The president of the Federation of Fruit Producers of Chile (Fedefruta), Jorge Valenzuela, has welcomed the approval of the Integral and Progressive Treaty of Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) by the country's Chamber of Deputies.
Fedefruta said that the CPTPP now requires ratification by the Senate.
'As part of the Agroexport Council and as a guild representing Chilean fruit growers from Atacama to Chile Chico, many of them dedicated to export, we understand that the vocation for international trade that Chile has developed in recent decades is the basis by which productive sectors such as agriculture have been able to grow and become the engine of various regions,' said the trade union leader.
In that sense, 'we believe that the ratification of the CPTPP will boost to agricultural exports, including fresh fruit, which, thanks to treaties of this type, is able to generate 560,000 jobs each season, and send almost 3m tonnes of fruit to the markets, equivalent to US$5.8bn,' explained Valenzuela, who insisted that Chile's position in the international fresh produce trade would be in danger if the treaty did not pass.
'If we withdraw from the treaty, the countries who adhere to the agreement will have an advantage when accessing a market with more than 500m inhabitants, which will complicate the outlook and our leadership in the near future.'
The Fedefruta leader added that he expected Senate to vote in favor of the project.
'We request a parliamentary discussion that allows the approval of the CPTPP, for the good of the development of the productive items of the regions,' he concluded. 'From our position, we are not talking about large companies in this case, since it is the small and medium producers that constitute the real productive force of the Chilean export fruit industry.'
