Robert Smith: “I rise to comment on a bill I have introduced today that will provide Oregon pear producers the flexibility they need to…”

“I rise to comment on a bill I have introduced today that will provide Oregon pear producers the flexibility they need to meet the demands of their foreign customers. With continued low commodity prices in nearly all sectors of American agriculture, and with financial uncertainty in many of our export markets, now is the time for the Congress to do all it can to remove unnecessary hindrances to sales of farm products abroad. The legislation which I have introduced today with my colleague, the senior senator from the state of Washington, would delete references to pears in the Export Apple and Pear Act. Under the Export Apple and Pear Act, only pears meeting Federal high quality standards are allowed to be exported. Although this standard served the purposes of the pear industry when the Export Apple and Pear Act was originally enacted in 1933, it has increasingly become an obstacle to U.S. pear producers who desire to enter new markets through the export of lower grade pears. In recent years, pear producers have had to obtain special waivers from USDA in order to sell lower grade pears to the emerging markets of Russia and Latin America. With American agriculture increasingly a part of a larger, global economy, U.S. pear producers need the Congress to remove this antiquated regulatory hurdle to expanded pear exports.”