Mayor Arakawa of Maui County, Hawaii Visits Korea, July 6-13, 2011

Mayor Alan M. Arakawa (4th from left) led a delegation from Maui County to Korea, July 6-13 and visited ATO Seoul to explore export opportunities for Maui farmers. Implementation of the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with Korea will bring about new opportunities for Hawaiian agriculture. The FTA eliminates tariffs and other barriers on most agricultural products, increasing export opportunities for a range of Hawaii agricultural products, including fruits, tree nuts, and coffee. Hawaii’s agricultural exports to all countries, estimated at $102 million in 2009, supported about 850 jobs, on and off the farm. These export sales make an important contribution to the Hawaii farm economy, which had total cash receipts of $581 million in 2009.

Washington State Wine Featured at 4th of July Reception at Ambassador’s Residence, Seoul, Korea

Korean importer Nara Cellar and ATO Seoul teamed up to provide an opportunity for Korean guests to the Independence Day reception to taste Washington State wine. Several quality wines were served, but the hot muggy weather helped make Domaine Ste. Michelle Cuvée Brut and Columbia Crest Two Vine Riesling crowd pleasers. About 800 guests took the opportunity to taste the wines presented. After a couple years of stagnate sales, Korean wine imports are up more than 18 percent in the first 5 months of 2010 and the United States is recapturing market share. This growth could be threatened by the EU-Korea FTA which went in to effect on July 1 and eliminates a 15 percent import duty on European wines. Until the Korean Assembly and U.S. Congress ratify the US Korea FTA, American wines will continue to face this 15 percent import duty.

Arkansas Farm Bureau Visit to Seoul, Korea June 27-29, 2011

Led by Randy Veach, President Arkansas Farm Bureau (AFB), a six-member Arkansas Trade Mission visited Korea, June 27-29. The team included representatives from Arkansas’s cotton, grain, and livestock sectors. The team met with Korean Feed millers, meat importers, officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade and National Agricultural Cooperative Federation (NACF) during its visit. Despite significant structural differences between Korean and Arkansas farms, AFB and NACF found many areas of common interests and recognized that farmers around the world face many of the same challenges. The two sides agreed to explore areas for collaboration in the future including possible travel to Arkansas. Among U.S. states, Arkansas ranks number 1 in rice production, number 2 in broilers, number 3 in cotton and is a significant producer of beef, corn and wheat.