California table grape industry leaders are applauding a decision by the USDA to pause regulatory work on a Chilean proposal to ease fumigation requirements for grapes entering the United States.

The so-called systems approach, which would encourage alternatives to the use of methyl bromide and other fumigants, could lead to an import of pests that pose serious risks to domestic growers, industry representatives argue.

“The Chilean proposal abandons an empirically successful treatment regime in favor of an ill-defined systems approach through which many invasive pests could travel,” said Kathleen Nave, president of the California Table Grape Commission.

“The change would introduce a significant risk of potentially devastating infestations to the wine, juice, raisin, and table grape grops across the country,” she said.

Importers have encouraged U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack to adopt the Chilean proposal, noting that grape season in the South American country is underway. But Nave said Chile already has adequate access to the U.S. marketplace.

“Chilean table grape growers have been shipping under the fumigation requirement for decades,” Nave said. “The latest three-year average volume of table grapes from Chile to the U.S. is 40 million 18-pound boxes, so the idea that Chilean growers won’t be able to supply the U.S. market without this new untried system is simply not true.”

Nave said that U.S. producers do not want this system put in place and the fact that Chilean importers do, should carry no weight with the USDA.

Source: California Table Grape Commission