Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/506700
www.goodfruit.com GOOD FRUIT GROWER MAY 15, 2015 9 be Arctic is unknown. Like most cultivars grown in the Pacific Northwest, Golden Delicious and Granny Smith exports are significant. On average, over the last six years just under half of the roughly 10 million carton Golden Delicious crop has been exported annually, with about 3.5 million cartons of that total destined for Mexico. Over a similar period, about 25 percent of the Granny Smith crop is exported annually, with the largest markets, Canada and Asia, each taking about one million cartons. In not wanting to raise a complex issue at an official level in any export market, quiet discussions with friendly sources have been held. It is clear that some countries will require identity preservation, either to prevent GMO apples from entering or to allow clear segregation for consumers. As an example of those types of official concerns, in January's plant quarantine negotiations that resulted in an agreement to allow U.S. access to China for all apple cultivars, the Chinese side raised concerns with the pend- ing approval of a GMO apple. At those meetings, USDA officials indicated to their Chinese counterparts that GMO apples would not be exported to China. Northwest apple shippers have effective and accurate traceability systems. However, neither the U.S. government nor our industry has been provided a lab methodology by the developer to allow molecular verification of genetic status. If our industry's latest experience with Listeria con- cerns in export markets serves as an example, some countries seem to be looking for protectionist opportuni- ties to restrict market access. Creating uncertainty about the GMO status of U.S. apples could be one way. The other uncertainty is consumer perception in those markets. While our experience in this arena has been limited to the few occasions when pesticide residues on exported fruit exceed locally allowable standards, in a number of Pacific Rim countries, backlash from consumer groups is common. Many times this backlash is aimed at chemicals that are also used in that country's own agricultural production systems and deemed safe on other crops grown there. These are generally not carefully reasoned expressions of concern and could easily be directed at what would likely be the non-existent presence of GMO apples. In a recent edition of this magazine Todd Fryhover, Apple Commission president, posed the following important questions: —Can and will other apple producing countries "throw U.S. apples under the bus" to promote their own products? and —Whose responsibility is it to convince consumers that Washington apples aren't altered and remain the symbol of health and nutrition? Of course, if the grower community makes the deci- sion that planting Arctic apples does not make sense, all of this consumer and export uncertainty is avoided. Good Fruit Grower welcomes reader comments on this issue. You can send a letter to the editor or post a comment on goodfruit.com. Any concerns raised here are not based on an industry perception of health risk, but rather based on the realities we see growers and marketers facing in a very competitive apple market.