EEUU: Progress made on accessing U.S. potato markets

During the National Potato Council’s summer meeting here on July 13, officials updated their progress in markets including Japan, Panama, China, Korea, Mexico, Costa Rica and Indonesia.

Japanese officials recently announced plans to open access to Idaho fresh chipping potatoes, said Matt Lantz, who works to open foreign markets for U.S. potatoes on behalf of Bryant Christie, Inc. Leaders from Japan and USDA met in Idaho Falls during Memorial Day week to discuss the issue.

“Today at lunch, they called and said by September they think they’ll have the whole thing through the Japanese system,” Lantz said, adding shipments could commence by next January.

Japan agreed to accept fresh Idaho chipping potatoes in 2006, but access was abruptly severed after a single load was delivered, based on the discovery of pale cyst nematode in Eastern Idaho. Pat Kole, vice president of legal and government affairs with Idaho Potato Commission, said R&G Potatoes in American Falls is the state’s only fresh chipping potato supplier, but he believes the improved access could spur growth in the sector.

“It could be a big deal because the quality of chipping potatoes from Idaho is very high,” Kole said.

Lantz said the next goal will be convincing Japan to grant year-round access to U.S. chipping potatoes, which may now be shipped only during a six-month window.

Earlier this month, Panama agreed to start accepting U.S. seed potatoes.

“At this point, we’ll notify growers that the opportunity exists, and they’ll start to build a customer base,” said NPC Vice President and CEO John Keeling.

Keeling said Panama raises a lot of potatoes, and the U.S. has been active in opening markets throughout Central America.

In China, Lantz believes 16 years of work may finally be maying off, as officials in the world’s most populated country have begun discussing specific pest concerns and issues to open access for fresh U.S. potatoes.

“I’ve been working at this thing since 2000, but I think we can get it,” Lantz said.

The Koreans are writing proposed rules to accept fresh spuds from certain U.S. states, and bilateral negotiations are scheduled in Seattle during September.

Keeling said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack met recently with Mexican leaders about opening fresh U.S. potato access beyond a 26-kilometer zone from the country’s border with the U.S. The Mexican market was briefly opened to fresh U.S. access during the summer of 2014 but was abruptly closed due to a lawsuit by Mexican growers.

“We are holding our own in the court cases,” Keeling said. “I like where we are.”

Costa Rica re-opened access to fresh U.S. chipping potatoes in February, after restricting shipments for about a year due to a pest concern, Lantz said.

Keeling said the industry is in the “beginning stages” of negotiations to open fresh access into Indonesia, a nation with 250 million people.