The Ministries of Agriculture of Chile and Japan have agreed on the export protocol for cherries. An official from the Japanese Ministry, Yoshimi Atobe, visited various plants and farms in the region of O'Higgins to certify that the regional producers were complying with said protocol.
Since 2013, the Government of Japan has implemented a working system consisting of the monitoring of traps to capture the pests affecting cherries so that producers meet the demanding export protocol.
"Prior to this, producers could only export their products if they were fumigated with methyl bromide, which limited the fruit's post harvest life forcing producers to only carry out air shipments," said the regional coordinator of agricultural exports of the SAG, Danol Quintanilla.
He also said that "the products can be inspected and be sent by sea, with good arrival at Japanese ports."
According to the SAG, up to November 2016, the O'Higgins region exported more than 3.3 million boxes of cherries to different markets. China was the main destination, as it accounts for more than 80% of the total.
"Even though Japan is not the main destination for cherries, meeting Japan's strict export protocol is a plus for farmers that has allowed them to open new markets, such as the Korean market," Quintanilla said.
Source: marcotradenews.com