The efforts of Governor Gustavo Bordet and representatives of the citrus in the United States were important steps to achieve the income of Argentinean citrus into the North American country.
Representatives of the main entities that gather citrus producers and exporters highlighted the work done by Bordet, who completed his mission to the United States with representatives of producers and exporters.
In their trip, they met with American authorities to expedite the approval of pending regulations from the US Department of Agriculture, which will allow access to sweet citrus (mandarins and oranges) from Argentina's NEA and NOA.
The Governor was accompanied by Cecilio Taylor, from the Citrus Growers Association of Concordia, Fernando Borgo, from the Citrus Federation of Entre Rios, and Mariano Caprarulo, of the Chamber of Exporters of Citrus NEA.
Caprarulo stated: "The progress made was historical. It's important that the Government of the province, the producers, Senasa, and the national government carry out this challenge. Having advanced the possibility of opening the US market to citrus sweet from our region at such a difficult moment is very satisfying. We gave the process an important boost. There's still much to do, but we are optimistic and we can think we could have an opportunity to access that market next year."
Finally, the manager said that, they were waiting for a meeting that Senasa will soon have with the Health Service of the United States "to start the closure process of all the phytosanitary requirements, and start the administrative process to see if the public consultation can be performed by the end of the year so that we have the opportunity to enter our citrus to that country next year. Political support is very important to achieve this and the province, the national government, and the producers will have to keep on working on what is pending. All that's left is that the official political negotiation comes to an end so that we can access the best market there is, i.e. the United States," he added.
Meanwhile, Taylor praised the governor's work and said: "The meeting that Bordet had with the US Undersecretary of Agriculture , Eduard Avalos, was historic because it almost opened the doors for our citrus. Obviously we have to comply with some requirements, but we'll meet them quickly. They should have already contacted the Senasa because they want to have a meeting to finish the documentation process. Plant health requirements is almost finished," he stated.
Source: eldiario.com.ar