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July 26, 2002
Florida’s High Court Refuses to Hear Citrus Canker Case
On July 18, 2002, the Florida Supreme Court refused to hear a case concerning the state’s citrus canker eradication law. As a result, a May 24, 2002 ruling stands, which stated that a new law giving Florida the power to remove healthy citrus trees was unconstitutional. Several counties in Florida had filed a lawsuit to challenge the law, which required Florida to remove healthy citrus trees within 1,900 feet of those infected with citrus canker. On July 9, 2002, the 4th District Court of Appeal had asked Florida’s Supreme Court to hear the case immediately given the seriousness of the situation. Citrus canker had previously been found in Florida very close to a commercial grapefruit production area. A citrus canker outbreak in commercial production areas would be devastating to Florida’s $9 billion industry. U.S. exports of grapefruit, much of which originate from Florida, totaled nearly $197 million in calendar year 2001, of which $51 million or 26 percent went to the EU. The EU and other citrus-producing countries have been closely following the situation in Florida, as they are very concerned about the spread of citrus canker and how it might impact U.S. commercial groves and trade. To date, however, there have been no reports of trade disruptions resulting from the citrus canker situation. A few months ago, APHIS had sent a letter to the EU describing the canker situation and the procedures in place to prevent the spread of citrus canker in Florida. Currently, the only known method for stopping the spread of citrus canker is through the burning/destruction of trees.
Public Comment Period Concludes on New Zealand’s Proposed Measures for Imported Table Grapes
On November 6, 2001 New Zealand revoked the import health standard (IHS) for the importation of fresh table grapes from California due to several post border detections of live poisonous spiders. On June 12, 2002, New Zealand released two documents that assessed the potential public health and environmental risks from black widow spider intercepted on California table grapes. A third document released at that time proposed additional or alternative mitigation measures for a revised IHS. Wednesday, July 24, 2002 marked the end of the public comment period on these documents. The California industry has submitted extensive written comments identifying a number of concerns associated with certain provisions of the proposed IHS, with APHIS also providing its own comments on the proposed procedures. It is hoped an arrangement can be reached with New Zealand that will permit the industry to resume shipments to what has been in recent years a $3-4 million market for California table grapes.
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