[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 34 (Thursday, March 4, 1999)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2277-S2278]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. GORTON (for himself and Mr. Smith of Oregon):
  S. 530. A bill to amend the Act commonly known as the Expert Apple 
and Pear Act to limit the applicability of that act to apples; to the 
Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.


                  expert apple and pear act amendments

  Mr. GORTON. Mr. President, I rise today to introduce legislation 
amending the 1933 Export Apple and Pear Act to provide for the 
expansion of pear exports.
  Currently, all apple and pear exporters must follow the guidelines 
set forth in the Act when negotiating overseas sales of these 
commodities. According to the Act, only high grade apples and pears are 
to be sold in foreign markets. Should an exporter decide to broker a 
deal with another country involving lower grade apple and pears, the 
U.S. Department of Agriculture must provide a waiver to farmers 
allowing them to do so.
  While growers have prospered under the 1933 Export Apple and Pear 
Act, more and more countries have requested to purchase lower grade 
pears. The purpose of this legislation is to eliminate pears from the 
Export Apple and Pear Act allowing growers and exporters the ability to 
expand the market for low grade pears without having to approach USDA 
in each instance for a waiver.
  There is no doubt that the Pacific Northwest fruit industry is facing 
a difficult year financially. I believe this bill provides one 
additional mechanism necessary for an economically strapped industry to 
access additional markets while still promoting a quality U.S. product.
  Mr. SMITH of Oregon. Mr. President, 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

[[Page S2278]]

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.
  Perhaps my colleagues noted that the companion bill to this 
legislation, H.R. 609, was adopted unanimously by the House of 
Representatives earlier this week. The swift passage of this 
legislation in the House is the result of the clear consensus of both 
the pear industry and the Department of Agriculture that the inclusion 
of pears in the Export Apple and Pear Act is no longer necessary.
  Mr. President, from Hood River, in the shadow of Mount Hood, to the 
Rogue Valley, just north of California, the pear industry has long been 
a key part of the success of Oregon agriculture. With the regulatory 
relief provided by this bill, I believe that pear producers in Oregon 
and around the country will have the ability to continue to compete 
effectively overseas and prosper at home. I urge my colleagues to join 
Senator Gorton and myself in support of early adoption of this 
legislation.
                                 ______