Potatoes to Japan Pt 1
From the Ag Information Network, I’m Bob Larson. Back in May, we spoke with National Potato Council CEO Kam Quarles about how efforts at boosting fresh potato exports to Japan were going nowhere.
Here it is September and Quarles says efforts for this market of potentially $150 million annually, are ramping up …
QUARLES … “This has been a very longstanding goal of the United States. This market access request goes back over 20 years. And then we’ve really leaned into it in the last four years roughly.”
Quarles says Japan claims their biggest concern is pests …
QUARLES … “It has been stalled largely due to domestic political concerns within Japan. I think the phytosanitary issues are not terribly difficult to deal with. It’s really a question of politics.”
Japan, Quarles says is already US potatoes second largest export market …
QUARLES … “A lot of that is processed product right now. So, in the most recent fiscal year we moved just shy of 350,000 metric tons of both fresh potatoes as well as processed products into Japan.”
So next week, Quarles says it’s off to Japan to hopefully hash things out. Tune in tomorrow for more.
