April 28, 2017
CapitalPress.com
Washington raspberry
growers eye trade practices
Commission
sees Trump as
possible ally
By DON JENKINS
Capital Press
Courtesy of Washington State University
Red raspberries hang from the cane. The Washington Red
Raspberry Commission has hired a law firm to look into growers’
concerns that foreign competitors are selling berries below the cost
of production.
“We’re not jumping into
things. We’re letting it be
known we’re aware of tools,”
Bierlink said. “We will use
them if we need to.”
The commission rep-
resents about 120 growers,
with approximately 90 per-
cent of them concentrated in
Whatcom County in north-
west Washington. The state
produces more red raspber-
ries for processing than any
other.
The growers compete in
the U.S. market with rasp-
berries from other countries,
including Canada, Chile and
Serbia. In the past three de-
cades, the commission has
twice successfully petitioned
for trade sanctions against
foreign competitors.
Bierlink said that Wash-
ington growers have not yet
been harmed by low prices.
The commission hired the
Washington, D.C., legal firm
King & Spalding about six
weeks ago to review data, he
said.
The law firm represented
red raspberry growers in a
case against Chile in 2002.
The U.S. International Trade
Commission ruled that Chile
was dumping individually
quick frozen berries into the
Law professor tells producers to keep cool if ICE shows up
By ERIC MORTENSON
Capital Press
An Oregon law professor
says producers need to keep
their cool, ask questions, take
pictures and be prepared to help
detained employees if agents
from the federal Immigration
and Customs Enforcement
agency show up at an orchard,
vineyard, dairy or other ag fa-
cility.
Susan Felstiner, who teach-
es at Lewis & Clark College
in Southwest Portland, was
part of a panel discussion at an
Immigration Forum put on in
late April by five Oregon pro-
ducer groups. With immigra-
tion issues and labor shortages
hot on producers’ minds and
farmworkers fearful that they’ll
get swept up in raids, Felstiner
said it’s easy to get caught up in
emotion.
She offered steps to head off
problems and protect the rights
of producers and employees.
• Owners should mark parts
of their businesses as private.
ICE agents don’t need an own-
er’s consent to enter the public
area of a business, but entering
a private office, for example,
would require a warrant. Fields
should be posted as private
property as well, she said.
• If agents arrive, have em-
ployees tell them to wait in a
designated public area while
the owner contacts an attorney,
“So they don’t go wandering
around,” Felstiner said.
• Keep employees’ I-9 forms
and supporting documents to-
gether in a secure place. The I-9
forms are ones by which em-
ployees show they can legally
work.
• Determine if agents have a
warrant, and what kind. An ICE
administrative warrant usually
gives them authority to detain
an individual, Felstiner said,
while a broader judicial warrant
gives them authority to search
the premises.
• If agents have a warrant,
take a photo of it with your
phone and send it to your attor-
ney, Felstiner said. Write down
names, badge numbers and
agencies involved. Video shot
with cell phones has become
an important tool to document
officers’ behavior, she said, but
it’s important not to obstruct
agents. Stand about 10 feet
away.
“You shouldn’t do any har-
boring (of undocumented em-
ployees) or hiding, or aid in
escaping, provide false infor-
mation or shred documents,”
she said.
• In case of an arrest, re-
member your personal right
to remain silent, and brief em-
ployees ahead of time on their
Eric Mortenson/Capital Press
Oregon producer group representatives hosted an Immigration Forum in Newberg last month. From
left are Jeff Stone of the Oregon Assoication of Nurseries; Jana McKamey of the Oregon Winegrowers
Association; Dave Dillon of the Oregon Farm Bureau; and Tom Danowski of the winegrowers.
rights. If an employee is de-
tained, ask where he or she is
being taken, and follow up to
track their location.
• If an employee is arrested,
think about helping the family
hire an immigration attorney,
Felstiner said. Consider paying
the bond amount so the detain-
ee can be released pending a
hearing, and make sure any
money owed to the employee
is paid.
