Port Everglades, Florida receives first cold treated grapes from Peru

A container of grapes from Peru arrived, passed protocol and was cleared for entry into Port Everglades on the evening of Friday November 29, becoming the first cold treated container of imported fresh produce to arrive into the South Florida port. The arrival also makes Advance Customs Brokers & Consulting the first customs brokerage firm to clear fresh cold treated grapes for admissibility into the port and Peruvian grape producer Camposol the first grower to successfully export product into this region of the US.

“We are so excited and very proud to be part of this historic arrival,” says Pat Compres, president of Advance Customs Brokers & Consulting (ACBC). “We are so pleased to have shared this journey with Camposol , one of the most reputable growers we know, and to finally see this all come to fruition.”

Javier Gutierrez, General Manager of Camposol Fresh USA, said, “We have looked forward to this day for a very long time and are honored that our product is the first to arrive into this port. This new port of entry opens doors for many opportunities to come.”

Made possible through a pilot program which began Oct. 1, the product was shipped from Peru on Hamburg Süd through the waters of Panama where it completed “cold treatment,” a process which ensures elimination of pests and is required by USDA for admissibility into the US. There are limited “cold treatment” products which are currently admissible into the South Florida ports, these being grapes & blueberries from Peru & Uruguay. Prior to this program, imported fresh produce requiring cold treatment was always received into northern ports in regions such as Philadelphia and New York and then distributed by trucks to southern states and regions.
The savings in fuel and logistics efficiencies provides economic advantages to importing product into this region. This additional opportunity of distribution channels is expected to have a positive impact on the cost of product into the market and ultimately translate into savings for consumers, especially in growing markets such as Miami, South Florida and other southern cities.

Other groups which were instrumental in this becoming possible include U.S. Customs and Border Protection, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services & the Florida Perishables Trade Coalition.

For more information:
Advance Customs Brokers & Consulting (ACBC)
Tel: +1 (789) 476-0700
[email protected]