Workers in Yuncheng, Shanxi Province, packing apples for export. (Photo : China Daily Europe)
The longstanding ban on apples has ended, after the U.S Department of Agriculture approved the importation of fresh apples from China.
China, the world's largest producer and exporter of apples, was previously banned to export to the U.S. because of concerns about diseases.
The General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine also played an important role in pushing the trade deal through by dealing with the concerns on the U.S. side and developing course of action to remove disease-carrying insects.
"Although it usually takes a long time to complete the evaluation of fruit exports, the talks between China and the U.S. over apples, which took 17 years, is a rare example," said Ding Sanyin, a branch bureau chief at the Shanxi Entry-Exit Inspection and Quarantine Bureau.
Ding added that the first shipment of apples came from Shanxi's Wanrong county, where a national-level demonstration area for the export of the fruit has been stabilized to ensure quality.
The fruit company was the first to receive a certificate that allows them to trade apples to the U.S. Recently, Wanrong Huarong shipped 20.2 tons of the fruit.
Dalian Tianli, another fruit company, is expected to ship 41.3 metric tons of apples on June 26.
In another interview, Washington Apple Commission president Todd Fryhover said that they feel they could ship more of the fruit to the Chinese market than it would ship to the U.S. market.
On the other hand, Huarong chairman Huang Xinjian said that the opening of the Chinese and American markets to each other allows U.S. apple producers to enter the vast and rapidly growing Chinese market, while Chinese producers can tap into the high-end market in the U.S.
Huang said that the Chinese apples, mainly of Fuji variety, have a competitive edge in the U.S. market.
