ABSTRACT
The apple industry entered the twentieth century with a structure little different from that of biblical times. However, as it enters the twenty-first century it will be an industry subject to constant, rapid change. Driving the whole process will be the need to be responsive to changing consumer tastes around the world. World apple supply will continue to respond, both to the market conditions and to natural, commercial and societal conditions. The land area that can be profitably planted to apples will continue to be sensitive to market price prospects, but will be less bound by traditional locations, technologies and growing practices. Rationality in food import laws will also become an issue in the international arena. Some objective measures for assessing risk will have to be developed, some international standards of food safety established and some supranational panel empowered to adjudicate on the merits of competing claims.
