The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), a body under the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), has determined that Peruvian fresh pomegranates can be imported safely to US soil after all pest risks were evaluated and the phytosanitary measures required to mitigate them were determined.
"From Wednesday 10 August, a new market opportunity is opening for our pomegranates. Our fruit may finally enter the United States and the truth is that prospects are great, both for producers and for the importers who have long requested our fruit. While this is the first step for the opening of this trade window, producers are starting to work to meet all the requirements imposed by the USDA," explains Gino Bernaola, of Sobifruits, in an interview to FreshPlaza.
These measures have been introduced in order to protect the United States from the entry of high risk pests; consequently, a number of requirements have been set for the commercial shipments of fresh pomegranates. The fruit will have to be inspected in Peru before being exported and upon arrival in the US it will be radiated against the Mediterranean and South American fly. To these requirements we must add that all shipments will have to be accompanied by a phytosanitary certificate issued by Senasa, which will be checked upon arrival of the cargo.
"We do not know if this will be one of the main markets for our pomegranates, but historically, it is known to be a very interesting destination and a good choice besides Europe. Producers wish to start making shipments already this year, but we do not know if this will be possible, as it is still too early to determine when the first shipment can be made. In any case, we are already contacting importers and we'll soon make the first commercial contacts to ship our fruit as soon as possible. We started the campaign in mid-November, but there are other producers who start harvesting in October, so our fruit could be entering the United States very soon," concludes Bernaola.