The US and Peru established the First Binational Blueberry Council (USPBC) to promote cooperation, trade and investment in the blueberries export sector.
The president of Peru's Blueberry Producers Association (ProArandanos) and co-president of USPBC, Miguel Bentin, said he hoped this Council would play an important role in improving bilateral trade between both countries.
"Bilateral trade will improve by supporting the different blueberry imports and exports from Peru to the United States, and vice versa," he said.
The Council is made up of the Naturipe, Driscoll's, Camposol, Talsa, and Hortifrut Companies, as well as ProArandanos Association of Peru.
Bentin said the Council would be launched tomorrow, during the visit that the Secretary of Agriculture of the United States, Thomas Vilsack, will make to Lima with a trade delegation to expand opportunities for US agricultural businesses.
He added that the Council was an initiative from private entrepreneurs of both countries that, in synergy with the agreements between the Peruvian and US governments, will allow them to obtain the necessary permits to create new opportunities for market access.
The United States, which has a one-kilogram blueberry per capita consumption a year, is a strategic market for Peruvian blueberries. Blueberries have become one of Peru's most important agricultural exports. By the end of 2015 blueberry exports had increased by over 227%, and expectations are they will increase by more than 100% in 2016.
Source: andina.com.pe