On Saturday, May 19, professionals from the SAG-USDA / APHIS-ASOEX los Lirios Phytosanitary Inspection Site made the first inspection and approval of Chilean lemons for the USA under the systems approach.
On April 6, the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) approved the export of Chilean lemons to the US with a phytosanitary inspection at source. With this measure, producers no longer have to fumigate the fruit, substantially improving its post-harvest conditions for a market in which Chile is the main supplier of citrus fruits.
"This first inspection shows that we are also in the position to materialize the first export of Chilean lemons under the systems approach mechanism to the United States market. This demonstrates the seriousness of the Chilean citrus sector to comply with the agreed procedures, as well as its commitment to consumers and the US market. We are very happy to have passed this first successful inspection, and we congratulate producers, exporters and all the professionals involved in this long negotiation process," said Ronald Bown, President of ASOEX.
In turn, Juan Enrique Ortuzar, the President of the Citrus Committee of Chile-ASOEX, said: "The process is new, and therefore, producers require a period of adjustment to adapt to the procedure. However, many of them already have experience with it, as they also produce oranges, clementines, and mandarins, which are already exported under the systems approach. In general, we see the process is being carried out in a correct and orderly manner."
Ortuzar said that the United States, in addition to being the main destination market for oranges, clementines, and mandarins, was also a market for lemons, but in lower volumes. "The lemon is the fruit where we have a greater diversification of markets. The United States is the main destination, but shipments do not represent more than 50%, as in other citrus fruits. Japan is also an important market, due to the good prices that the Chilean lemon achieves there."
Inspection
The fruit inspected corresponds to a sample of a batch of 6,192 kilos of lemons sent by Multifruta Linderos (Gesex).
Juan Pablo Arellano, Plant Manager of the plant said: "We'll have 41 million kilos of citrus this season through our plant. 90 to 95 percent of the citrus we handle, especially the mandarins, clementines and oranges, is exported under the systems approach, which means that our company has experience in this and can be trusted. Now we are starting with lemons, and we will see how things go."
What is the Systems Approach?
The Systems Approach requires conducting various risk mitigation measures for a given pest. In the case of lemons to the United States, the measures are specifically focused on the Brevipalpus chilensis pest. This measures include the registration of producers before the SAG, in the field certification of this pest's low prevalence, applying a washing and waxing treatment of the fruit in its packing process, and phytosanitary inspection.
Source: SimFRUIT