Since Canada's phytosanitary requirements were made more flexible in recent days, Neuquen can soon start exporting cherries to that country. Senasa had been unable to communicate the implementation of a new export protocol, due to the Lobesia botrana plague, on time. Since the plague does not affect cherries, the CFIA (Canadian Food Inspection Agency), decided to rescind the strict protocol.
The problem was solved a few days ago. As a result, next week, exporters will ship the first 6,000 kilograms of cherries to some Canadian supermarkets on Tuesday and Thursday.
Pablo Cousiño, from the Alquimia Fruits Srl company, which is in charge of exporting the cherries of eight producers in the region, said that since the protocol had been rescinded the cherries did not need to be treated with bromide. This treatment involves increasing the fruit's temperature to nearly 20 degrees to eliminate the pest. However, strictly speaking, the area's high quality fruit were never affected by the moth.
The sector's goal is to export around 20,000 kilograms of cherries this season. Next week producers will start exporting the Lapins variety, which is a relatively small market for the local production. The Canadian market requests this variety because of the balance of its color, size and flavor.
Argentina is expecting to open larger markets for its cherries, such as the Chinese market, which has other kinds of bureaucratic requirements.
Source: lmneuquen.com