The first Chilean cherries will arrive very soon to South Korea
The Minister of Agriculture of Chile, Carlos Furche, has called a very good news opening the Korean market for Chilean fresh cherries under the Systems Approach system. The decision of the South Korean authorities has been taken after receiving official notification of the Animal and Plant Quarantine Agency (QIA) of China, addressed to the Agriculture and Livestock Service (SAG) of Chile. Market access in South Korea concludes a four-year process of joint work between authorities and technical teams QIA and SAG.
Carlos Furche explained that “the possibility of our cherries Korea is great news for our fruit sector. Our cherry production is import of products in the framework of our fruit growing has had a more dynamic development in recent years and will surely continue to grow very closely in the coming years. China is the largest market for our exports of cherries, but the market opening Korea to diversify effectively and allows -given that it is consumers who have different habits compared to other countries like China market give space to a part our cherry production that probably had less space in China or other countries here have a very special and valuable in Korea “niche.
This opening is generated after four years of joint efforts between authorities and technical teams QIA and SAG, and with the participation of Chilean export production sector, where there were many meetings to negotiate the entry requirements and different control measures that should set the SAG for the export of cherries to this important market, always with the support of the Embassy of Chile in Seoul.
As part of this process, in early October 2015 inspectors QIA paid a visit to our country as part of the risk analysis, verifying field production processes and export of fresh fruit, as well as measures for control of pests of concern to the country, including the tour of various gardens, packings, refrigerators and other facilities in the Metropolitan, O’Higgins and Maule.
For its part, the national director of SAG, Angel Sartori, welcomed this new business opportunity for Chilean producers, noting that the prestige of Service abroad facilitated the negotiations: “The seriousness with which we work in the SAG has enabled us to very demanding markets, because we have earned the trust of the official health agencies in many countries feel confident that importing Chilean products have the seal of the SAG health. Something that also shares the private sector, these exporters, who recognize that have the support of SAG allows them to get their products outside our borders much more easily and quickly, “he said.
Everybody in the sector is in luck
It´s noted that the export volume of cherries represented in the 2014-2015 season, more than 20 million boxes, the main destinations to which China is exported, Hong Kong, United States, Europe, Brazil and Taiwan. The top of the list was occupied by China, where a total of 10,185,828 boxes were shipped, representing 50% of total exports in that year.
Meanwhile, the private sector has also welcomed this announcement. The president of the Fruit Exporters Association (ASOEX), Ronald Bown, said, “This is an excellent start to the year. It is a story that fills us with expectations, because we believe that cherries have a large market in Asia, specifically what we are seeing in China, but obviously there are other countries, such as Korea, may be an important factor from the point of view of receipt of our fruits. In this sense we are very happy and thank all joint efforts with the Ministry of Agriculture, and the Agricultural and Livestock Service, as has been the opening that otherwise has been relatively rapid. We look forward to with the Minister of Agriculture, later this month in Korea can be announcing the arrival of the first Chilean cherries to Seoul in what will be a great boost to the national fruit industry. ”
Source: Ministry of Agriculture of Chile
