Potatoes Struggle with Japanese Access
From the Western Ag Network, I’m Bob Larson. Despite any optimism ahead of a recent meeting with Japanese trade officials, U.S. fresh potatoes are still a NO GO export to Japan.
Kam Quarles, president of the National Potato Council, told the Eye on Potatoes podcast that once they were in Japan, it became obvious that the challenges had not gone away …
QUARLES … “We saw statements in the press that had very little to do with the technical issues, but a whole lot to do about fears that the United States was going to come in there and knock Japanese Farmers out of the ability to serve their consumers.”
But Quarles says those fears are utterly unfounded …
QUARLES … “We grow an entirely different type of potato than they grow in Japan. We think they actually will be complementary and Japanese Farmers when we get this Market access Optimus. I'm saying when laying that's optimistic, when we get that access, those Japanese farmers are going to make more money selling potatoes, in their domestic market than they have ever made in their lives.”
Their stated worries, Quarles says were over pest management, but …
QUARLES … “What the Japanese officials should be worried about, it's really not what they're worried about. It's the politics over overwhelming this entire thing.”
Quarles says the U.S. has exported millions of dollars of potatoes to countries all over the world for years without ANY pest problems.
