Kona Coffee Farmers Association
Resolution OF October 19, 2010
RESOLUTION CALLING FOR THE IMMEDIATE SUSPENSION OF GREEN COFFEE IMPORTS INTO HAWAII
1—WHEREAS, one of the critical duties of the HDOA and its Plant Quarantine and Plant Pest Control Branches is to prevent introduction and spread of pests and diseases harmful to Hawaii agriculture;
2—WHEREAS, in the past month it has been discovered that the HDOA has failed to prevent the introduction of coffee berry borer (CBB) into Hawaii County—a failure that the HDOA itself predicts will dramatically reduce Kona coffee yields;
3—WHEREAS, the HDOA for years has ignored requests from Kona’s coffee farmers to ban, as do other coffee growing regions, the importation of foreign green coffee beans in order to prevent the introduction of coffee berry borer, coffee rust, and other diseases and pests;
4—WHEREAS, the HDOA has failed to provide any reasonable explanation as to how CBB and other pests such as varroa mite and little fire ants were introduced into Hawaii County and has failed to establish corrective
procedures and practices to prevent similar introductions in the future;
5—WHEREAS, the Kona Coffee Farmers Association has lost confidence in the ability of the HDOA’s current measures to prevent the introduction of pests and diseases damaging to agriculture;
NOW, THEREFORE, the Kona Coffee Farmers Association:
Calls for the Hawaii State Legislature to initiate an immediate suspension of the importation of foreign green coffee beans into the State of Hawaii.
The KCFA Board Secretary is requested to send copies of this Resolution to the HDOA Chair, to the Governor of Hawaii, and to members of the Hawaii State Legislature.
Adopted by the Board of Directors of the Kona Coffee Farmers Association on October 19, 2010.
Christy Carrico, Acting Secretary