The Minister of Agriculture and Irrigation of Peru, Juan Manuel Benites Ramos, travelled to the US to meet with the Deputy Secretary of Agriculture of the United States, Edward Avalos, on April 23 and 24 in order to strengthen bilateral relations for the benefit of trade in agricultural products between both countries.
There are various issues that will benefit the development of the Peruvian agro-exporting sector on the agenda to be discussed, such as the incorporation of new emerging citrus producing areas in the country, which the National Agricultural Health Service (SENASA) has been managing for some years, in the export program to the US. Currently, Peru exports citrus from Piura, Lambayeque, JunÃn, Ica and Lima to the US.
According to SENASA, if these new emerging areas are incorporated Peru could export citrus produced in all the regions of the country to the US.
Furthermore, SENASA stated they would have talks about the access for capsicum (fresh peppers), mango with a larger calibre (over 400 grams) and fig as priority products, without neglecting papaya for which other countries in South America have been granted access.
"Its possible that, in this meeting, we finish the regulatory part to export these products, which is considered the final stage of a process so that the agricultural products are granted access to the US market. Under this scenario, Peru would be in a position to start exporting the products listed in the coming export seasons," stated SENASA.
Another important aspect that will be reviewed throughout the meeting is related to the improvement of the access conditions for asparagus and fresh blueberries. For the first case, Peru seeks to achieve a joint work with APHIS, SENASA counterpart in the United States, to implement risk mitigation export systems. In the second case, considering the harvest volumes that Peru will have in the coming years, it is necessary for the country to have different options to export this fruit; thus, based on a coordinated work with the private industry, Peru would develop a Pilot Blueberry Fumigation Plan with the presence of American inspectors; which would allow exports to enter the US through any point without further restrictions, a situation that would contribute to the growth of export volumes as Peru expects to have a planted area of approximately 2,000 hectares in the coming years.
After the meeting, SENASA and APHIS will continue to coordinate the details to get the next phytosanitary certification of these products ready, which will also require the involvement of the private sector together with SENASA to meet future export procedures.
Peru also seeks recognition by the United States of its status as a country free of FMD.
The Under Secretary of Agriculture of the United States, the National Chief of SENASA, Jorge Cabrera Barrenechea and the Director General of Agricultural Business, Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation, Marco Vinelli will participate in this meeting.
Finally, the Minister Benites will thank the American authorities, such as the EPA, FDA and project IR4 for the opening of the joint effort to accelerate the process for the expansion and / or determination of maximum residue limits (MRLs) for pesticides and for facilitating the income of Peruvian quinoa to the US market.
Source: eleconomistaamerica.pe