04/26/07 Setting Standards

Setting standards. I'm Greg Martin with today's Fruit Grower Report. Like every other country in the world, Japan has certain standards for imports whether it's beef, wheat or fruit. Those standards include maximum residue levels from various chemicals. Deborah Carter with the Northwest Horticultural Council. CARTER: Those chemicals, whatever those chemicals are then they are 0.01 part per million MRL. So whenever we are shipping our fruits and vegetables overseas to Japan if they do not have an established MRL the residue level cannot be over that amount. And of course they have a list of materials that are exempt. Materials that they feel will have no adverse health effect so they call them exempt materials. That seems like a tall order for exporters to have to deal with. Carter says that's not real issue. CARTER: A lot of countries we export our products to do not have MRL's for some of the chemicals that we can use here in the United States. They may have in the United States and MRL or cherries but if we ship them to Japan or if we ship them to Belgium or if we ship them to Australia, they may not have an MRL for that particular chemical. It goes both ways according to Carter since there are some chemicals the U.S. does not allow. Carter says there is a movement now for the globalization of MRL's. CARTER: You have to know basically where you are going to ship your product to; then you have to look to see what chemicals they accept and what the MRL's are. It makes it very hard on the producer because now they have to segregate their product. That's today's Fruit Grower Report. I'm Greg Martin on the Northwest Ag Information Network.