Increased trade helps meet U.S.
consumers’ growing demand for a variety of
fresh fruit and vegetables throughout the year. ERS
calculates that the import share of domestic consumption
of fruit and nuts has grown over the past 25 years
from 10 to 35 percent for fruit and nuts and from
5 to 15 percent for vegetables. To reduce the
risk of inadvertent entry of pests and diseases
that could harm agriculture, public health, or the
environment, imports of these products are regulated
by USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection
Service (APHIS).
Phytosanitary Regulation of
the Entry of Fresh Fruits and Vegetables into the
United States, a data set on the ERS website,
identifies the countries, under USDA phytosanitary
rules, that are eligible to export fresh fruit and
vegetables to the United States. The data set includes
data on the absolute and relative importance of
these countries in international production and
trade, individually and overall. For example, the
19 countries eligible to export apples to the United
States account for 17 percent of world apple production
and 33 percent of exports.
The data set also includes the
development status of export-eligible countries,
along with the ranking of each commodity in U.S.
production and disappearance (a proxy for consumption)
data. For instance, 55 countries are eligible to
export bananas to the United States, 48 of which
are low- to middle-income nations. Bananas rank
23rd in U.S. fruit production and 1st in per capita
availability. Having access to information on countries
that are currently eligible to export fresh fruit
and vegetables to the United States lays the foundation
for better understanding of trade patterns and can
underpin analyses of the market effects of potential
changes in phytosanitary import rules.
Countries Must Petition To Gain
Access to the U.S. Market
Agricultural products are imported
into the United States only after successfully completing
USDA’s approval process. After a country petitions
USDA to allow importation of a specific commodity,
APHIS conducts a risk assessment to identify the
economic and environmental damage pests associated
with the commodity might cause if the pests were
to enter the United States. No import is risk free,
but APHIS may recommend that the commodity be allowed
to enter if certain steps are followed to reduce
pest risk to acceptable levels. In these cases,
APHIS works with the exporting country to develop
a plan outlining the procedures and treatments required
as a condition of commodity entry into the United
States.
A recent example of a country
that completed this process is India, which received
authorization to export fresh mangoes to the United
States. The APHIS risk assessment examined the potential
economic and environmental impact of 20 pests associated
with mangoes from India. APHIS concluded that irradiating
mangoes could reduce the risks to negligible levels,
so India is now one of the 17 countries eligible
to export this fruit to the United States. Five
of the world’s top 10 mango producers, including
China, are not yet eligible to export to the United
States.
Phytosanitary Measures Can Have
Economic Effects on U.S. Markets and Consumers
Phytosanitary measures such as
import bans can restrict the seasonal availability
of a product or raise costs for consumers. Advances
in science and technology are helping APHIS design
less trade-restrictive measures that reduce phytosanitary
risks of the imports demanded by consumers. Lifting
a ban on a country’s exports to the United
States may lower prices for U.S. consumers, cause
changes in ex-porters’ shares of the U.S.
market, or both. The magnitude of changes may be
greater in cases where entry of a commodity is more
highly restricted. Of the five most widely traded
fruits, grape imports are the least restricted,
and apples are the most restricted, as measured
by the share of global production eligible to enter
the United States.
The assessment requires data on
U.S. domestic production of a commodity (if any),
along with data on production in countries eligible
to export to the U.S. This information helps analysts
estimate whether the expected benefits from increased
trade will be greater than the expected costs of
potential yield decreases or the increases in production
costs associated with the entry of a pest or disease.
These economic analyses can be important in the
evaluation of proposed changes in phytosanitary
policy, such as lifting the longstanding ban of
imports of Mexican avocados. APHIS estimated that
eliminating geographical and seasonal restrictions
on Mexican avocados while maintaining a number of
other phytosanitary safeguards would lead to annual
net benefits of $70 million to the United States.
These estimates provide analytic support for the
decision by USDA to replace its ban on imported
Mexican avocados with a more targeted approach that
allowed increased imports.
Phytosanitary Standards Limit
Exports from Some Developing Countries
A number of developing countries
face obstacles in complying with stringent phytosanitary
standards, but many are successful. While all developed
countries are eligible to export both onions and
tomatoes to the United States, among developing
countries, 61 percent are eligible to export onions
and 25 percent are eligible to export tomatoes.
The reason a country may not appear on a list of
eligible countries could be that it has not petitioned
for authorization after concluding that it could
not compete in U.S. markets, rather than because
of phytosanitary problems. Other countries do have
problems, either with pests, or a lack of technical
capacity to address the pest issues. Various multilateral
and national institutions are seeking to assist
these countries in overcoming these obstacles.