Canadian growers freely can ship potatoes to the United States, but U.S. producers must apply for a ministerial exemption or "bulk easement" if they want to ship to their commodity to Canada, says Duane Maatz, president of the Northern Plains Potato Growers Association.
The problem the NPPGA has with Canada isn't only a matter of a fair trade policy, though. Canada needs to improve its inspections of seed potatoes, Maatz told Doer, explaining that the Canadian Food Inspection Agency eliminated one of the three inspections it used to make before the potatoes crossed the border into the United States.
That has allowed Canadian seed potatoes containing bacterial ring rot into the United States, Maatz says. While the biggest case involved Alberta potatoes that were planted in Washington state, it also has occurred in the Red River Valley.
Last year, a Minnesota seed potato producer who purchased seed from Canada had a a field infected with ring rot and had to sell those potatoes for processing instead of seed. The producer's acres in that field also were "de-certified," Maatz says.
Concern about the safety of Canada's potatoes has hurt U.S. exports to Japan and other Asian countries., he says.
"They (Canada) have to make their system close to ours if they're going to be this close trading partner," he said in an interview after Doer's speech. Maatz also expressed frustration with the ministerial exemptions Canada requires before U.S. potato producers can ship their product to Canada. Canada will not even allow consumers to take packaged potato products across the border into Canada, Maatz says.
"They're not living up to NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement), GATT (General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade) or WTO (World Trade Organization," Maatz says.
http://news.tradingcharts.com/futures/2/6/64987762.html
The problem the NPPGA has with Canada isn't only a matter of a fair trade policy, though. Canada needs to improve its inspections of seed potatoes, Maatz told Doer, explaining that the Canadian Food Inspection Agency eliminated one of the three inspections it used to make before the potatoes crossed the border into the United States.
That has allowed Canadian seed potatoes containing bacterial ring rot into the United States, Maatz says. While the biggest case involved Alberta potatoes that were planted in Washington state, it also has occurred in the Red River Valley.
Last year, a Minnesota seed potato producer who purchased seed from Canada had a a field infected with ring rot and had to sell those potatoes for processing instead of seed. The producer's acres in that field also were "de-certified," Maatz says.
Concern about the safety of Canada's potatoes has hurt U.S. exports to Japan and other Asian countries., he says.
"They (Canada) have to make their system close to ours if they're going to be this close trading partner," he said in an interview after Doer's speech. Maatz also expressed frustration with the ministerial exemptions Canada requires before U.S. potato producers can ship their product to Canada. Canada will not even allow consumers to take packaged potato products across the border into Canada, Maatz says.
"They're not living up to NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement), GATT (General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade) or WTO (World Trade Organization," Maatz says.
http://news.tradingcharts.com/futures/2/6/64987762.html
