Newhouse, colleagues seek access to Japan’s potato market for America’s growers

U.S. Rep. Dan Newhouse (R-WA) joined a bipartisan, bicameral contingent of 34 other lawmakers calling on the Biden administration to help America’s potato growers gain access to the Japanese market, which could result in an additional $150 million per year in exports.

“Table stock access to Japan was first requested almost 30 years ago. It was elevated to a top priority in U.S.-Japan plant health negotiations in September 2019,” the lawmakers wrote in a May 11 letter sent to U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack. “However, despite the efforts of USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, Japan continues to delay substantive negotiations on table stock access, including with respect to our most recent request for Japan to provide a Pest Risk Assessment (PRA).”

Among the lawmakers who joined Rep. Newhouse in signing the letter was U.S. Sens. Maria Cantwell (D-WA) and U.S. Reps. Susan Collins (R-ME), Kelly Armstrong (R-ND), Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA), John Joyce (R-PA), Bill Huizenga (R-MI), John Moolenaar (R-MI), Bryan Steil (R-WI), and Dan Kildee (D-MI).

They pointed out that Japan conducted a thorough review of U.S. fresh potatoes in 2006 when the market was opened for U.S. potatoes for processing and America’s industry addressed all of Japan’s technical concerns with comprehensive mitigations. 

“There is no valid phytosanitary justification for the market to remain closed or for the government’s current refusal to negotiate,” wrote Rep. Newhouse and his colleagues.

The members urged Vilsack to elevate the issue with his counterparts in Japan with the goal of receiving a PRA before the upcoming bilateral negotiation this fall. 

“We believe that a resolution is only possible with strong political support in the United States,” they wrote.

The National Potato Council endorsed the letter.