Avocado update

I wonder how close the California Avocado Commission was to agreeing to a settlement with APEAM. The decision to take their chances with lawsuit raises the stakes for both California growers and Mexican exporters. If the lawsuit falls in favor of California, growers will continue to be aggressive in asserting phytosanitary protection. If Mexico gets the upper hand, it may be a costly to the commission and to growers, and serve as an exclamation point to Mexico's unwillingness to suffer from what they consider protectionist measures.

Chat - Ksenia Evdokimova

Ksenia Evdokimova, resident of St. Petersburg, Russia, and working with the agricultural trade office at the U.S. Consulate General in that city, was a big help in setting up my agenda in my recent travels to Russia. I had the chance to have a brief chat with her today, and you can find it here. Among other topics, Ksenia reflects about a year as an exchange student in California and some observations that might be useful for U.S. exporters considering a visit to Russia.

1:02 PM me: Hello Ksenia!

1:03 PM ksenia.evdokimova: Good evening, Tom!

me: Thanks for taking part in this "chat" for Fresh Talk readers.

1:06 PM Ksenia, you were a big help to me when I traveled to Russia, helping set up interviews with importers. How did you become connected with the USDA FAS and the world for produce importing and exporting?

ksenia.evdokimova: First of all, Tom, I would like to express my thank you to you for taking the risk and coming to Russia in February!

1:09 PM I have been with FAS for over 3 years now. Getting connected with FAS was a result of several circumstances, like Rotary exchange in California and studies at economic faculty of the university. It has been great so far!

1:10 PM me: It was no problem to come to St. Petersburg - the weather wasn't as bad as advertised ...You bring up California. You mentioned to me that you were an exchange student in California during high school years. Did you enjoy that experience?

1:12 PM ksenia.evdokimova: Rotary is a truly great club and one of the programs they have is that student exchange tat gives youngsters of 16-18 dive into American culture for half a year or even a year. I got in a terrific family from Palo Alto and managed to graduate from high school. I enjoyed and miss it still

1:13 PM me: I have a hard question for you - what did you miss about Russia while you were in the U.S. and what do you miss about your experience in the U.S. now?

1:19 PM ksenia.evdokimova: Of course, while in US I missed my family. And when I talk about real Russian family it is a family behind a table with a soup, salad, main course and more. Also, what is typical for Russians is their summerhouse 'dacha". That place is very important for us. It is traditional to grow your own greenery, vegetables and fruits. It is cultural and I love it. Upon return to Russia, I started to consider US as my second motherland. I missed the spirit of independence, for instance, a pupil can stand up during the class and debate with a teacher if he wishes to and has another opinion. Also, it is typical for younger people to work part-time. All these things were not possible in Russia a few years ago. However, now it seems to be getting closer.. Also, I missed the huge shopping malls that you have in America. Luckily, now Russia is in the middle of retail boom and we have a choice where to spend an hour...or 5 hours.

1:21 PM me: Very true. I was impressed with the amout of retail - and upscale retail in Moscow and St. Petersburg ... If you had words of advice to U.S. exporters who want to make a trip to Russia, what would you tell them (other than avoid February)?

9 minutes

1:31 PM ksenia.evdokimova: I would simply tell them 'YOU SHOULD COME AND SEE and you might get really pleasantly surprised'. So, come to Moscow for 2 days, explore the chains of supermarkets that are successfully selling airfreight California table grapes in July at price of $30 a kilo, NZ cherries in February for $80 a kilo. Feel the crazy tempo of this expensive and booming city and then take a 5 hour train to the Northern capital of Russia and capital of fruit business St.Petersburg. Spend 2 days at meeting importers. These are special people. They have turned Russia into #1 market of the World in imported quantities of apples and pears in several years of rapid market growth. Meet them, they are interested in the US product nowadays. And on Saturday and Sunday enjoy the Hermitage, walk the channels of the city and absorb the culture of this unique city. You will have partners and friends after this trip and you will be back, I guarantee ;)

1:32 PM me: Ksenia - you are very generous with your time, as always - one last question. Can you tell readers about your new job yet?

