ABSTRACT
International trade has been an integral part of agriculture for millennia. From the beginning of recorded history, traders have been willing to cross mountains, rivers, deserts and oceans and to brave the hazards of weather, wild animals and hostile natives in order to satisfy people’s yearning for goods from other lands. International trade has suffered periodic setbacks, most notably during the disruptions caused by the hostilities of World War I and World War II and by the subsequent damage to ports, vessels, warehouses, equipment, and trading infrastructure. While technology has increased the volume and share of long-distance trade in fresh apples, the bulk of the trade continues to be between neighboring countries such as France and Britain or Italy and Germany. Reliable data on world apple trade flows is not readily available. The future growth of trade in fresh apples will depend heavily on the success of efforts to remove the many barriers that have persisted in agricultural trade.
