South Korea was the last country in Asia visited by the public-private technical delegation of the Agricultural and Livestock Service (SAG) and Frutas de Chile. Progress was made in the opening of that country for Chilean fresh plums, the analysis of cold treatment in transit for Chilean fruit exports, and electronic certification.
The Chilean delegation met with authorities and professionals from South Korea's Animal and Plant Quarantine Agency (APQA) and the Embassy of Chile in that country. The delegation was led by Marco Muñoz, head of the Agricultural, Forestry, and Seed Protection Division of the Agriculture and Livestock Service (s), SAG, and Miguel Canala-Echeverría, general manager of Frutas de Chile.
"Today we are South Korea's main supplier of table grapes, blueberries, and fresh cherries, among other food products, thanks to the more than 20-year-long trade relationship between us, which was consolidated in the free trade agreement," stated Ambassador Francke.
"The opening of this market to fresh Chilean plums would be quite important. We would be the first imported plums approved to enter Korea, a market where consumers like and consume many plums. In addition, Chilean plums would enter the country in the counter-season when there's no local production," the ambassador added.
"This visit to South Korea has been very positive because we made significant progress in opening this market for our Japanese plums in the meetings with the APQA. Everything indicates that the Korean market will be available by 2025," Marco Muñoz stated.
Miguel Canala-Echeverría, general manager of Frutas de Chile, said: "Participating in this tour to Asia is very important for Frutas de Chile, so we thank SAG for considering us. Thanks to the quality of our fruit, Chile is currently the world's leading fresh plum exporter. Achieving the opening of this market makes us very happy. We know Korean consumers are very demanding and we'll work to meet their requirements. Today, we are in stage 5 of 8 of the process, which involves the visit of inspectors to Chile. That is followed by the preparation of the protocol (stage 6), the administrative process that involves the public consultation of the document (protocol), and the publication of the final resolution. I would like to congratulate the SAG and thank APQA authorities for the speed with which they have moved forward, as it normally takes 7 to 9 years to open the Korean market to a new product".
Source: simfruit.cl