CHINA - China is reopening its massive domestic market to California citrus growers after an almost 1.5 year trade embargo. According to ABC News 10, provided that California growers take certain preventative measures to ensure the health and quality of their exports, they once again have access to what has become the second largest export destination for California citrus.
"Resuming trade before the start of the 2014 citrus shipping season is the result of a lot of effort by a number of USDA employees, who worked very closely with their foreign counterparts to resolve China's concerns," said Secretary of Agriculture, Tom Vilsack.
Joel Nelsen, President of California Citrus Mutual, said that word of this agreement was incredible news for the $2 billion California citrus industry. Before the ban roughly $30 million in citrus was shipped to China each year by California growers, a number that Nelsen said he expects to rise to $50 million in the near future.
"We were hoping to get (exports) reopened in November in time for the 2013-14 navel orange season . . . but that didn't happen," Nelsen said. "As a result, there were several million packages of fruit that were not exported to China. We were still able to do a little bit of business in Hong Kong, but we lost mainland China."
China first instituted the citrus ban after discovering brown rot, a soil fungus, on several shipments of navel and Valencia oranges and lemons in April 2013. Provided that growers agree to prune their trees to remove branches close to the ground, increase ultraviolet scans during the packing process and apply copper, a metal which impedes the growth of rot fungus, to trees early in the season after the first rainfall, Chinese officials were comfortable reopening their ports to California citrus.
This is certainly great news for California citrus producers. Despite having to work under less than ideal conditions due to the California drought, growers have proved resourceful in raising an excellent looking crop. Nelsen agrees on this point explaining that he expects yield to remain good despite weather complications. Now that Fall crop will have a massive new market to trade with, something which is good news for growers and Chinese consumers alike.
