text of this release can be downloaded from the News Releases section of USApple's Media Web site, at http://www.usapple.org/media/newsreleases/index.cfm.

The U.S. Apple Association (USApple) is the national trade association representing all segments of the apple industry. Members include 40 state and regional apple associations representing the 9,000 apple growers throughout the country, as well as more than 400 individual firms involved in the apple business. USApple's mission is to provide the means for all segments of the U.S. apple industry to join in appropriate collective efforts to profitably produce and market apples and apple products.