China will this month receive the first direct arrivals of Peruvian citrus following the signing in September of a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between the two nations, according to a report by Peruvian news agency Andina.
“The phytosanitary protocol for the entry of Peruvian citrus to China was agreed in September and now we are ready to make the first dispatch,” Juan Carlos Mathews, export director at the Peruvian Foreign Trade and Tourism Promotion Commission (PromPerú), told Andina.
Under the deal, Peru is permitted to ship grapefruit, mandarins, tangerines, oranges, Sutil limes and Tahiti limes direct to China, the report said.
According to PromPerú, Chinese buyers have the capacity to absorb more than US$25m-worth of fresh fruits from Peru over the next five years.
“Asian companies are looking for supply sources and in the medium-term they hope to establish deals with Peruvian exporters,” said Mr Carlos Mathews.
“We believe that there are fresh fruits which are not currently exported to China but have the potential to be absorbed, such as strawberries, avocados and other citrus items.”
Currently, Peru has direct access to the Chinese market for table grapes, mangoes and now citrus.
