TASC funding to support efforts to fully open Japanese market

USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service awarded $179,000 in Technical Assistance for Specialty Crops (TASC) funding to the National Potato Council (NPC) to support its ongoing market access efforts in Japan over the next three years.

NPC will match the grant, announced April 24, with an additional $50,000 in direct or in-kind contributions, according to a news release.

“We thank the President and Secretary Rollins for this funding, a clear sign of their commitment to opening Japan to $150 million in new U.S. potato exports,” said Brett Jensen, NPC vice president of trade affairs and a potato grower from Idaho. “By pairing USDA resources with our own industry expertise, we can maintain the high-level diplomatic and technical engagement required to finally achieve this long-sought market access for fresh table stock potatoes.”

TASC funding supports projects designed to overcome sanitary, phytosanitary and technical barriers that hinder U.S. specialty crop exports. The grant enables NPC to employ a specialized market access expert who helped navigate the 2006 opening of Japan’s chipping potato market, according to the release.

The funds also facilitate direct collaboration with the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service to address Japanese technical inquiries regarding pests and sprout inhibition. Among other efforts, the grant supports annual bilateral plant health meetings and provides for potential site visits by Japanese officials to U.S. farms to verify commercial growing practices and finalize market access.

The grant was one of 33 announced by USDA earlier this month through three programs: the Technical Assistance for Specialty Crops (TASC) program, the Emerging Markets Program (EMP), and the Quality Samples Program (QSP).

The U.S. potato industry has fought for full market access in Japan for decades, raising the issue ahead of Japanese Prime Minister Takaichi Sanae’s March 19 visit to the United States.