Sherman Oaks, Calif. -
(March 22,2000) …Sunkist Growers President Vince Lupinacci hailed
the announcement today in Beijing by the Chinese government that
it has opened its markets for U.S. citrus fruit. This will be the
first time Sunkist and other U.S. citrus marketers will be able to
sell their American grown fruit in the huge markets of the
People’s Republic of China since 1980 when American citrus was
quarantined because of Mediterranean fruit fly
infestations.
"We’ve been working the
last several years with the U.S. and Chinese governments to
overcome obstacles to trade and gain market access," said
Lupinacci. "As a result of the tenacity and steadfast hard work of
U.S. negotiators from the office of the U.S. Trade Representative
and the U.S. Department of Agriculture, we’ve now achieved market
access," Lupinacci continued. "We are confident China will, in the
next several years, become a significant export market for Sunkist
citrus fruit, and for American agriculture."
China’s action to open its
markets for U.S. citrus, along with wheat and meat products,
should help efforts to gain approval from Congress of permanent
normal trade relations (PNTR), a vote likely to take place later
this Spring. Sunkist Growers has long supported PNTR for China and
China’s membership in the World Trade Organization where it will
be subject to the internationally accepted rules of trade.
Under terms of the U.S.
China agricultural agreement reached last year, China agreed to
dramatically reduce its tariffs from the current 40% to 12% no
later than 2004. During the next five years, Sunkist estimates it
will ship approximately $500 million in citrus to this new market.
"China has all the potential to be a huge market for us as citrus
is very popular with Chinese consumers," said Mr.
Lupinacci.
Initial shipments of
Sunkist fruit will be sent to Shanghai and Beijing markets later
this week.
