The Ministry of Water, Agriculture and Environment is working with the fruit and vegetable sector and providing it with the necessary resources so they can develop fruit and vegetable export campaigns to third countries.
To this end, the plant health service personnel has been reinforced according to the needs of the sector so as to facilitate the exit of goods and to intensify the inspection of the items that will be exported.
Additionally, the Ministry has provided for free the laboratory analyses covering many of the protocols required by the destination markets, such as South Africa for stonefruit, to the producers and exporters.
To date, the export season of stonefruits to South Africa is developing smoothly and has a good pace. The Region of Murcia has sent up to 13 containers amounting to 160 tons of fruit.
According to the Regional Government, Spain has shipped 36 containers, i.e. 500 tons, of table grapes to South Africa and there are still two months left in the season.
The Ministry is interested in opening new markets for other plant products, such as ercolini pears, and exports of this fruit to Costa Rica, Colombia, Jordan, and Nigeria started in this campaign.
The sector is waiting for the lengthy negotiations to come to an end regarding opening new markets for stonefruit and table grape, such as China and India.
Another important sector in exports to third countries in the community are citrus fruits and, especially, lemons.
The Directorate-General of Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries and Aquaculture sent a proposal to the MAGRAMA, so that they in turn referred it to the phytosanitary authorities of APHIS-USDA, presenting the results of the work carried out by the IMIDA, which concluded that the verna lemon isn't susceptible to the infestation of the fruit fly, the main quarantine pest for citrus, in the collection period from the month of March to June 15.
The goal is to eliminate the cold treatment required for lemons for export to the United States. This treatment consists of storing the fruit below a certain temperature while it is being transported by boat (20 days) to ensure the fruit is free of the dipteran larvae.
At a recent meeting with Ailimpo, they agreed on requesting MAGRAMA to intensify efforts to negotiate the Elimination of this treatment that hinders shipments to the other side of the Atlantic, as it increases cost and depreciates the commercial quality of the fruits with the American phytosanitary authorities.
Representatives of Ailimpo requested the Ministry intensify controls and continues to be strict when it comes to the registration of orchards for certain export campaigns, as in the case of citrus fruit to the People's Republic of China, so as to guarantee the quality of the productions that arrive at destination and, thus, strengthen markets.
Finally, the Director of Agriculture, Livestock, Fishing and Aquaculture, Carmen Teodora Morales, said that "the objectives of the Ministry focus on facilitating exports of products from Murcia and guaranteeing the phytosanitary quality demanded by the destination markets." She also stated that, "this way we will achieve the consolidation of markets due to a differentiated quality".
Source: 20minutos.es