China is expected to reopen its doors to US citrus exports in 2014, following a successful round of negotiations between the two nations in Xiamen recently.
Californian Citrus Mutual president Joel Nelsen accompanied a delegation of US Department of Agriculture (USDA) personnel for the bilateral talks, held with China’s Administration of Quality Supervision Inspection.
While the three-day agenda included market access discussions for several commodities, Nelsen said California citrus was a priority for the USDA. The end result was the drafting of written agreement, allowing US citrus exports to resume.
'The first day was primarily devoted to citrus boundaries,” Nelsen said. “The balance of that day and the following day focused on apples and other U.S. commodities.
“Day three was devoted to finalising citrus access and reviewing the written version of a verbal agreement. This session lasted 15 hours with two commodities dominating the review, citrus and apples.'
Nelsen said the written agreement mirrors a verbal commitment reached by USDA, in consultation with the Californian citrus industry. The agreement is awaiting sign-off by senior members of both the US and Chinese governments.
'I can tell you the U.S. Trade Representatives' leadership team has concurred the agreement is a good one for the United States,” Nelsen said.“We await a similar response from the Chinese and hope to have that before Thanksgiving and certainly before the traditional start of Chinese exports.'
