The Philippines opened its market for fresh grapes from Argentina, which complements the recent authorization for shipments of pears and apples, products that could not enter the Asian country due to issues related to pest control.
Opening the market for grapes crowned the joint negotiating work performed by the Foreign Ministry, the Ministry of Agriculture, and Senasa with the Bureau of Plant Industry of the Philippines (BPI), which, after inspecting the provinces of San Juan, Mendoza and Rio Negro, and performing a risk analysis decided the country met the legal requirements to allow imports of fresh grapes from Argentina.
The announcement, reported by the Foreign Ministry in a statement, complemented the formal opening of the Philippine market for fresh apples and pears from Argentina, which occurred on 24 May.
The Philippines is a member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean), has a population of 100 million people, and imported more than $185 million dollars in fresh fruits during 2014, approximately $22 million of which were for fresh grapes.
Source: diariobae.com