A commission of inspectors from the sanitary authority of the People's Republic of China arrived in Colombia to evaluate the country's Hass avocado production system, as part of the process so that this product can enter the Chinese market. The delegation, the Ministry of Agriculture, and the Colombian Agricultural Institute (ICA) agreed a working agenda up until October 21.
"We are pleased with this visit, because it is a great opportunity to show the delegation our production, which many countries are already enjoying, in our fields. We are working responsibly to produce healthy, high quality products that can be exported to China, and the Hass avocado is a very good product to start doing this," stated the Minister of Agriculture, Juan Guillermo Zuluaga.
Luis Humberto Martinez Lacouture, the general manager of the ICA, said that the entity showed the delegation all the tasks it performed as a national health authority, its leadership in the region and the rigor of processes as facilitator of international trade in agricultural products.
The official emphasised the country's sanitary and phytosanitary status and said that their "goal is that the Hass avocado arrives in China soon so that our producers can export this exquisite product, and at the same time, continue to have the ICA as their commercial ally."
The delegation of the Chinese government will visit producing farms, see the fruit's harvest and post harvest processes, as well as revision, treatments, inspection, packaging, entry and other procedures to get the fruit ready. The delegation will conduct their inspection in different properties in the departments of Quindio, Risaralda, and Caldas.
Other issues that the Commission will verify in the field during its visit are related to the registration of crops, pest and disease management plans, field monitoring, training, and the registration of exporting plants, among other issues that the ICA has been working on with all interested parties so that the Hass avocado can enter the Asian market.
Hass avocado production increased by 35% in Colombia in 2016 and export revenues already exceed 30 million dollars, as exports have increased by 200% in recent years.
The meeting was attended by representatives and guilds such as Asohofrucol, Corporation for the internationalization of Hass avocado, CorpoHass, Analdex and the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Tourism.
Source: elheraldo.co