US Cherry Producers Gain Access to Western Australia
20 September 2011 The US Department of Agriculture announced that after 10 years of negotiations, US cherries can now be exported to Western Australia, making cherries the first US fresh fruit to gain access to that market, according to the agency.
The market opening positions Australia as the seventh most valuable export market for US cherries, according to the USDA.
“The market opening in Western Australia is great news for American sweet cherry producers of the Northwest and even better news for American agricultural exports, which are forecast to set records this year and next thanks to the dedication of American producers,” said Michael Scuse, acting under secretary for Farm and Foreign Agricultural Services in a statement.
US cherries from California have had access to the eastern states of Australia since the late 1990s and Washington and Oregon have been permitted to export to the eastern Australian states since 2001.
Since that time, negotiations have been ongoing between Biosecurity Australia and USDA to gain access for US cherries to Western Australia, which maintains its own regulations. A final push by importers in Western Australia resulted in the first cherry import into that Australian State last month, and Washington State Fruit Commission/Northwest Cherry Growers used USDA Market Access Program funds to showcase the products as they arrived in Perth, in Western Australia, according to the USDA.
The Australian market is a rapidly growing market for US cherries, according to the USDA. In 2009, a record 2,334 metric tons of cherries valued at $15.6 million were shipped to the Australian market, compared with $1.4 million in 1999 when the market first opened.
USDA recently forecast fiscal year 2011 and 2012 exports will reach a record $137 billion, $22 billion higher than the previous record set in 2008 and $28 billion above 2010.
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