The Vice President of the United States, Mike Pence, stated on Sunday that Colombia could sell its Hass avocados in the US.
"The United States has reached an agreement to allow Colombian Hass avocados to enter the US market," Pence said during his official visit to Colombia to strengthen diplomatic relations between the two countries.
Pence also said that Colombia was the United States' third largest trading partner in Latin America, with bilateral trade of more than 27 billion dollars in 2016.
He also highlighted the progress of relations and said he was confident that both nations would continue to move forward.
Meanwhile, the Minister of Commerce, Industry and Tourism, Maria Claudia Lacouture, said that "this is a process which the country has been working on for more than ten years and today we have finally succeeded."
She emphasized that the United States was an important market for this fruit, since, in 2016, it had imported about 2 billion dollars of this product, 90% of which was produced by Mexico.
Last June, Colombia's Hass avocado exports exceeded 25 million dollars. Their main destination was Europe.
Vice president Pence also supported Colombia's effort to join the OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development).
"The United States supports actions to make Colombia part of the OECD," Pence said, confirming that the United States will donate US $2 million of technical assistance to achieve that goal.
President Santos said: "We already have the approval in 21 committees, and the support, which has been reiterated by President Trump himself, will be key to having a green light on the two committees that are missing so that Colombia can be part of the OECD."
Source: Colprensa