Inspectors from the Office of Development and Research for Plant Protection of the Thai Department of Agriculture have visited cherry farms in Aragon and Extremadura as part of the on-going negotiations for the opening of the cherry market in this country, which, on the Spanish side, are being led by the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, Food and Environment (MAPAMA).
The trip of the Thai inspectors took place between 1 and 9 July and has consisted of visits to various farms in Aragon and later in Extremadura, as well as meetings with representatives of the administrations of these autonomous regions and of MAPAMA.
The inspectors' visit to the farms is one of the requirements that third countries usually include in the phytosanitary negotiation processes for the opening of their markets, in order to verify compliance with the phytosanitary requirements established in the Export Protocols.
The Protocol for the authorization of cherry exports to Thailand has started to be negotiated in response to a demand from the sector, which has been transferred to the relevant administrations at the meetings of the Fruit and Vegetables Working Group, set up in the framework of the Internationalization Plan for the Agro-food Sector of the Ministries of Economy and Agriculture.
Both FEPEX and the Cherry Committee associations are actively participating in the negotiation of this export protocol due to the interest shown in the Thai market.
For now, no exports of fresh Spanish fruit and vegetables are made to Thailand.
In 2016, the Spanish exports of cherries to third countries, including non-EU European countries, amounted to 373 tonnes, which represents about 1.5% of the 23,657 tonnes exported in total, according to data from the General Directorate of Customs and Special Taxes of the Spanish Tax Agency, processed by FEPEX.
