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12 CapitalPress.com February 10, 2017 ‘I’m grateful I’ve spent my career in a dynamic industry’ SCHLECT from Page 1 Part of the appeal for Schlect was the opportunity to travel. Schlect would follow in Falk’s footsteps to become president of the Horticultural Council — known by its ini- tials, NHC. For more than 36 years he has advocated on be- half of the tree fruit industry in the halls of Congress and before federal agencies and helped negotiate the creation of the World Trade Organi- zation, laying out the ground rules for international trade. Schlect, now 65, is retiring at the end of March. ements of the Food Safety Modernization Act of 2011. Complicated and costly test- ing of orchard water strikes many as overkill, and there’s hope the Trump administra- tion will roll back such regu- lations, Schlect said. There have been many other issues NHC has worked on during Schlect’s tenure, in- cluding saving the fumigant methyl bromide for cherry ex- ports, access for U.S. apples to China, keeping other mar- kets open and industry oppo- sition to genetically modified apples developed in Canada. Sometimes, NHC gets involved in getting specific truckloads of apples moving again when they are stuck at a border because of paperwork problems. NHC has an export manual open to the public on its web- site that lists minimum pes- ticide residue level require- ments and tariffs for imported tree fruit by country. The transition Falk had been NHC pres- ident for 33 years. A big part of his job had involved freight rates charged for Washing- ton apples that were shipped overseas and domestically by rail. The domestic part was lessened by deregulation during the late 1970s. When Schlect became president in October, 1980, he was initially worried there might not be enough to do. It was a one-person office, and Falk stayed on for a year of transition. “Compared to being a dep- uty prosecutor, it was very quiet,” Schlect said. But he could see lots of po- tential and with the election of Ronald Reagan as president in 1980, it wasn’t long before the pace picked up. Future of NHC Dan Wheat/Capital Press Chris Schlect, center, president of Northwest Horticultural Council, Yakima, Wash., will retire in March. Mark Powers, left, the executive vice president, will become president and Kate Woods, right, will continue as vice president. Retirement reception Northwest Horticultural Council will hold a public reception for Chris Schlect from 2 to 5 p.m. March 31 at the Yakima Country Club. Schlect and his wife, Janet, will be honored. They have three children and four grandchildren. Overarching issue International trade issues were developing and the rel- atively new Environmental Protection Agency would be- come more active, but immi- gration was the overarching issue. Schlect spent several years working on what would become the Immigration Re- form and Control Act of 1986. “It was many of the same issues we have now, taking care of the people already here and seeing if it was at all possible to have a guestwork- er program,” he said. Schlect became involved in the Farm Labor Alliance, mainly driven by California agriculture, that put forth a guestworker program known as the Panetta-Morrison amendment, named for Rep. Leon Panetta, D-Calif., and Rep. Sid Morrison, R-Wash., who represented Schlect’s home district. A variation of the amend- ment was adopted, also al- lowing preferential legaliza- tion for farmworkers without criminal records. “Many people now fore- men and retired were legal- ized in that. Yes, it was amnes- ty and people don’t like that word but to move millions of people out of the country is a tremendous undertaking and disruptive socially,” Schlect said. “There was high expec- tation we would gain control of the border and we did not, so people view it as a failure but a number of laws were im- proved,” he said. One improvement requires immigration enforcement of- ficers to have probable cause to apprehend suspected illegal immigrants. With Donald Trump now president, Schlect predicts immigration enforcement will increase. But he also said federal agencies must cease their hostility to the H-2A visa guestworker program, which in turn needs a more realistic way to set the minimum wag- es. Legal work status is need- ed for illegal immigrants who James R. Cranney Jr., presi- dent of California Citrus Quality Council. have not committed other crimes, he added. He’s optimistic it can hap- pen. “If the U.S. government can control the southern bor- der and there’s not a lot of people flooding over, I think public emotion on the issue will die down,” he said. Respectful approach In industry meetings over several decades, Schlect has built a reputation for his calm and reasoned approach. “Anyone in my job has to be diplomatic and forceful. Shippers have strong views that have to be communicated but in a way that’s thoughtful and respectful, not creating more problems,” he said. Thomas E. Stenzel, presi- dent and CEO of United Fresh Produce Association, has worked with Schlect for 24 years and said he can be dip- lomatic or aggressive when he needs to be. “He’s one of the smartest guys in the room, but doesn’t wear it on his sleeve,” Stenzel said. In 1995, Stenzel and Schlect sought a California