1:34 PM ksenia.evdokimova: My new job s my Austrian husband, but I have a second passion and that is US fruits, so we shall see what comes out of this combination. Thanks for your time and best of luck exploring the Russian market. It is worth it!

1:35 PM me: Thanks and promise you will do another "chat" sometime soon!

On marketing new fruits and vegetables

I was called up today by a writer of a feature article that will publish at some future date in the NYT Sunday magazine. The angle of the story, as far as I could tell, was a question: How would a marketer best purpose to introduce a new fruit - such as an unknown foreign heirloom variety or even a transgenic fruit or vegetable - into the U.S. market? He already had a list of the "usual suspects" of Frieda's, World Variety, PMA and others. I don't know if I was much help, but I did give him the name of Steve Lutz with The Perishables Group.

I think the assumption of the feature is that the marketing of transgenic fruits and vegetables will be much more common in the future. How, then, will the products be introduced and sold in the marketplace?

I told him that marketers who control their own retail operations - for example, some importers in Hong Kong also have their own retail shop - would obviously have more control over the decision on whether or not to sell transgenic produce to consumers.

As an aside, the author also mentioned the work of the Plant Transformation Research Center at the University of California Riverside It sounds if we may hear more about their work in future years. Here is what the center's Web site says about their work:

The goal of the Plant Transformation Research Center (PTRC) is research on efficient procedures for transforming plants of interest to researchers at UCR. This includes species of economic interest in California , and model systems used to investigate gene function. The PTRC facilitates the research of many UCR scientists who are investigating genes important in metabolic, physiological and developmental processes. The PTCR can provide cost-effective access to biochemical and molecular methods utilized in the analysis of genetically modified plants. The PTRC also serves as a resource in training students, post docs, and staff in technologies related to plant transformation.

No number and no deal yet

I was able to listen to part of Sen. Tom Harkin's teleconference this morning, and Harkin said there is still no budget number for the farm bill and no deal with the White House to proceed. It sounded as if something doesn't break loose soon, leaders in Congress - particularly Speaker Pelosi in the House - will have to determine whether to appoint a conference committee, produce a farm bill and then leave it up to President Bush to decide if he will veto it. Harkin, however, said there is supposed to be a budget number for the farm bill by tomorrow, though not necessarily with the White House blessing.

Testimony - Contaminated Food

Here is the link to the testimony from the Feb. 26 hearing of the Contaminated Food: Private Sector Accountability at the subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations. Excerpts below:

