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PO Box 848 Nogales, AZ 85628 Phone (520) 287-2707 Fax (520) 287-2948

Scott Vandervoet

Chairman

Leonardo Tarriba

Chairman Elect

Gonzalo Avila

Past Chair

Bobby Astengo

Alejandro Canelos

Jaime Chamberlain

Chris Ciruli

Raquel Espinoza

Enrique Gracia

Sabrina Hallman

Juan Manuel Ibarra

Martin Ley

Matt Mandel

James Martin

Jose Antonio Martinez

Juan Pablo Molina

Bert Monteverde Jr.

Jimmy Munguia

John Pandol

Atanasio Panousopoulos

Walter Ram

Fernando Sandoval

Rod Sbragia

Mikee Suarez

Chuck Thomas

Lance Jungmeyer

President

Jeff Sandquist

Veridus

Arizona Representative

Britton Clarke

BC Consulting

Washington Representative

July 31, 2019

The Honorable Sonny Perdue

Secretary of Agriculture

 and

USDA Fruit and Vegetable Industry Advisory Committee

 Re: Advisory Committee August 14-15, 2019 Public Meeting, Trade 

 Policy Discussion 

As the U.S. Department of Agriculture pursues a path to improve the 

economic outlook for America’s farmers, ranchers and the produce 

industry at large, it is crucial for the U.S. to be aware of policies that 

could invite reciprocal measures that may harm U.S. agricultural exports.

The Fresh Produce Association of the Americas (FPAA) represents U.S. 

importers and distributors of fresh fruits and vegetables from Mexico. 

We were founded in 1944 and we represent companies with 

headquarters all around the United States, many of whom are domestic 

growers who round out their domestic supplies with imports.

We see the impacts of trade policy firsthand, every day. Unfortunately, 

there are two examples of recent trade issues where U.S. agricultural 

trade policy is at risk of going entirely the wrong direction.

Southeast produce growers and their Congressmen are promoting the 

Defending Domestic Produce Production Act, which is almost exactly the 

same proposal for a “seasonal, regional perishable anti-dumping 

remedy” that came to be known as the “seasonality provision” during 

the negotiations of the USMCA. The concept of seasonality would have 

created a patchwork of regional market windows when produce imports 

would be subject to tariffs or quotas. 

Seasonality was not included in the final USMCA and was opposed by a 

broad coalition of the U.S. agricultural industry, as well as Canada and 

Mexico during the negotiations. Seasonality is a concept that should stay 

out of U.S. law for obvious reasons. Every growing region in the world 

that could claim a marketing window would also stake out protections 

within their own nations. Trade barriers would proliferate, and all of the 

progress in growing world markets would begin to evaporate. 
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Simply put, designing trade remedies for specific regional or seasonal industries will invite more 

politics into U.S. trade policy, with predictable results, including raising prices for U.S. 

consumers.

Increased availability of commodities drives consumption, through both expanded domestic 

production and imports. For example, not until blueberries became available year-round could 

retailers receive consistent pricing and quality, and since then the consumption of blueberries 

has skyrocketed, leading to ever more opportunities for American farmers of blueberries. 

During this time berry acreage in the U.S. has grown dramatically, in many states.

But if the U.S. changed trade remedies to restrict supplies, consumer prices would rise, and 

retailers would reduce space on their shelves accordingly and overall sales of blueberries 

undoubtedly would decline. 

We understand that the Fruit and Vegetable Industry Advisory Committee has been tasked with 

outlining a strategy for Sec. Perdue on trade, and we urge this committee to reject calls to 

create seasonal trade remedies. 

Over the years, the United States has invested massive amounts of funds to develop ag export 

markets. If a seasonality provision were put in place, and other nations adopted similar 

measures, exports of many items would be jeopardized. In 2018 the USDA invested $174 

million into Market Access Promotion (MAP), resulting in $130 billion in agricultural exports. 

The exports of MAP promoted agricultural products to Mexico alone in 2018 were $18 billion; 

and to Canada $20 billion dollars. 