congressman’s support to amend the Perishable Agri- cultural Commodities Act to require produce buyers to pay for produce bought on verbal agreements. “The congressman wasn’t sure his constituents wanted him to vote for it. Chris got very firm. I’m not sure if he pounded the table, but he said it was national legislation and that the congressman needed to put the interest of the nation first. It had the desired effect,” Stenzel said. James R. Cranney Jr., pres- ident of the California Citrus Quality Council and former vice president of the U.S. Ap- ple Association, has known Schlect for 20 years and calls him a “seasoned diplomat” and very knowledgeable of the Washington, D.C., politi- cal process. “Chris has always been consistent in pointing the way to practical and work- able solutions,” Cranney said, “and has an ability to get to the heart of an issue.” Alar scare In 1989, the CBS televi- sion program “60 Minutes” broadcast a story on Alar, a chemical plant growth regula- tor used to keep apples from falling from trees before they were ripe. Alar had been approved by the government for use in 1963, but there was debate over whether it caused can- cer. The CBS show resulted in congressional hearings in which actress Meryl Streep spoke against Alar. “It was probably the larg- est food safety issue in the last 50 years. The industry thought Alar was safe, but people disputed that. Some within the EPA felt it could be pulled if there were stronger laws,” Schlect said. A philosophical debate over the nature of regulations and chemicals followed. It was a major national story for several months and the biggest crisis NHC and the Washington Apple Commis- sion had faced. Apple prices and sales tanked. USDA estimated Washington apple growers lost at least $125 million in the six months after the initial uproar. Apples were dumped on the ground. Sales suffered even after the manufacturer voluntarily removed Alar from the market. Growers then lost a $250 million class-action lawsuit against “60 Minutes.” “It was a perception prob- lem. People like me found it hard to explain. It was an in- tense time. Plenty of us were lying in bed at night with our eyes on the ceiling,” Schlect said. It led, in part, to NHC hir- ing its first vice president of scientific affairs, respected chemist Wally Ewart. NAFTA and TPP In 1994 Schlect worked for passage of the North Ameri- can Free Trade Agreement. It was controversial be- cause manufacturing jobs would go to Mexico, but it increased U.S. agricultural exports there by eliminating tariffs that ranged as high as 20 percent. Few Washington apples were sold to Mexico before NAFTA. Now Mexico is the No. 1 export market for U.S. apples, buying roughly 10 million, 40-pound boxes, worth about $200 million an- nually. Mexico has reimposed tariffs during anti-dumping cases, but NAFTA outlines the procedures for resolution. President Trump plans to renegotiate NAFTA. “I don’t think the admin- istration wants to shut down trade with Canada and Mex- ico but will negotiate a new, better deal. It’s our opportu- nity to improve our technical access and we want to be part of that,” Schlect said. He believes Trump’s can- cellation of the Trans-Pacific Partnership is not a big loss for Northwest tree fruit. It had some benefits but included no big new markets or tariff reductions for apples, he said. The gain was more strategic to offset China’s in- fluence in the region than for trade. The new administration wants bilateral agreements with the 11 other TPP coun- tries, and NHC plans to work toward that, he said. WTO and trade The World Trade Organi- zation, an intergovernmental organization regulating inter- national trade, was created by 123 countries in 1994. It re- placed the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, which had been in force since 1948. WTO provides a framework for negotiating trade agree- ments and resolving disputes. At the time, Schlect was a member of the Agricultural Thomas E. Stenzel, president and CEO of United Fresh Produce Association. Policy Advisory Committee of the U.S. Trade Representative and USDA. In that position, he was involved in negotiations in Europe that set up WTO. Schlect has now been on the committee for about 30 years. “Most of the other ag sec- tor advisers, like dairy and soybeans, were there to pro- tect their commodities and were dealing with tariffs,” he said. “I had a different per- spective along with few oth- ers. Phytosanitary issues were potentially more important to our industries.” They worked on the Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures segment of the agreement, which allowed countries to set their own san- itation standards for pests and pathogens but required they be based on internationally accepted science. It’s proven to be a useful section of international law and an achievement he’s most proud of. Being on the advi- sory committee has enabled him to raise issues important to tree fruit. However, not all trade is- sues were solved. For exam- ple, Israel, Europe and Russia all still pose access problems. Other issues The 1990s were busy not only with trade agreements and the WTO, but unanimous congressional passage of the Food Quality Protection Act of 1996. It tightened controls on the registration of agricul- tural chemicals. Schlect