William Marler Marler Clark LLP PS
A year ago, I was asked by the spinach and lettuce growers of California to address them in Salinas. Considering that by then the leafy green industry was on its knees financially and I had lawsuits pending in several states, it was a tense lunch. Why I was invited? I am still not so sure, but why I was suing them was all too clear, in the prior 10 years there had been 21 outbreaks related to fresh leafy products with hundreds sickened. In 2006, 205 people became sick and five died from eating E. coli contaminated spinach, followed quickly by lettuce E. coli cases at Taco Bell and Taco John’s. The common denominators – California lettuce and more lawsuits. Mexico banned the importation of California spinach and lettuce.
I told the quiet audience of 250 growers and producers a story that I believed at the time to be true. I told them about what I had seen since the 1993 Jack in the Box case. I told them what seemed to have happened after the Jack in the Box crisis was that incidences of E. coli in meat seemed to decline. First slowly and then more rapidly. I told them how I believed that the problem – through governmental oversight and industry know how. I told them that I had lived to see one of the major food safety success stories of
our time. According to the CDC, E. coli outbreaks linked to tainted meat had declined by 42 percent through 2006. I told them that they should emulate what the beef industry had done to put me out of business, because they had. From 1993 to 2002, nearly all of my work was E. coli cases tied to hamburger. In 2003, one year after the recall of 19 million of pounds of meat, I had no ambulance to chase. I had no one to sue on behalf of victims of tainted hamburger because I had no victims.
And then the spring of 2007 started with an ominous “uptick” in E. coli recalls and illnesses and ended with hundreds sickened, 33 million pounds of meat recalled, and guess what? More sick and dead children, and yes, more lawsuits. China banned the import of some US beef. If you ask the USDA and industry to explain this “uptick,” they have none. That is unacceptable.
Things are different from Sinclair’s critical view of packing plants of the 1900’s. We now face things Sinclair could not even begin to imagine. Those two things must drive food safety decisions now. The first is the threat of terrorist attacks via the food system. Just as too many could not imagine the horror of 9/11, too many cannot envision this kind of food disaster today. When a terrorist attacks our food system it will look eerily similar to any other outbreak of foodborne illness. Second, is the growth of food imports. Sinclair could not have imagined a world where the meat that may be in one hamburger could originate in Argentina, Canada and Colorado or that we would have fruits and vegetables year-round shipped in from South America, Asia and Africa. It is with these two enormous issues in mind, that I offer suggestions on how to put me out of business

David DeLorenzo President and Chief Executive Officer, Dole Food Company, Inc.
We respectfully ask this Subcommittee, and, more generally, the Energy and Commerce Committee, to do whatever it can within its power to influence significant funding of pathogen research for produce. Private companies such as Dole will continue to accelerate and champion, as fast as possible, new practices and technologies aimed at eliminating food safety risks. Produce is a living, breathing tissue that does not hold up to most conventional food safety practices that work in other industries. We cannot inspect our way out of food safety problems any more than we can test our way out of it. It will continue to take a concerted and significant effort in time and funding and regulation from both the government and private sector, to make our food system – already the safest in the world -- even safer. We heartily agree with this Subcommittee that we – all of us – can, in good conscience, do no less.

Robert Brackett Senior Vice President and Chief Science and Regulatory Affairs Officer, Grocery Manufacturers Association

One, we urge you to require that every food importer of record institute a foreign supplier quality assurance program that assures that all imported ingredients and products meet FDA food safety and quality requirements.
Two, we urge you to expand FDA’s ability to build the capacity of foreign governments to prevent and detect threats to food safety. In particular, FDA should be directed to work with foreign governments to expand training, accelerate the development of laboratories, ensure the compliance of exports with U.S. regulations, and harmonize food safety requirements among countries.
Three, we urge you to enhance FDA’s ability to target those imports that pose the greatest risk to consumers. In particular, we urge you to create a voluntary program to permit expedited entry of foods that pose no meaningful risk. By permitting food importers who demonstrate the existence of a secure supply chain and who meet FDA’s standards and conditions to receive expedited entry, FDA could focus more scrutiny on those imports that are more likely to pose a risk to public health.
Four, we urge you to provide FDA authority to mandate that fruits and vegetables be produced following good agricultural practices. Rising consumption of fruits and vegetables creates new food safety challenges that should be addressed through strong and enforceable produce safety standards which can be tailored to reflect differences among commodities.
Five, we urge you to give FDA the authority to order a mandatory recall when a company has refused to conduct a voluntary recall and there is a significant risk to public health. Where the responsible party refuses to voluntarily recall a product for which there is a reasonable probability that the food will cause serious adverse health consequences or death, the Secretary should be permitted to order the company to conduct a recall.
Finally, we urge you to work with your colleagues on the appropriations committee to provide FDA with adequate resources. Because FDA food-related funding has not kept pace with inflation, more than 800 scientists, inspectors and other critical staff have been lost during the past four years. We urge you to reject taxes on food imports and facilities and to instead work with the Alliance for a Stronger FDA to increase FDA food-related spending by $150 million in FY 2009.