Felstine works at Lewis
& Clark Law School’s Small
Business Legal Clinic. She’s
a founding member and past
president of the Oregon His-
panic Bar Association. In addi-
tion, she’s a member of the His-
panic National Bar Association
and Oregon Women Lawyers.
The Immigration Forum,
held April 20 in Newberg, in-
volved the Oregon Farm Bu-
reau, Oregon Association of
Nurseries, Oregon Winegrow-
ers Association, Oregon Cattle-
men’s Association and Oregon
Dairy Farmers Association.
Close to 200 producers attend-
ed. The meeting was closed to
the media, but representatives
of three groups spoke to the
Capital Press afterward about
what was said and the mood
inside.
All agreed workers are
scared by the tough talk com-
ing out of the Trump adminis-
tration about a crackdown on
illegal immigration, especially
because even though the work-
er may be documented, a hus-
band, wife or children might
not be.
Tom Danowski, CEO of
the winegrowers group, said
there is a “chilling effect” on
employees, with some afraid to
drive to work or take their chil-
dren to events such as athletic
practices.
Jeff Stone, executive direc-
tor of the nursery association,
said there is a “pervasive fear
more tangible and real than
we’ve seen in the past.”
He said the agricultural la-
bor shortage is severe, and for
nurseries represents a cap on
growth. Nurseries have recov-
ered from the recession, he
said, but some are operating
with 40 percent to 50 percent of
the labor force they could use.
As a result, some who could
grow their business 25 percent
are growing at a rate of only 2
or 3 percent because they don’t
have sufficient labor, Stone
said.
Representatives from ICE
and other staff from the U.S.
Department of Homeland Se-
curity attended the forum and
took questions from producers.
According to producers, the
ICE representatives said they
are not going on big sweeps or
raids to catch undocumented
immigrants. Instead, they’ve
enhanced what Obama ad-
ministration did; they go after
targeted felons, and if other il-
legals are in the vicinity, they
sweep them up, too. Under
Obama, they let go the ones
who were simply undocument-
ed.
The ICE officials said a
highly publicized Feb. 24 inci-
dent in Woodburn, Ore., was an
example of that policy. Agents
stopped a pair of worker trans-
port vehicles, seeking two men
wanted on criminal charges,
and ended up detaining 11 peo-
ple on allegations they were in
the country illegally.
Dave Dillon, executive vice
president of the Oregon Farm
Bureau, said despite fear of
an ICE crackdown, there’s
“more smoke than fire” at
this point.
Sales of Northwest
pears are slow
last year. Red d’ Anjou is 78
percent shipped compared
with 95 percent last year
PORTLAND — Pacific and Bosc is 92 versus 94, he
Northwest fresh pear sales said.
are slower than they
Bosc is the
should be this sea- “It’s not the greatest concern
son, given a small
because it’s usual-
worst year ly sold out by mid-
crop, says Kevin
Moffitt, president
and needs
but we’re April
of the Pear Bureau
to be so it’s not
Northwest in Port-
definitely competing with
land.
fresher Southern
behind in Hemisphere im-
The 2016 crop
is estimated at 18
he said. An-
shipments.” ports,
million, 44-pound
jou usually ships
boxes, as of April
into July but also
21, with 2.5 million Kevin Moffitt, pres- will compete with
left to sell versus 1.7
ident of the Pear imports and with
million left to sell Bureau Northwest fresh California
out of an 18.4-mil-
crop by the end of
lion-box crop at the
June, he said.
same time a year earlier,
Despite slow sales prices
Moffitt said.
have not been terrible, Mof-
“It’s not the worst year fitt said. Packers and grow-
but we’re definitely behind ers are not losing money, he
in shipments,” he said.
said.
The record crop was
Yakima and Wenatchee
21.69 million in 2013.
prices of d’ Anjou were $23
Usually a smaller crop to $27 per box for U.S. No.
sells out quicker but pears 1 grade, size 80s on April
have been slowed this sea- 24 versus $26 to $30.90 a
son by the large apple crop, year earlier, according to
by getting less shelf space USDA. Bosc was $26.50 to
and growth of imported ber- $28 and was sold out a year
ries and cut fruit, Moffitt earlier.
said.
