Much of the Santa Clara River Valley?s citrus is exported to the Pacific Rim which has stringent disease and infestation guidelines and would reject importation in cases of an outbreak of pests or disease.Despite protests from growers and elected officials, the USDA based its decision to allow importation on its belief that a multi-step mitigation system known as ?systems approach? would reduce to a negligible level the risk that any of the plant diseases and insect pests present in Argentina would be introduced into the United States.The court, however, criticized the USDA for failing to define the standard of ?negligible risk? applied in evaluations and for relying on a faulty risk assessment that lacked a complete and transparent documentation of the data and other information used to select probability levels. The USDA also erred by not considering the economic impact of importation on small businesses and on the quality of the human environment.?This decision is extremely positive for international trade, particularly for U.S. exports,? said Pierre Tada, USCSC co-chair, and president of Limoneira Co., headquartered in Santa Paula.Ventura County Agricultural Commissioner Earl McPhail said the decision doesn?t ?mean the end? of Argentine imports, but ?it?s a real positive step in the right direction. . .the ruling means judge this on a scientific basis, not political, as should have been done in the first place.? Allowing the importations ?shouldn?t have happened in the first place.?
Court decision halting Argentine lemon imports hailed by citrus growers
October 19, 2001
Santa Paula News
Citrus growers throughout the west and in the Santa Clara River Valley are hailing a court decision that has put the brakes on importing citrus from Argentina, a controversial June 2000 decision made by the USDA in spite of protests from ranchers and scientists who feared diseases and pest infestations.
By Peggy KellySanta Paula TimesCitrus growers throughout the west and in the Santa Clara River Valley are hailing a court decision that has put the brakes on importing citrus from Argentina, a controversial June 2000 decision made by the USDA in spite of protests from ranchers and scientists who feared diseases and pest infestations.U.S. District Court Judge Robert E. Coyle ruled Sept. 27 that the U.S. Department of Agriculture relied on incomplete data when it agreed to open up citrus imports from Argentina.In addition, the court expressed concern that the USDA had relied on the Argentine plant protection agency, SENASA, for policing disease and pest infestations which United States growers said they feared importing along with the citrus: SENASA was found to have covered up a 2001 foot-and-mouth outbreak in Argentina, the court decision noted.The Argentine import issue had split United States agricultural interests with growers at one point criticizing cooperatives for not doing enough to prevent importation.The Santa Paula-headquartered U.S. Citrus Science Council was formed to fight the importation and garnered support from more than 5,000 growers in California and Arizona: the USCSC filed the lawsuit based on its concerns that the importation of citrus fruit grown in regions of Argentina where serious plant pests and diseases are prevalent poses a grave hazard to domestic citrus groves.
