USDA has relaxed the Marketing Order restrictions

The relaxation of the USDA's restrictions on table grape bunches will make it easier for imported fruit to meet Marketing Order stipulations.
The US Department of Agriculture has relaxed its weight restrictions on grape bunches, which will make it easier for packers to fit table grapes into "clamshell" pre-packs. Under pressure from the California grape lobby the USDA's Agricultural Marketing Service has established a rule that no longer requires that all bunches packed in certain containers weigh at least a quater of a pound. One of the reasons why Chile stops shipping certain varieties of grape into the US after the 10 April deadline is that these varieties do not meet the USDA bunch size requirements. It is quite possible that the USDA ruling will cause a significant shift in packing trends towards the pre-pack, which has become a lot more popular in EU markets

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