Canada has agreed to accept California table grapes as long as agriculture officials can ensure the fruit is free of the destructive European grapevine moth.
The recent decision comes as a relief to the state's table grape industry that last year shipped 32% of its exports to Canada -- making it California's No. 1 buyer of table grapes.
Of 34 million boxes exported worldwide in 2009, 11 million went to Canada. The value of the Canadian market was $192 million last year.
"To say access to Canada is important to Fresno County growers -- and to the entire industry -- is an understatement," said Kathleen Nave, president of Fresno-based California Table Grape Commission.
Since the moth's discovery in Northern California last November, the state's trading partners have been skittish about accepting any grapes from the seven infested counties, including Fresno.
Mexico -- the No. 2 importer of California table grapes -- still refuses to accept any grapes from the infested counties.
Canadian officials, however, agreed to import fresh grapes under conditions established by state and federal agriculture departments for the affected counties.
Those requirements include pest detection traps, inspections and use of federally approved practices to prevent the spread of the moth.
Canada won't take table grapes from core areas where the bug was found. In Fresno County, that means vineyards that are within roughly 650 feet of the moth finds.
Nave said that won't hurt Fresno County. There is only one vineyard that produces table grapes in that area and those grapes are not exported.
"All in all, this is a very important win for Fresno County table grape growers and for the industry as a whole," Nave said.
Barry Bedwell, president of the Fresno-based California Grape and Tree Fruit League, agreed, saying that state and federal regulators did their job in keeping valuable export markets open and preventing the pest from spreading.
"This is good news especially as the volume of boxes being packed begins to pick up," Bedwell said. "We are just getting started."
