Chile has kicked off its 2015 avocado campaign in China with the first 60-tonne consignment bound for Shenzhen, Shanghai and Shekeou departing from the VI Region on 23 August.
It is almost a year since the import protocol was officially signed by Chile and China, opening up what could potentially become an important market for Chilean Hass avocados.
“Gaining access to the Chinese market was undoubtedly a protracted process, which was made possible thanks to the joint work of the private and public sectors,” said ángel Sartori, director of Chile’s plant health authority, SAG.
At present, avocados and other fruit from Regions IV and V, as well as Chile’s Metropolitan Region, are not permitted to be shipped to China without first having undergone treatment for fruit fly, which affects fruit quality and effectively prevents exports. This is because, under current rules, fruit from the entire region must be treated, even though fruit fly outbreaks may be limited to certain zones.
But efforts are underway to ease the export restrictions in these zones. Between 30 July and 11 August, AQSIQ inspectors held a series of meetings with SAG and exporter association ASOEX in Chile with a view to easing quarantine restrictions. One proposal floated by SAG is for quarantine rules to be applied only to farms within a 27.2km radius of any outbreak, rather than to the entire region.
Another option proposed by SAG is for Hass avocados to be officially recognised as not hosting fruit fly, which would pave the way for exports to China irrespective of any future outbreak.
A third option being studied is for China to permit break bulk shipments as opposed to containerised cargo, which would allow for the better preservation of fruit quality.
Chile’s Hass Avocado Committee is organising a special workshop at next week’s Asia Fruit Logistica trade fair in Hong Kong in order to raise awareness of the product among Chinese buyers.
