MCLEAN, Va. – Members of Congress today called on the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to withdrawal a proposed rule that would relax import requirements for Fuji apples from the Republic of Korea, by removing current safeguards designed to prevent the introduction of harmful tree-fruit pests present in that country.

Reps. Doc Hastings (R-Wash.) and Maurice Hinchey (D-N.Y.) garnered the support of 35 fellow members of the House of Representatives, while Sens. Larry Craig (R-Idaho) and Carl Levin (D-Mich.) were joined by 19 of their Senate colleagues, on letters to Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman.

“We are very concerned about the Department’s proposed rule to facilitate importation of Fuji variety apples from the Republic of Korea into the United States,” wrote the members of Congress. “We fully support expanded international trade, but only if it is done fairly in a manner that does not prejudice our growers. The proposed rule would provide an international competitor with phytosanitary concessions that endanger U.S. apple growers and exacerbate an already unlevel playing field faced by U.S. apple exports in Korea.”

The rule, which was proposed in April 2000, would give South Korea even greater access to U.S. markets without granting this country’s apple growers reciprocal access to Korea’s markets. Despite more than 15 years of negotiations to address Korea’s ban on U.S. apples due to alleged phytosanitary concerns, USDA has made little progress in removing Korea’s apple import ban. Even if U.S. apples garnered market access to Korea, they would face a prohibitive import duty of 46.5 percent.

Meanwhile, Korean apples were granted initial access to the U.S. market in 1994, and may enter the U.S. duty free.

“Increased imports of Korean Fuji apples will only exacerbate the poor economic conditions already being suffered by our nation’s apple growers,” said U.S. Apple Association (USApple) President and CEO Kraig R. Naasz, whose group is spearheading efforts to keep Korean Fuji apples out of U.S. markets. “Our Congressional allies have responded favorably to our concerns and have taken swift action to address the pleas of apple growers for fair trade.”

USDA received 323 comments critical of its proposed rule. Most cited concerns about the potential introduction of harmful foreign pests, while others also noted that the proposed rule does nothing to prevent Korea from importing Chinese Fuji apples and re-exporting them to the U.S. under a Korean label. No comments were submitted in support of USDA’s proposal.

“We are deeply concerned that this proposal could lead to Chinese Fuji apples entering the United States illegally,” said Naasz. “China, the world’s largest apple producing country, should not be given access to the U.S. market through the back door, particularly given the recent ruling that China illegally dumped apple-juice concentrate in our market.”

America’s apple growers have lost an estimated $760 million in just three years due to unfairly priced imports, adverse weather conditions, continuing retail consolidation and rising regulatory costs among other factors, according to USDA statistics.

USApple members from across the country urged their members of Congress to cosign the House and Senate Korean Fuji letters to Agricultural Secretary Veneman during their visits to Capitol Hill in late February, and through countless telephone calls and letters to the nation’s capital.

The U.S. Apple Association (USApple) is the national trade association representing all segments of the apple industry. Members include 40 state apple associations representing 9,000 apple growers throughout the country, as well as nearly 500 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.