From start of season last
Only red and green d’ An- August to mid-March retail
jou and Bosc are left to sell. pear ads have been down 5
Green d’ Anjou is 76 percent percent compared to a year
shipped for the season ver- ago while apple ads have been
sus 84 percent at this time up 30 percent, he said.
By DAN WHEAT
Capital Press
Capital Press names
editor and publisher
Joe Beach has been
named editor and publisher
of the Capital Press.
The announcement was
made April 21 in Salem by
Steve Forrester, president
and CEO of the EO Media
Group, and Kathryn Brown,
secretary-treasurer of the
EO Media Group — the par-
ent company of the Capital
Press.
“Kathryn and I were im-
pressed with the rich field
of candidates. We believe
that Joe is exceedingly well
equipped to move the Capi-
tal Press to a new level in its
basic news product, as well
as all of the newer forms of
delivery and product lines
we might develop,” Forrest-
er said.
Beach has been in the
newspaper business for 37
years, beginning his career
as a part-time features writ-
er at the Terre Haute Tribune
while studying journalism
at Indiana State University.
After graduation he was
named editor of Indiana
Agri-News, a weekly farm
publication. He has since
held top editorial positions
at a number of publications,
and has served stints as pub-
lisher of three daily news-
papers.
Beach was named edi-
tor of the Capital Press in
Joe Beach
November 2008, and since
August 2014 has also man-
aged the EO Media Group/
Pamplin Media Group state-
house bureau. He will retain
those duties in his new role
as editor and publisher.
He’s been married to his
wife, Rebecca, for 32 years.
They have two children —
Jessica and Jacob.
“It is an extreme honor
to have been chosen to lead
the Capital Press, and I ap-
preciate the trust Kathryn
and Steve have placed in
me,” Beach said. “The Cap-
ital Press has a unique rela-
tionship with its readers and
advertisers. I look forward
to working with everyone
at the paper, the most tal-
ented people I’ve known
in my time in the business,
to continue that tradition as
we diversify the products
we offer.”
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The Washington Red
Raspberry Commission has
retained a law firm to look
into whether foreign competi-
tors are harming U.S. growers
with unfair trade practices.
The commission’s execu-
tive director, Henry Bierlink,
said the group has not iden-
tified any particular country
or practice, but farmers are
seeing prices in the past few
months “dramatically” below
the cost of their production.
The commission also is
looking at a rarely used U.S.
trade law that allows the pres-
ident to take action to safe-
guard domestic industries,
even in cases where the U.S.
has not documented unfair
practices. The law has not
been invoked since 2002.
Bierlink said that the com-
mission would be pursuing in-
formation about competitors’
trade practices in any event,
but growers are mindful of
President Donald Trump’s
comments and early actions
on trade.
“The rhetoric from our
current president suggests
there may be a different ap-
proach,” he said.
U.S., driving prices below
the cost of production in
the U.S. The Department of
Commerce imposed duties
on Chilean imports.
In 1984, the trade com-
mission ruled several Brit-
ish Columbia red raspberry
importers were undermin-
ing U.S. growers. Canadi-
an growers were aided by a
provincial insurance program
that made up the difference
between low market prices
and the cost of production,
according to the trade com-
mission’s report.
Besides looking at wheth-
er foreign competitors are
dumping berries or enjoying
government subsidies, the
law firm will help the com-
mission determine whether to
seek help under Section 201
of the Trade Act of 1974.
The provision allows the
president to provide relief if
the trade commission finds
increased imports are seri-
ously damaging an industry.
The law was last used in
2002 by President George W.
Bush to safeguard the steel
industry. The World Trade
Organization overturned the
order the following year.
Previously, the law had been
invoked 18 other times, pro-
viding safeguards to products
such as lamb meat, wheat
gluten and mushrooms, ac-
cording to the Georgetown
Journal of International
Law.
3