Moth remains on quarantine list

FRESNO, Calif. (AP) -- A federal agriculture report says the light brown apple moth will continue to be regulated as a quarantine pest, despite arguments that its danger is overstated.

The moth, which is common in New Zealand, has been found in at least 16 California counties. State agriculture officials say it threatens the agricultural industry and must be eradicated.

Opponents argue that officials have overstated the moth's potential impact and understated the human and animal health risk of pesticide exposure.

Late last year, a panel convened by the National Academy of Sciences agreed that the moth should be classified as invasive but said the decision should have been supported more scientifically.

That prompted the U.S. Department of Agriculture to uphold the quarantine status in its report released March 16.

Export trade rebounding

SACRAMENTO (AP) -- The people who track California's economy say the state's export trade continues to rebound.

According to Jock O'Connell, an international trade adviser at the University of California Center Sacramento, the value of shipments exported from California in January increased by 18.5 percent compared to January of 2009.

O'Connell said the improvement is the third consecutive month of year-over-year increases in the state's export trade.

The center's analysis of trade data released March 11 by the U.S. Commerce Department shows $10.3 billion in goods were shipped overseas in January. That exceeds the $8.7 billion the state's exporters shipped in January 2009.

The data also shows the increase in exports was reflected at California's major ports, with the number of loaded shipping containers leaving the Ports of Los Angeles, Long Beach and Oakland rising by 26.8 percent over last year.

Brazil may break US patents

BRASILIA, Brazil (AP) -- Brazil says it may let local companies break U.S. patents on products including movies, music, pharmaceutical products and chemicals.

The World Trade Organization said Brazil can take punitive action because the United States has failed to get rid of illegal subsidies provided to American cotton farmers.

The list of products targeted for patent breaks was released March 15 in Brazil's official gazette.

Brazil last week announced $591 million in possible sanctions against other U.S. products through higher tariffs. The WTO authorized Brazil a total of $829 million in sanctions.

Brazilian and U.S. officials said they will try to negotiate a deal so the sanctions are not imposed.

Wine exports to Europe down

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- U.S. winemakers can be happy world consumers are buying their products in a tight economy, though exports were down in 2009 from 2008's record-setting year.

Wine exports dropped nearly 15 percent last year. The largest decrease -- 21 percent -- was in shipments to the European Union, the biggest importer of U.S. wines.

According to figures released by the Wine Institute, increased shipments to Hong Kong and China helped offset the loss last year. The U.S. also overtook Chile as the largest bulk wine exporter to Japan, where exports increased 42 percent.

The total value of wine exported was nearly $912 million, down from 2008 when the value of wine exports topped $1 billion for the first time.

More than 110 million gallons of wine were exported in 2009 -- 90 percent of that from California.

Colleges boost central Asia crops

EAST LANSING, Mich. (AP) -- A bug expert from Michigan State University is heading a $1.25 million U.S. government project to find better ways to protect crops from pests in central Asia.

The goal of entomology professor Karim Maredia's work is to improve food security in the region, which suffers from a limited diversity of crops and overuse of pesticides.

The U.S. Agency for International Development is funding the work, which also involves researchers from University of California-Davis and several central Asian nations.

The project focuses on the former Soviet republics of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.

Researchers from the two U.S. schools have been visiting the region since 2004 to promote biological means of pest control.