More Oregon Potatoes Headed For Russia

An agreement signed this spring will make it easier for potato growers in Oregon and elsewhere to ship potatoes to Russia. The agreement came after a Russian delegation saw how the Oregon Department of Agriculture (ODA) inspects and certifies potatoes destined for shipment, the Portland Oregonian reports. A protocol now in place could significantly boost U.S. potato exports into the Russian marketplace, according to the state agriculture department.

The Oregon Potato Commission estimates the value of Oregon potatoes sold to Russian buyers will reach $5 million annually because of the agreement.

All potato-producing states stand to gain from the agreed-upon protocol developed and signed in March by U.S. and Russian officials. A six-member Russian delegation was interested in potato exports but needed assurance that government inspectors would be looking for pests and diseases.

“They saw how we do the inspection, which involves a daily on-site, load-by-load evaluation of the potatoes,” Jim Cramer, administrator of ODA’s Commodity Inspection Division, told the Oregonian in a news release. “We talked about the training each of our inspectors must go through to certify products for export. We showed them the inspection manuals our inspectors use to identify pests and diseases. The tools and training provided to our state inspectors gave the Russians confidence that they will receive a quality potato.”

The site visits included a tour of Amstad Produce in Sherwood, a major potato shipper, as well as a look at ODA’s regulatory laboratory at the Food Innovation Center in Portland. The Russian delegation was even treated to a meal prepared by chef Leif Benson, a public member of the Oregon Potato Commission, who featured the potato in several innovative and delicious ways.

To ship potatoes to Russia in the past, growers and shippers were subject to the whims of Russia’s import permit, which could change at any time to include new pests or diseases. The newly signed protocol codifies and limits the list of quarantine pests and diseases to a half dozen — a manageable number that can be easily detected by state inspectors.

The production value of Oregon’s potato industry is $157 million, making it the seventh-largest agricultural commodity in the state. About 25% of Oregon’s fresh market potatoes are exported.

According to a U.S. Potato Board report, Russians consumed 308 pounds of potatoes per capita in 2007, making it the world’s third-largest potato consumer. That’s almost three times the amount consumed by Americans.