Growers Bitter Over Argentine Lemon Rule
After two years of debate and protest, Ventura County citrus growers on Thursday called a federal decision to allow Argentine lemons into the United States an outrage, saying they are frustrated by the federal government’s failure to heed their concerns.
Although the decision was not unexpected--and only becomes official when it appears in the Federal Register early next week--ranchers and agriculture officials called the new rule a political move meant, in part, to smooth the way for such unrelated U.S. trade activities as the export of pork.
Further, they said they are still worried the foreign lemons’ arrival into the country could spread diseases and pests unknown here.
Officials at the U.S. Citrus Science Council in Santa Paula, a lobbying group which has been heavily involved in the debate, said they are still deciding on a plan of action, but may file a lawsuit in hopes of stopping the lemon imports.
“We think this is political, but they just did a good job of papering over” their motives, said Pierre Tada, president of Limoneira, the largest citrus grower in Ventura County, and co-chairman of the council. “This is like foreign aid to Argentina.”
Some county ranchers said they were more resigned to the decision.
“What can I do? Not a whole lot. I can just holler louder,” said Derek Knobel, manager of Rancho Sierra Vista groves in Camarillo. “This is absolutely a setback for us.”
U.S. Department of Agriculture regulations call for import of the fruit to be phased in within four years, beginning with this summer’s shipping season.
Fruit will be allowed into 34 states immediately, and after two years into 10 states that border citrus producers, including Nevada and Oregon. Only after four years will Argentina be allowed to ship lemons directly into the five citrus-producing states, including California and Arizona.
The Agriculture Department downplayed the decision’s impact on the health of citrus crops, saying its approach to imports will allow plenty of time to test the fruit before it begins arriving in citrus-producing states.
“These rules will only be good if there are no problems,” said Susan McAuley, an Agriculture Department spokeswoman. “We’re very sensitive to that. There are going to be a lot of precautions to ensure that they’re free of disease.”
Tada called the phased-in approach a “a 34-state experiment without science to back it up.”
Ventura County farm officials and business leaders said they were not convinced the federal Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, which is charged with inspecting fruit imports, would be capable of keeping infected fruit from crossing international and state borders and into California.
“I would say there’s a healthy amount of skepticism about [the agency’s] ability to do what they say they’ll do,” said Rex Laird, executive director of the Ventura County Farm Bureau. “There’s reason to be so” cautious, he said, citing earlier shipments of Mexican avocados, illegal in California, that he said have trickled into the state.
The threat of disease is significant to Ventura County growers, who netted more than $178 million in 1998 from lemons, and produced 60% of the lemons in the state.
On several occasions during the past decade, Argentine citrus has been found containing such pests as the Medfly, and diseases including black spot, sweet orange scab and citrus canker.
“This is not a trade issue,” said Rep. Elton Gallegly (R-Simi Valley), who spoke on behalf of growers at federal hearings on the issue last year. “We can compete with anyone. The issue at hand is that this has the potential to wipe out an industry for decades.”
Gallegly, who had been meeting with the head of the USDA for some time before the decision was made, said though he is disappointed by the ruling, it’s preferable to other alternatives. The congressman said he would attempt to seek a solution--through legislation--that is more appealing to Ventura County ranchers.
“This [phased approach] was a compromise” within the USDA, he said. “Is it a better deal than we could have had? Absolutely. Is it what he want? No.”
Regardless of its effect on the health of U.S. lemons, the crop from Argentina will clearly hit Ventura County’s lemon growers in the wallet.
Ranchers said they will rely on the better quality of their product--Argentine lemons are typically smaller and often used for juice--but that there is no way of knowing how the imports will affect the county’s busiest shipping season.
“We’ll have to get through this summer season and see what type of volumes may be coming up here,” Agricultural Commissioner Earl McPhail said. “After that, we’ll have a much better idea of what we’ll be dealing with in the future.”
The uncertainty has some ranchers worried. Knobel said the ruling will make him think twice about expanding his orchard, or stepping up marketing campaigns as he faces this new competition.
“It’s another lump we have to take,” Knobel said. “Whether it’s a bump or a mountain will become evident down the road.”
