Argentina's Ministry of Agro-industry, the National Health Service and Food Quality (Senasa), and the Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (AQSIQ), confirmed this week that both countries had reached an agreement regarding the terms of the phytosanitary protocol for the export of fresh table grapes of Argentina to the People's Republic of China. This is the first step in an ongoing process to open this market and expectations are there won't be grape exports to China this season, as both producers and the market need time to start exports effectively.
Guillermo del Carril, a representative of the DELCAVID table grape producing company, stated: "The signing of this agreement means the Chinese market is open for our exports of grapes. This is an opportunity to boost our production and exports of grapes. Traditionally, we shipped lots of fruit to Europe, but the economic crisis in this continent has forced us to find other markets with better returns, such as China."
It's worth recalling that this agreement is the first step in a process of agreements and negotiations that could still take time. "China is a very demanding market, so it has great opportunities. However, there was a lot of enthusiasm to enter into this market and we lost many vital details. Now, producers are concerned because the agreement states that Argentina will have to pay a 13% tariff to enter China. I fear this will thwart development, if we compare this percentage there are many other markets that require many extra costs," said Del Carril.
The potential of Argentine grapes
The crisis caused by the previous government's foreign trade economic policies had dire consequences on Argentina's agricultural production and, although new government is trying to repair the damage, there is still a long way to go . "San Juan produces 90% of the country's table grapes. In 2006 we exported 210 million kilos a year, last season we only exported 10 million. As a result of this dramatic depreciation, many producers have chosen to cultivate fruits that have better returns, so we'll have to reconvert these crops to supply the new market," the representative continued.
"Fortunately, most producers want to work to improve and increase our production. One of our main advantages is that the Chinese consumers prefer the color of the Red Globe grapes grown in Argentina, which is pinker than the grapes grown in other regions. This gives us an advantage over our competition and really motivates us. Our strategy now is to begin contacting past clients that imported our grapes to Hong Kong and then redistributed them to China. Back then, the fruit lost a lot of quality, but being able to export the fruit directly to China gives us a distinct advantage," concluded the spokesman.
For more information:
Guillermo del CarrilDELCAVID SA
T: +54 926445 98686
E: gerencia@delcavid.com
www.delcavid.com