The Ministry of Agriculture and the New Zealand company Zespri Kiwifruit met last Tuesday. At the meeting, they spoke mainly about the opportunities for cooperation between both markets in the kiwi industry. The Minister of Agriculture, Antonio Walker, stated "we committed to work toward achieving homologous quality standards. The idea is to be a complement, instead of competition."
In 2011, the Association of Fruit Exporters of Chile (Asoex) denounced that Zespri was conducting practices contrary to free trade in Asian markets. In November of that same year, the Korea Fair Trade Commission (KFTC) fined the firm with US $375,000 for prohibiting its buyers to sell Chilean kiwi. Currently, Asoex has several disputes against Zespri in Japan, where the company has 95% of the market, and in the European Union (EU).
Asked about the complaint, the CEO of Zespri Kiwifruit, Peter McBride, rejected the accusations of Asoex and said they were there to cooperate.
In addition, Walker said they wanted mediate in the issue "there's a bigger chance we can work together than being separated by Asoex's demand." The union made no statements, but decided to meet with the minister in the short term to adopt common decisions on the subject.
Source: economiaynegocios.cl