Canada: No cherries to China after all
An agreement was not reached regarding the exports, but the growers say they are hopeful that the government will continue to negotiate.
Kelowna grower Christine Dendy, who is president of the Okanagan Kootenay Cherry Growers’ Association, says that whilst China agreed to accept cherries from Canada, they also insisted on a number of restrictions which would have ensured the exporting was not viable.
One such example was a mandatory 15 day period of cold treatment upon arrival, which would have meant that the fruit would no longer be as fresh as it should be, thus removing the quality advantage it would have had.
"That undermines our marketing benefit of sending them fresh fruit by air," Dendy commented.
She stated that this was an unreasonable requirement as it was not expected of US produce.
China also requires that all orchards be monitored from bud break through to shipping. Orchardists already do that, but not formally. This would require that orchardists fill out forms throughout the season, so there would be an incredible amount of extra paperwork.
Source: kelownacapnews.com
