USDA CONSIDERS ALLOWING IMPORTS OF ARGENTINE FRUIT.

Byline: Michael Coit Daily News Staff Writer

Lemons long have been the top crop produced by Ventura County growers, and temperate summers produce the most prized fruit sought by markets across the nation and on the Pacific Rim.

But a rival lurking in Argentina, with a far larger crop, could enter domestic markets under a U.S. Department of Agriculture proposal. If approved, a door in global agricultural trade would be opened that Ventura County growers fear eventually could bring crop-destroying pests.

``In allowing the fruit in from Argentina, where they have the Medfly - they also have some black spot, which is a citrus disease - the USDA is putting overactive trade desires above sound science,'' said John Lamb, a fourth-generation grower who farms 270 acres of lemons and avocados near Camarillo.

Argentina has lobbied several years for entry into U.S. citrus markets, and there is little wonder why. Prices in the United States are usually about three to 3-1/2 times those in Europe or Argentina, where most Argentine citrus is now sold, officials said.

This week, the USDA proposed lifting its ban on imports of lemons, oranges and grapefruit from parts of Argentina.

The proposal comes after the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, a marketing and regulatory arm of the USDA, determined parts of Argentina are free of citrus canker, a highly contagious disease that can damage fruit and destroy trees. The USDA and Servico Nacional de Sanidad y Calidad Agroalimentaria, Argentina's plant protection agency, said those areas are the northwest states of Catamarca, Jujuy, Salta and Tucuman.

Under the proposal, Argentine citrus groves dedicated for export would have to be:

Registered with Argentina's plant protection organization.

Protected by a 165-yard buffer zone to separate export groves from adjacent agricultural and nonagricultural areas.

Treated and sanitized against citrus black spot and sweet orange scab, two other diseases.

Inspected at specific times for evidence of infestation.

Cold treated to guard against fruit flies as a condition for entry to the United States.

Further, imports would have to carry a certificate saying that growers complied with the rules.

``It is designed to ensure that lemon growers in the U.S. are not threatened by agricultural pests,'' said Larry Hawkins, western region spokesman for APHIS.

Global trade expansion

Such protections are fine as long as they are enforced, said Rex Laird, executive director of the Ventura County Farm Bureau.

``Where it gets weird is when people try to practice political science rather than sound science,'' he contended. ``When there's pressure, there seems to be a tendency to wink and look the other way.''

Laird recalled, for instance, how the avocado was considered a host for the Mediterranean fruit fly, and fruit was fumigated during the county's 1994-95 Medfly infestation. Avocados, however, were not considered a Medfly host when federal agriculture officials approved importing Mexican avocados in 1997.

Hawkins acknowledged that there indeed is a push to open more domestic markets to commodities grown in other nations under both the North American Free Trade Agreement and the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade. ``This is pretty standard for the USDA now . . . and rightfully so. Everyone should compete on the same level; that's what the law says.''

Competing is something Ventura County is preparing to do. Growers and packing house officials have been making trips to the lemon-growing region of Argentina to gauge the competition, checking growing conditions, labor and equipment needs and the use of chemicals.

Laird said growers might strike marketing agreements to manage shipping volumes and ensure profitable prices.

``Maybe we won't have the exclusiveness that we had before,'' he said. ``But it's one thing to have competition. It's another to allow someone to bring something in that's going to wipe you out.''

Protecting crop values

Ventura County growers produced a crop valued at $217 million in 1997 compared with $201 million in 1996. California's total lemon crop value was $266 million last year compared with $210 million the previous year, according to county and state reports.

The county's avocado crop last year was valued at $61 million.

Lemon and avocado growers fear that those values will suffer if they face having to fight a perpetual chemical war against a variety of destructive pests and diseases they don't contend with now.

The public comment period for the Argentine citrus import proposal runs through Oct. 13. The period could be extended and public meetings held if warranted by public interest, which occurred with the avocado import proposal, officials said.

``You get a sense for the passion around the issue. It's a very similar situation to the avocados,'' said Anna Cherry, an APHIS spokeswoman.

Less than two years ago, California avocado growers - producing 95 percent of the domestic crop, with about a fourth coming from Ventura County - battled federal agriculture officials over the proposal to allow Mexican avocado imports.

The growers, led by the growers' cooperative Calavo, failed to thwart the imports from beginning this past winter. But they gained concessions designed to keep fruit flies, weevils and mites from crossing the border - or surviving in shipments to the northeast states where the imported fruit is allowed.

Orchards must be inspected to ensure they are free of pests; fruit must be inspected before loading in Mexico and again before being shipped across the border; and shipments must arrive with seals intact.

``Those are all things that were a result of our rather outspoken concern about the pest issue,'' said Tom Bellamore, senior vice president for Calavo.

Both Hawkins and Bellamore said the first imports this past winter turned up no pests and no problems with the system.

There was an impact on sales of California avocados in the 19 northeastern states where they competed with cheaper Mexican avocados from November through February. Bellamore noted that sales were off more than 8 percent.

``It was a good sort of first test of the system, but it still left us with the concern that if you increase that volume and try to put more fruit into the system, will those controls work?'' Bellamore explained.

Growers contend the cheaper fruit eventually will reach California.

``We're basically seeing a global movement toward freer trade and an increase in agricultural commodities,'' Bellamore said. ``And with that comes the danger of plant pests from another country.''