The National Agrarian Health Service (SENASA) accelerated the certification process of Hass avocado cargo for export, through the certification of its packing plants located in the four agricultural exporting regions of Peru (Ancash, Ica, La Libertad, and Lima).
The certification system that Senasa was able to implement is based on phytosanitary risk profiles, in which Senasa carried out an audit of the packer's packaging processes and admitted the ones that had a good phytosanitary performance.
The president of the Hass Avocado Producers Association of Peru (ProHass), Daniel Bustamante, said that this had been a long but satisfactory process. He stressed that not all of the companies certified were associated with Prohass. "It is a boost for the producers, a recognition that comes with a responsibility to improve quality standards. This vote of confidence of Senasa tells us that we should not lower our guard."
In turn, the director of the Subdirectorate of Plant Quarantine of Senasa, Orlando Dolores, said that, in coordination with ProHass and the representatives of the avocado packing plants, they had established a procedure to facilitate agricultural exports. "We value the commitment to comply with the standard and to be strict in the certification process, which will improve as trade changes."
The optimization is based on a reduction of the sample size for inspection, the shipment of containers during night time, a reduction of the sealing requirements for the trucks that move the fruit to the packing facilities, and, in some cases, preparing the sample for official inspection.
For the past three years, Senasa has had an internal electronic certification system, which permits it to receive export requests in a virtual way, and allows inspectors located in the packing facilities to inspect the cargo and issue the Phytosanitary Certificate immediately. Based on this work design, Senasa has managed to reduce the certification process time to 24 hours.
This is just the beginning, as Senasa will soon implement this procedure for mango and grape packing facilities. To do this, Senasa officials will meet with the representatives of the packers in the next weeks, prior to the start of the export season.
Source: agraria.pe