04/19/07 Delaying the Rules

Delaying the rules. I'm Greg Martin with today's Fruit Grower Report. A major export market has delayed new rule that will allow apple exports to continue. India has developed new rules regarding the wax that apple exporters use to preserve the freshness, flavor and appearance. Dave Carlson, President of the Washington Apple Commission says the industry is relieved. CARLSON: We we're able to delay this until January of next year which give us some time to work out a reasonable arrangement satisfactory to both parties. And we have a fairly substantial window of shipment time for the next 3 or 4 months. The wax used on apples is a harmless edible shellac wax or carnuba wax and the new India ruling might have postponed or stopped the export of the states apples. According to Carlson, those numbers would be significant. CARLSON: Since we've already exceeded last year's shipments, we're hoping that might be as many as another quarter of a million. But that's just a guess. India is primarily a red delicious market. We still have substantial supplies of red delicious left to go. Carlson says this effort has been in the works for some time. CARLSON: The U.S. government along with Northwest Fruit Exporters who handled the trade negotiations had been working on this issue for quite some time. A while back they were successful in negotiating a carnuba wax protocol for India. For now, the market remains open while work continues on the issue. That's today's Fruit Grower Report. I'm Greg Martin on the Northwest Ag Information Network.