The Mexican Government, through the Secretariat of Agriculture, Livestock, Rural Development, Fisheries and Food (SAGARPA) has been advancing in its strategy of diversifying its agri-food exports to China, with the latest achievement being the visit soon to be made by health authorities of the Asian country to vegetable gardens of avocado of Jalisco to allow its importation. An initiative agreed within the framework of the delegation of SAGARPA officials to China, with the purpose of consolidating the sanitary steps for the approval of several protocols that will allow Mexico to expand the participation of agricultural products in that Asian market, one of the of greater importance due to the potential of consumption of its population and growth of its economy.
Through the market diversification strategy promoted by SAGARPA, progress is being made so that more agri-food products from Mexico can access China
The SAGARPA National Agency for Health, Safety and Food Quality (SENASICA) has reported that, in order to open the export of avocado from Jalisco to that Asian nation, technicians from the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine of China (AQSIQ), will visit in September packers and orchards, in order to verify the conditions of production and packaging of the fruit in that entity.
This has been agreed by SENASICA’s chief executive Enrique Sánchez Cruz and the AQSIQ’s Chief Inspector Zhan Jiwen as one of the first achievements of the tour to that Asian country.
In addition, the holder of the AQSIQ has accepted the pork byproducts protocol from Mexico, as well as increasing the number of Federal Inspection Type (TIF) establishments authorized to export beef and pork to China, for which they will review the list of processing plants interested in marketing their products in that country.
The health authorities of Mexico and China have also agreed to join a working group to initiate the analysis of the production and certification schemes for organic products of the two countries, as well as the technicians exchange verification visits, in order to achieve as soon as possible a scheme of mutual recognition. In their opinion, this agreement will allow to accelerate and intensify the safe trade of organic products between the two countries, through a reliable scheme, that provides guarantees to the consumers of this type of products of Mexico and China.
According to Sánchez Cruz, during the meeting the sanitary protocols have been analyzed so that Mexico can export banana, pork products and Mexican equine meat to China
For SENASICA’s Chief Executive Officer, electronic certification is a very important tool in the commercial exchange of agrifood products, since it mitigates the risk of mistakes and the possibility of presenting false certificates. For this reason, it has been proposed to the Chinese authority to initiate a process for the electronic exchange of certificates between the health authorities of the two countries.
SENASICA and AQSIQ has agreed to integrate a working group to evaluate the electronic systems of Mexico and China, in order to achieve an Agreement that ensures certainty and speed up the food trade
Officials of the two agencies have appreciated the progress made by the Mexican health authority with its counterpart in China and the solid relationship of friendship and cooperation between the two countries, as demonstrated by the signing of 11 protocols for the export of products agrifood.
Source: Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Rural Development, Fisheries and Food of the Government of Mexico
