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A green light for fresh Oregon blueberries to South Korea
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10/5/2011
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Article Content
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Koreans love all kinds of berry products for health reasons.
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Agreement reached to allow fresh US blueberries for 1st time
The timing is coincidental, but on the heels of a governor's trade mission that included a stop in South Korea comes the announced agreement that Oregon will be the first state allowed to ship fresh blueberries into the Korean export market. The announcement is viewed as a major development for one of Oregon's brightest agricultural industries and could lead to a sharp increase in blueberry export sales.
"This is great news for our blueberry industry and could give us a significant new market," says Oregon Department of Agriculture Director Katy Coba. "There is still work to be done, but we are poised to take advantage of being the first state to have a green light from South Korea for fresh blueberries."
For years, ODA has been working with the US Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) and the state's blueberry industry in crafting a deal with South Korean food safety inspection officials to clear the hurdles that have kept fresh berries out of that market. Last week, APHIS announced an agreement that should allow Oregon to ship fresh blueberries to Korea during the 2012 season. Protocols still need to be ironed out, but the news is being welcomed by growers.
"This is a market that appears to me to be fairly untapped so far, so it's going to be a huge market opportunity," says Eric Pond, a blueberry grower from Jefferson who chairs the Oregon Blueberry Commission. Pond and ODA Director Coba recently returned from South Korea- one of three stops in the governor's trade mission to Asia.
Assuming the protocols are worked out to the satisfaction of both sides, it is estimated that as much as 500,000 pounds of fresh Oregon blueberries will be exported to South Korea next year.
"Based on what I see right now, I think Korea will be a very active market for Oregon," says Bryan Ostlund, administrator of the Oregon Blueberry Commission. "We still need to work out the tremendous number of provisions that will assure South Korea that the fruit we ship is the absolute best quality and meets their standards."
Those protocols are the finer details that ensure fresh Oregon blueberries pose no risk and won't be a vector for pests and diseases that might be introduced to South Korea. ODA has already seen the list of concerns and has drafted proposed procedures to address those concerns. Over the next few months, the agency, USDA, and the industry will work to refine the proposed procedures.
In the end, ODA will develop and implement a voluntary fee-for-service certification program for fresh blueberries intended for South Korea. This summer, there were 10 Oregon companies indicating an interest in exporting to Korea. The ODA program will be open to all blueberry growers, packers, and shippers. It could be that more than 10 companies will be interested by next year.
The Oregon Blueberry Commission will sponsor a Korean inspector to visit at the beginning of the 2012 harvest season to review the protocol and how Oregon is responding to it. A first hand look at the insect trapping and all other steps taken by growers to ensure Korean phytosanitary concerns are being addressed will go a long way in clearing the path for Oregon blueberries.
"We look forward to a visit next year by the Korean official so we can show our procedures, testing protocol, laboratory, and inspectors," says Jim Cramer, administrator of ODA's Commodity Inspection Division.
No agricultural prospect in South Korea is more exciting than the Oregon blueberry.
"The supply of blueberry products is having a hard time catching up with demand," says Sang Young Oh, a marketing specialist with the US Agricultural Trade Office in Seoul.
It's clear that Koreans have embraced the health benefits of blueberries. The governor's trade mission included visits to grocery stores and other retail establishments where blueberries were prominent. Dried and frozen Oregon blueberries- along with other non-fresh blueberry products- have been in the market for years. Koreans see blueberries as valuable as ginseng and other culturally-important herbs and foods. ODA Director Coba even joked during a meeting with the Korean prime minister that eating Oregon blueberries might improve his eyesight enough to do away with his glasses- a comment that drew a laugh during the high level meeting.
The trade delegation also toured a cargo handling facility owned by Asiana Airlines near the airport at Incheon. Last month, Asiana launched a direct cargo flight from Portland to South Korea. The technical sophistication of accepting, processing, and distributing imports at the Asiana facility is impressive. The delegation was told that it will be possible for an Oregon blueberry picked in the field on a Tuesday morning to get into the mouth of a Korean consumer by Thursday afternoon, thanks to the new direct service and facility.
Even before last week's announcement of an agreement, the Oregon Blueberry Commission and several of the larger processors and packers had received numerous phone calls from Korean buyers interested in getting fresh berries as soon a possible.
"The number of buyers that have been to Oregon actually touring our farms and looking to buy fresh blueberries in anticipation of an agreement has been impressive," says Ostlund.
Blueberry plantings in Oregon have increased dramatically the past decade. Ten years ago, Oregon blueberries was roughly a 20 million pound industry. This year, the projected harvest is closer to 60 million pounds. Finding a home for all those berries is important. A fraction of that production going to South Korea can help even those growers who don't export by re-directing product that might otherwise be sold domestically.
Passage of the pending Korean Free Trade Agreement is important to US and Oregon agriculture. But even without its ratification, the agreement between Oregon and South Korea on fresh blueberries will proceed. Oregon is seen as a test case for other blueberry-producing states that also may be interested in the export market. But for now, Oregon will exclusively test the waters of what could be a sea of Korean consumers.
For more information, contact Bryan Ostlund at (503) 364-2944 or Dalton Hobbs at (503) 872-6600.
Story of the Week pdf version
http://oregon.gov/ODA/docs/pdf/news/111005blueberries.pdf
Audio Story of the Week
http://oregon.gov/ODA/news/111005blueberries_audio.shtml
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