According to information provided by the general manager of Asoex, Miguel Canala-Echeverria, the inspector of the Animal and Plant Quarantine Agency of South Korea (QIA, is its acronym in English), Young Soub Choi, is in Chile to check that the country is complying with the measures established by South Korea to avoid potential phytosanitary import risks.
"The visit is part of the protocol established with Korea to export blueberries and cherries. Thus, an inspector from the QIA travels to Chile to verify that we are complying with the established measures and, once he certifies that we are, we can begin exporting the Chilean cherries and blueberries to that market,"said the general manager of Asoex.
Canala-Echeverria added: "This season, the inspection process was performed earlier than in previous seasons because the harvest started earlier than usual - a few weeks before time in the case of blueberries. As a result, the SAG and the QIA coordinated the inspector's visit in advance. Additionally, the Chilean exporters are interested in beginning shipments as soon as possible."
The professional also said that Chile had exported to the Asian market more than 8,000 tons of fresh blueberries and more than 72,000 tons of fresh cherries during the 2015-2016 season (September 1, 2015 to August 31, 2016).
"Within the Asian market, Korea is the third biggest destination for Chilean blueberries, and it is the seventh most important destination for our cherries," said the representative of Asoex.
Inspection
The inspector arrived in Chile on Sunday September 4, and starting his work on Monday by having a meeting at the headquarters of the Agriculture and Livestock Service in Santiago. In the meeting, local authorities presented the Official Control Programme, established in the metropolitan region, as well as the National Control Programme against the Lobesia botrana.
The inspector visited blueberry and cherry orchards of the Metropolitan and Valparaiso regions on September 6 and 7.
Source: asoex.cl