TRANS-PACIFIC PARTNERSHIP (TPP) TRADE AGREEMENT The Northwest Horticultural Council supports in principle the United States joining the Trans-Pacific  Partnership (TPP), a proposed free trade agreement between Australia, Brunei, Chile, Darussalam, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam.         The U.S. free trade agreements with Singapore, Chile, Australia and Peru already provide our exports of apples, pears, and sweet cherries duty free access to these foreign markets and if successful TPP would extend this duty free access to Brunei Darussalam (population 400,000 - located on the island of Borneo) and more importantly Vietnam.  New Zealand also provides duty free access to apples, pears and cherries and this liberal trade policy should be maintained.       In 2010 U.S. apple, pear and sweet cherry exports to Vietnam face tariffs of 15.6 percent for apples, 16 percent for pears and 20 percent for sweet cherries.  Under the terms of Vietnam’s accession to the World Trade Organization its tariff rate for these fresh fruits will be reduced to ten percent by 2012.  Prior to the world-wide economic recession, Vietnam, with a population of 85 million, consumed approximately $6.5 million (FOB Pacific Northwest) worth of apples, pears and cherries.    Obtaining duty free access to Vietnam will help our growers to compete against suppliers from Australia and New Zealand that will have duty free access to Vietnam under the recently negotiated ASEAN Free Trade Agreement.  The ASEAN FTA also includes Cambodia, Laos, Indonesia and Thailand, all countries of strong interest either as important current markets (Indonesia and Thailand) or potential future markets (Cambodia and Laos).  In the future, expanding duty free access under TPP to these and other countries in Asia would increase the benefits of this trade agreement.    TPP negotiations present an opportunity to eliminate phytosanitary barriers to trade that exist in Australia and New Zealand.  Obtaining access to Australia for apples was a goal of our industry long before the U.S.–Australia FTA was signed in 2004.  Depending on the provisions of access, sales to Australia could reach $5 million per year.  The U.S. has requested phytosanitary access to Australia for stone fruit and access for U.S. pears is also of interest.  Phytosanitary access to New Zealand for Pacific Northwest sweet cherries, under a systems approach, and stone fruit is also under negotiation and would benefit from the increased attention TPP negotiations might provide. 4/20/10 Northwest Horticultural Council 105 South 18th Street, Suite 105 Yakima, Washington 98901, USA Voice: (509) 453-3193, Fax: (509) 457-7615 E-mail general@nwhort.org