helped form and served as chairman of the Minor Crop Farmer Alliance, which worked to have the act include registration of chemi- cals for minor crops. The alli- ance still works with the EPA to resolve issues facing chem- ical use on minor crops. For the past five years, NHC has also been trying to ameliorate burdensome el- Organic sales increased to $6.2 billion in 2015 DEMAND from Page 1 demand for organic meat and eggs. Foreign producers of organic feed jumped in with cheap soy and corn. Meanwhile, organic sales increased to $6.2 billion in 2015, a 12 percent gain over the previous year, but the number of organ- ic farmers dropped and organic acreage was essentially flat except for the addition of a gigantic organic livestock ranch in Alaska, according to the National Sustainable Agri- culture Coalition. One more: Millennials, those 18- to 34-year-olds, account for 52 percent of or- ganic purchases. “It would be shortsighted if we strive only to fill the shopping baskets of millennials and be happy at that,” said Katz, of Oregon Tilth. He and other speakers said organic pro- ducers need to tackle the problems in a variety of ways. The industry needs more processors, distributors and storage capacity in addition to more farmers, they said, and should be tell- ing the public about organic’s broader impact. Katz said organic production can be an economic driver in rural areas, and while not a “silver bullet” for climate change problems, it can be a factor in reducing the effect. Most speakers and attendees appeared to favor the “transitioning to organic” certifica- tion label hammered out by the Organic Trade Association and USDA. Such a label might allow farmers who are in the second-year of the required three-year transition, for ex- ample, to label their products that way and perhaps gain the higher price people pay for organics. Backers see the transition label as an “on-ramp” into the organic market. Michael McMillan, sourcing manager with Organically Grown Company, said the industry needs to do “end to end supply chain engineering,” and market the value of the “social justice work” connected with growing food organically. Other efforts are more localized. Erin Sil- va, with the University of Wisconsin-Madi- son’s Extension program, said the university now offers a short course on organic grain production. It’s aimed at “traditional farm kids” who come from conventional farming backgrounds, she said. The course attracted 10 students the first year and double that this year, she said. For 70 years, NHC has represented the Northwest tree fruit industry on transpor- tation, trade, legislation and regulations. During that time, the or- ganization has only had two presidents. “I don’t know of any other trade association that can say just two people have been at the helm over 70 years. Hope- fully that’s a sign of stabili- ty and not senility,” Schlect quipped. He’s enjoyed his career and believes it was tailor-made for him. His appreciation of the hard work of raising tree fruit came from growing up on the family orchard that’s still run by two of his brothers, Neal and Kurt. He says his law degree, public policy interest and love of travel also made a good fit. He says he has every con- fidence in his successor, Mark Powers, 54, NHC vice presi- dent for the past 18 years, who has a background in trade an international policy. He also has high regard for Kate Woods, 32, hired two years ago as another vice pres- ident, for her experience as an aide to Rep. Doc Hastings, R-Wash., before he retired. NHC has grown to a staff of seven and operates on an annual budget of $1.46 mil- lion, funded 40 percent by the Washington Apple Com- mission, 25 percent by the Washington State Tree Fruit Association, 13 percent by the Washington Tree Fruit Research Commission, 12 percent by the Fresh Pear Marketing Committee, 5 per- cent by the Washington State Fruit Commission and small- er amounts from Columbia Gorge Fruit Growers, Oregon Sweet Cherry Commission and Idaho Apple Commission. It was ingenious of the industry to fund NHC so staff could concentrate on issues and not have to fund raise, Schlect says. The Ap- ple Commission occasionally talks about reducing its NHC funding, but Schlect hopes it continues. Schlect continues to be- lieve face-to-face interaction with federal officials is always better than letter-writing. Overall the Northwest tree fruit industry has improved in growing, storing, packing and marketing fruit and has become more sophisticated in meeting the challenges facing it, he says. “I’m grateful I’ve spent my career in a dynamic indus- try ...,” he said. Douglas’ 29th year at the Northwest Ag show WEATHER from Page 1 Douglas also forecast good growing weather in Russia, whose wheat competes with Washington wheat on the world market. “I was more depressed about how good it is in other countries,” Ritzville, Wash., farmer Jerry Sny- der said of the presentation. That affects wheat pric- es, which are currently below the cost of production, he said. But Snyder was pleased that Douglas’ forecast showed more normal temperatures after a wet win- ter. It affects what happens with diseases, Snyder said. “Every time you have a really wet year, things that haven’t been out there show up again.” This marked Douglas’ 29th year at the show.
