Chile opens a lemon market in the United States under a systems approach

The Ministry of Agriculture of Chile announced after 4 years of negotiations the approval by the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) of the Department of Agriculture of the United States (USDA) the certification of Chilean lemons under Systems Approach. Thus, an alternative is offered that will allow our country to export lemons in higher quality conditions, since it avoids fumigation with methyl bromide, substantially improving the post-harvest conditions of this fruit to a market in which Chile is the main provider.

This measure was published on April 6 in the US Federal Register and may be implemented 30 days later.

The Minister of Agriculture, Antonio Walker, was very pleased with the announcement, noting that “it is great news that our lemon producers were waiting for, the United States is a very important market for Chile, and that with this new alternative it is going to continue. This is an account of the great achievements that are achieved when the public sector and the private sector work together, since business opportunities are opened up for our farmers, which benefits us all. ”

Meanwhile, the National Director (S) of the Agricultural and Livestock Service, Oscar Camacho, said that “this accounts for the systematic work that the SAG carries out in order to facilitate trade for our producers, but it also shows the great confidence that other nations have in the work we do as guarantors of the health of our silvoagropecuarios products.The Systems Approach is a methodology of work in the orchards that consists of the application of phytosanitary measures that prevent fumigation, and that this case was aimed especially at control the Brevipalpus chilensis pest, which is quarantine for the United States. ”

For his part, the President of the Association of Fruit Exporters of Chile AG (ASOEX), Ronald Bown, also referred to the announcement indicating: “we celebrate the approval of this Systems Approach for Chilean lemons, for when it will allow to export this fruit only with inspection, favoring its quality and competitiveness in the main destination market for Chilean lemons, whose standard will enter into force in 30 days and consequently before the beginning of the harvest of this fruit “.

In the same line, Juan Enrique Ortúzar, President of the Citrus Committee of ASOEX, pointed out that this is “an excellent news for the Chilean lemon industry, taking into account that last season Chile exported 77,500 tons of lemons to the different markets of destination, of which almost 43 thousand were sent to the United States market “.

What is the Systems Approach?

The Systems Approach consists of the execution of various risk mitigation measures for a given pest. In the case of lemons to the United States, it is specifically directed to the plague Brevipalpus chilensis. Among the measures considered are the registration of producers before the SAG, the certification in the field of low prevalence of this pest, the application at packing level of a treatment of washing and waxing of the fruit, and finally the phytosanitary inspection.

At the moment the lemon producers interested in entering the US under the Systems Approach, you can register on the SAG website.

Some dates

It should be noted that exports of fresh lemons to the US averaged approximately 35,950 tons per year during the 2015-2017 period, representing more than 50% of total exports of this product.

In turn, during the same period, these exports put Chile as the main external supplier of lemons in that market. Thus, during the years 2015 to 2017, the income of Chilean lemons to the United States represented, on average, approximately 49.9% and 39.1% of the market, in terms of volume and value of total imports, respectively.

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