After almost two decades of technical and legal procedures, the Ecuadorian papaya will enter the United States market. Agrocalidad delivered the final certification that allows the fruit to be shipped to the North American country.
The Agency for Regulation and Control of Plant and Animal Health stated on Wednesday, June 20, 2018, in Guayaquil, that the export of the fruit would be carried out by AgroIndustrias Rilesa, which is currently engaged in the internal marketing of papaya.
The procedures to start marketing this fruit internationally began in 1999, when Jorge Trujillo, the general manager of AgroIndustrias Rilesa, together with Agrocalidad made a request to so to the APHIS (Animal and Plant Health Inspection Services), an agency that handles the inspection of the products that arrive in the United States. In 2003, the US conducted a pest risk analysis. Five years later, APHIS delivered the finished document and started the negotiation process. Finally, in 2013, the operational work that would allow exporting the fruit was signed.
However, the phytosanitary processes that the fruit must comply with include the monitoring of two pests, a process that involves a hydrothermal treatment. Thus, in 2016, Esteban Espinoza, a representative for APHIS, made a verification of the sites that would be able to export and the final certification for the export of the papaya was delivered.
The first shipment to be sent, as a test to verify that the fruit passes all controls, will have eight tons. However, the company plans to ship out some 16 tons the Hawaiian variety, which has a small size and tastes sweet, each week. The shipment will enter through the port of Miami, in Florida; and will be marketed by the California Gold company.
Agrocalidad was in charge of carrying out the inspection of the papaya crop to be exported. It verified the production, harvest, and post-harvest processes. The export requirements includes that the papaya has no fungi or external defects.
"The sun can cause some spots on the papaya's skin. They have no effect on the fruit's internal quality, but it makes the fruit look ugly and customers do not buy it, so the fruit is harvested with a maximum degree of 25% of its surface yellow," said Jorge Trujillo, manager of the production company.
Currently, the country exports Hawaiian and Maradol varieties to countries of the European Union, the United Kingdom, and the South American continent, such as Peru and Colombia.
According to Trujillo, the US papaya business moves around USD 320 million per year, with the import of fruit from different nations, such as Mexico and Guatemala. "If the Ecuadorian fruit enters this market and consumers prefer its flavor, then these figures will increase," he said.
The farm, located in the province of Santa Elena, has 47 hectares planted. Among the plans of Trujillo are adding another 50 hectares during the next six months of the year.
Patricio García, the executive director of Agrocalidad, said they monitored 35 companies that export and produce papaya to guarantee the quality required by international markets.
In addition, they provide training to them so that they comply with the Phytosanitary Export Certification, to comply with APHIS (Animal and Plant Health Inspection Services). According to data from Agrocalidad, between January and May of this year the country has exported 98 tons of fruit to its main destinations.
Source: elcomercio.com