STATE FLOWER GROWERS SEEK TO PRUNE ANDEAN IMPORTS.

Byline: David Lee Journal of Commerce

Roses may be a symbol of love, but some California growers are seeing red over imports of these and other flowers.

The flower farmers are upset over a portion of the Andean Trade Preferences Act that lets Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru sell flowers duty-free to the United States in a bid to help the countries develop alternate industries to cocaine production.

Andean countries account for about 75 percent of the $8 billion U.S. retail flower market.

Rep. Tom Campbell, D-Campbell, has drafted a resolution that would force Colombian flower growers to pay a 6 percent to 8 percent tariff when they export flowers to the United States. Flowers from other Andean countries would still be exempt from duty. U.S. growers say removing the preference is the only way to level the playing field. But opponents - mostly distributors in Miami - say the resolution would raise prices and hurt the entire industry. The ensuing debate has pitted grower against distributor, and California against Florida.

``It's obviously a fairness issue,'' said Lee Murphy, president and chief executive of the California Cut Flower Commission, which represents state flower growers. ``The (trade preference act) hurts California growers tremendously.''

Campbell argues that Colombia should lose its tariff exemption because it is not cooperating enough to reduce the flow of drugs into the United States. But he wants to tax only fresh-cut flowers and none of the nearly 6,000 other types of products Colombia sends duty-free to the United States.

It could be several weeks before his resolution, now before the Ways and Means subcommittee, reaches the House floor. The resolution comes at a time when the Clinton administration is deciding whether to revoke some or all of Colombia's trade preferences to signal disapproval of the continuing reign of President Ernesto Samper. Samper's campaign reportedly accepted $6 million in contributions from drug traffickers, but the Colombian Congress has twice absolved the president of wrongdoing.

Supporters and opponents of the resolution acknowledge that the real issue is not drugs, but the 70 percent market share Colombian flowers hold in the United States.

California is the nation's largest flower-producing state, selling $300 million a year worth of flowers at the farm level. But 6 percent to 10 percent of flower growers in California go out of business each year, and the remaining farmers anxiously eye Colombia's strong position.

Though bad weather, labor laws and environmental regulation cut their profits, California growers say international competition is the biggest problem.

Distributors of imported flowers say a tariff will push retail prices up and prompt consumers to buy gifts like wine or perfume. And whether tariffs will help is another issue. Since mid-1992 - when the Andean pact went into effect giving tariff reductions for flowers and other products - California lost little ground in the U.S. market, and Colombia's share remained constant, the U.S. Agriculture Department said. Those figures also show that imported flowers were on an upward growth path for several years before 1992 anyway.

In a letter to House members, five Florida delegates said importing Colombian flowers provide 200,000 domestic jobs and don't harm U.S. growers.

``There is a misconception that the (Andean pact) allowed Colombia to take over the flower market,'' said German Salazar, managing director of the Colombian Flower Council, a Miami-based trade organization of flower growers and importers.

Murphy said Colombia dumps its flowers in the U.S. market, selling them at unfairly low prices to drive competitors out of business. He said Colombian growers once sold carnations below cost - at 2 cents apiece - to Miami distributors after European buyers turned them down.