Mexico has announced and published the phytosanitary requirements for the entry of Chilean citrus fruits into the country. According to Simfruit, this milestone was achieved after Rodrigo Astete, head of SAG's Agricultural, Forestry, and Seeds Division, Miguel Canala-Echeverria, the general manager of ASOEX, and Mario Hernandez, the coordinator of the Agricultural Office of the Embassy of Chile, met in March in Mexico with authorities of the National Health, Safety, and Agrifood Quality Service of Mexico (Senasica) to analyze topics of mutual interest in matters of bilateral trade in fruits.
At the meetings, the parties agreed that Senasica would publish the phytosanitary requirements for the entry of Chilean citrus fruits (lemons, clementines, and mandarins) to the Mexican market, which happened on March 17, and that Chile would initiate the respective actions to open the Chilean market to Mexican limes.
Rodrigo Astete, from the SAG, highlighted the importance of opening this market for Chilean citrus. “Since 2008, there has been a change in phytosanitary requirements for clementines, requiring the application of a treatment with methyl bromide that directly impacted the quality of the fruit due to phytotoxicity, which generated a disincentive to export to Mexico. In 2012, Chile and Mexico started negotiations so the Chilean lemon (Citrus limon) could access the Mexican market, but substantial progress was only achieved in 2019 when the Chilean clementines, mandarins, and lemons were grouped so they would have to comply with the same phytosanitary measures, which are established by Mexico's SENASICA and agreed upon by both countries. As a result, in 2023 the Chilean counter-season citrus productions gained access to the Mexican market.”
“It's worth noting that the inspections are the main phytosanitary measure. This allows our export product to arrive with excellent post-harvest quality, increasing the interest of Mexican consumers and improving our competitiveness in that country.”
“This is very positive news for ASOEX, not only because it means that our shipments will be made under an inspection system, allowing us to deliver fruit of better quality and condition to consumers, but also because it expands and diversifies our citrus' destination markets,” stated Miguel Canala-Echeverria.
Source: Simfruit