The Minister of Agriculture, Carlos Furche, the President of the Federation of Fruit Producers of Chile (Fedefruta), Luis Schmidt, and the Executive Director of the Clean Production Council, Juan Ladron de Guevara, signed a Clean Production Agreement (CPA) for table grapes with more than 35 producers in the Aconcagua Valley.
The agreement, which will last 24 months and will start being implemented this month, will focus many of its actions on the post-harvest period.
The agreement was signed at Fundo El Guindal de Calle Larga, which is owned by the current director of Fedefruta, Juan Carolus Brown Bauza.
This CPA aims to incorporate clean production technologies that strengthen the sustainability of the table grape sector, ensuring food safety, increasing its efficiency, and minimizing the pollution generated by the activity.
"This agreement is important because the country's future competitiveness and market access will depend on gradually increasing our quality and safety standards, as well as our environmental care, and certifying all of these processes. These clean production agreements go exactly in the direction we have to move in the coming years. We need to have an agriculture that is more friendly to the environment, that complies with the highest safety levels and that can maintain its productivity by adapting to climate change," said Minister Furche.
In addition, this agreement, which was voluntarily signed by the companies, will help improve working conditions, regarding health, safety, and the working environment. It will also optimize the use of water, reduce emissions, decrease the impact that waste has on the environment, and improve the soil's quality and fertility.
According to the President of Fedefruta, Luis Schmidt, "this is a transcendent agreement. Fruit and table grape exports are very important for us, so signing this agreement will give our country comparative advantages. All the countries have already signed free trade agreements so that is no longer to our advantage. Chile's advantage is that it has a clean production and natural conditions that none of its competitors have; all the more reason to subscribe to these kinds of agreements that will improve our competitive advantage."
The ceremony was also attended by the governor of Los Andes, Daniel Zamorano, the Minister of Agriculture from Valparaiso, Ricardo Astorga and Minister of the Economy for the region, Aland Tapia, as well as the director of Fedefruta, Juan Carolus Brown, and the general manager of Fedefruta, Juan Carlos Sepulveda.
Source: Minagri