"We are working so that the Peruvian citrus have a new trade route to the United States and can enter the country directly through the port of Miami, as these products are not yet allowed to enter the state of Florida," said Eric Olafson Trade Development Manager at PortMiami, in a meeting with representatives of the Chamber of Commerce of Lima (CCL).
He noted that, since it was a technical decision, the project involved the Ministry of Agriculture of the United States and its respective agencies. Additionally, it involved Florida's Ministry of Agriculture and the Bureau of Customs and Border Protection because Florida is a citrus producing state that has extremely strict controls to prevent the spread of the fruit fly, which exists in Peru.
"We hope to have news soon; these processes take time to determine the best procedures to minimize risks. Hopefully, the first shipments of citrus will enter the country via Miami in coming months," he said.
In this regard, Carlos Garcia, Manager of the Centre of Foreign Trade (CCEX) of the CCL, said there was no doubt it was important to have more points of entry into the U.S., Peru's main market, because it was very important for the country to continue increasing exports.
"Increasing the frequency of shipments to Miami should lead to a reduction in the logistics costs in storage and transportation of our products to United States and, therefore, increase our competitiveness," he said.
According to data from CCEX, exports of fresh citrus to the U.S. between January and June this year amounted to nearly $14 million dollars, i.e. 90% more than in the same period last year. The shipping volume recorded in the first half of the year totalled 10,000 tons.
According to Olafson, opening the Port of Miami would bring greater opportunities for both countries and increase bilateral trade.
The U.S. only allows the import of products from countries above the 39th parallel that are affected by the fruit flies after said products have passed through a quarantine cold treatment process. In the future, he added, the port of Miami could become the main gateway for perishable products from Peru due to the geographical advantages and services that port offered importers and exporters.
"Not being able to import via Miami means the industry looses at least 8 or 11 days of the fruits' postharvest life and has to spend about $2,000 more on transportation costs. It takes two more days by ship to get to Philadelphia/Wilmington, 4-7 days to clear the cargo because of the congestion problems in those ports and 2 more days to bring the product by truck to the southeast of the U.S.," Olafson said.
The Port of Miami uses mobile technology that processes the fruits and vegetables containers in real time, allowing them to clear the cargo immediately, streamline the distribution process and reduce the costs of ground transportation.
In previous years, other Peruvian products such as table grapes and blueberries could not enter Miami and were only able to enter the United States via certain ports in the northeast of that country. Currently, these products can enter directly through the port of Miami, after the successful implementation of a pilot program in October last year where the produce must complete its cold treatment before it departs from Peru. Thus, the produce is ready for sale and distribution in the American market upon arrival.
The Peruvian products entering the Port of Miami are: asparagus, which represent 85% of total exports, followed by mangoes, grapes, avocados, blueberries and some fish products.
Plans for a large warehouse
Eric Olafson also announced that the port of Miami was considering installing a large warehouse for Peruvians products, which would facilitate the redistribution of exports for small and medium enterprises.
"The idea is to help the small and medium enterprises with their export logistics. We've invited the Minister of Foreign Trade, Magali Silva, to Miami so we can talk about this and about investments," he said.
Source: agraria.pe