Australia OKs Calif. Grapes

Ending a decade-long impasse, Australia has agreed to allow the importation of California table grapes.

The move came after U.S. officials met Australian demands to limit the risks of pests that could be brought in through shipments.

The move could aid Australia’s effort to negotiate a free-trade agreement with the United States. Australia’s market has long been closed to imported grapes.

Australia had banned California’s second-largest agricultural product for more than a decade to protect its wine grape and tree fruit industries from pests and diseases.

Just when California grapes were to be allowed in last year, another ban was instituted amid growing concerns about the glassy-winged sharpshooter, an insect that spreads bacteria deadly to grapevines.

Entomologists said the risk from the pest was very small, because it feeds on the grapevine’s leaves and not on grapes themselves.

Trade officials called the ban protectionist, but Australian agriculture officials said it was necessary to protect the country’s large tree fruit industry.

Chile and Mexico also seek access into the Australian market.

Under the new guidelines, California table grapes must be fumigated with methyl bromide before they are shipped over. Australian quarantine officials also must sample and inspect fruit being shipped.

California grape industry officials say the restrictions are excessive and unnecessary; the heavy application of fumigant could decompose many grapes in transit, they say. Australian Embassy officials contend the measures are strict but fair and were negotiated with the aid of Department of Agriculture officials.

“We are a country that is essentially disease-free. We need to keep [quarantine] standards that allow us to be renown for the quality of food we export,” said Sandi Logan, an Australian Embassy spokesman.

Australia will not be one of California’s top export destinations. But officials here initially thought it would add as much as $19 million to the coffers of the state’s 600 growers.

With the expense and risk of the rules, grape industry officials say, few of the state’s growers will try to access the market.

“This just cracks the door open,” said Kathleen Nave, president of the California Table Grape Commission. “But by cracking the door open we hope to prove to the Australians that it is safe for them to eliminate a lot of these mitigation [requirements].”