01/04/05 U.S. Cherries back in Mexico

When it comes to the relationship between the Northwest cherry industry and Mexico, it has been sporadic at best. Mark Powers of the Northwest Horticultural Council said Northwest cherries were first exported to Mexico in 1997. A strict pest inspection protocol was established two years later based on Mexican concerns. POWERS: Since '02 after we had a number of seasons without any pest detections we'd been working with the U.S. government to get that work plan renegotiated and get something more favorable in place. In fact, the U.S. forfeited entry of cherries into the Mexican marketplace last year as an agreement continued to be negotiated. Last month, both countries reached an agreement on a work plan that would significantly reduce the number of fruit cuttings for inspection at the border. POWERS: It's down into only a couple of hundred fruit which sounds like a lot still but it's only in the case where they find actual damage where the fruit has to be cut. That's compared to previous policy which included somewhere up to 1,400 cherries in a shipment cut, resulting in losses both in time and costs from damaged product. Powers says the agreement takes effect for the 2005 growing season, but is in place for years to come. Powers says the new agreement is definitely a significant improvement. But he cautions that the work agreement is subject to change based on findings of new pests by Mexico.