June 12, 2006

ISSUE 1119

USDA: FLORIDA CITRUS BANNED IN PRODUCING STATES, $100 MILLION IN CANKER COMPENSATION COMING

USDA announced Wednesday (June 8) it would release $100 million in citrus canker compensation to growers. The announcement came one day after it issued an interim rule prohibiting Florida citrus shipments to the citrus producing states of Alabama, Arizona, California, Hawaii, Louisiana and Texas. Florida citrus will also be banned from some citrus-producing territories including American Samoa, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
An Alabama official told reporters Thursday (June 8), however, that his state will not go along with the ban.

The ban affects fresh oranges, tangerines, grapefruits and tangelos, and is expected to begin with the August harvest season.

USDA said it will seek public comments before a final rule is set in place.
Florida Governor Jeb Bush called the ban "overkill" that doesn't make scientific sense. He said he would send state officials to Washington, D.C. to try and persuade USDA to modify the rule to allow shipments to at least those parts of the states where citrus is not produced.

Agriculture Commissioner Charles Bronson told reporters he was worried that the ban might lead to loss of export markets, particularly Europe, if they insist on the same standard.

"Where does that leave us with our trading partners now that other states and the USDA are doing this?" he said. He did, however, issue a release praising USDA for making the compensation funds available.

And Florida’s Senator Mel Martinez issued a statement saying he too is pleased that USDA will release the compensation funding, but says it is less than adequate in the face of the quarantine rule.