My local paper reports that there may be an SPS case originating not too far from me:
Florida's war against canker ended in 2006, but six years later a battle is still being waged on the international front.
Florida, specifically the Indian River region, is the world's largest producer of grapefruit, and the European Union won't accept fruit that comes from a grove where any canker exists. That's despite U.S. scientific research that shows canker, a bacterium which dies once fruit is picked, isn't spread by fruit.
On Wednesday, Ambassador Islam Siddiqui, the U.S. Trade Representative's chief agricultural negotiator toured Riverfront Packing in Vero Beach for a look at how the fruit is washed and packed. The process includes keeping any fruit with lesions from being sold as fresh fruit. It becomes juice.
...
Dan Richey, president of Riverfront, said the EU doesn't allow Florida grapefruit to be shipped unless the grove is certified canker-free and the fruit is inspected by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and no canker is found. It's becoming more and more difficult to find a grove with no canker.
"We did research and got very good results with four experts who found fruit is not a pathway to spread this disease. The rest of the world accepted it. With the EU this is purely a stalling tactic and a non-tariff trade barrier," Richey said.
Spain, an EU member, produces citrus fruit, and the EU's refusal to accept the science is a protectionist measure, Richey said.
If this goes anywhere, I'll see if I can get the inside scoop.