Changing trade law to benefit some regional producers at the expense of the larger agricultural 

industry would be counterproductive. Nonetheless, we do believe the agency can do more to 

create opportunities for regional perishable agriculture industries. 

For instance, using the MAP model and working with states, USDA could create a special 

program for seasonal domestic producers to access new and emerging markets both within the 

United States, and outside of the U.S.

Also, as we have seen with avocados and watermelons, having consistent consumer 

promotions that are supported by all stakeholders has helped these industries grow.

USDA/AMS has a strong role to play in creating national marketing boards that can promote 

massive consumption increases, with input and funding from both domestic and foreign 

producers.

In another area of trade, we are extremely concerned by some provisions in the proposed 

Tomato Suspension Agreement. The Tomato Division of FPAA is an interested party in the 

tomato proceedings.
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While the Department of Commerce has oversight of the tomato agreement, two of these 

provisions have a direct interface with USDA, and we believe this committee should be aware 

of the harmful precedents that would be set if these move forward.

First, USDA would be charged with 100% inspection of Mexican tomato imports. Second, for 

some sellers and buyers of tomatoes, rights would be denied under the Perishable Agricultural 

Commodities Act. If either of these provisions are agreed upon, U.S. exports will suffer as 

reciprocal measures are put in place. 

The so-called Border Inspection Mechanism is entirely unnecessary given that imports of 

Mexican tomatoes arrive with overwhelmingly high quality. This is borne out by data that FPAA 

presented to Commerce, showing that less than 0.02% of tomatoes inspected in Nogales 

resulted in a shipment being declared out of compliance 

The Border Inspection Mechanism would call for tomatoes to be inspected within 72 hours, 

which is unacceptable. This was proposed by the Florida Tomato Exchange simply to erect a 

trade barrier. 

To conduct 100% inspections, more than $220 million in new warehouse space would need to 

be built, and about $30 million annually would be spent on the inspections themselves. Trailers 

would have to wait to be unloaded, reducing freight capacity and throughput along the border 

for many industries, not just for tomatoes.

Logistics stakeholders, including those who service U.S. ag export industries such as apples, 

grapes, grains and meats, have expressed their concern about the Border Inspection 

Mechanism. These groups include the American Trucking Association, the Texas Association of 

Business, the San Diego Custom House Brokers Association and others. 

Mexico’s Secretary of Agriculture Victor Villalobos also filed a letter to Sec. Perdue, stating his 

concern that such an inspection precedent ... “could detonate requests from our domestic 

industry to adopt similar measures that could clearly affect supply chains, not only of fruits and 

vegetables, but also of various agricultural products ... including meat products, grains and 

oilseeds and dairy products among others.”

Another component of the new Tomato Suspension Agreement proposal would fundamentally 

change the rights of U.S. sellers and receivers under the PACA. 

The proposal would limit buyers’ ability to make claims for damages at arrival and instead 

would drive tomato sales toward and through repackers, who happen to be heavily integrated 

with the domestic tomato industry. Denying some U.S. sellers the longstanding guarantee 

under common law and PACA of rights to breach of damages puts them at a distinct 

disadvantage and erodes the very foundation that fruit and vegetable trade is built upon. This 

was not the intent of Congress when it wrote the PACA in 1937.
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It is outside of the scope of dumping law to establish terms that help some U.S. sellers of 

Mexican tomatoes and harm other U.S. sellers of Mexican tomatoes. This precedent could 

impact all buyers and sellers of all types of fresh produce.

The Fruit and Vegetable Industry Advisory Committee should be aware of the potential

negative consequences caused by the actions of other governmental agencies, including 

Commerce. How the U.S. treats its trading partners directly impacts how trading partners will 

treat U.S. exports.

As this committee recommends strategies and policies to Sec. Perdue, we urge you to consider 

the precedents that can be caused by implementing unfair or unsound policies.

Sincerely,

Lance Jungmeyer

President 

The Fresh Produce Association of the Americas