Peru's National Agricultural Health Service (Senasa) is working to facilitate the Peruvian pomegranates and citrus fruits' access to the Thai market and to avoid the imposition of additional phytosanitary restrictions on blueberry exports to that country. With the support of the Peruvian ambassador in Thailand, Cecilia Galarreta, the national head of Senasa, Vilma Gutarra García, Senasa's technical team, and representatives of the Peruvian Foreign Ministry held meetings with the Department of Agriculture of Thailand (DOA) to promote the agreements that will allow Peruvian producers to export pomegranates and citrus fruits to this destination.
The DOA is carrying out the Pest Risk Analysis (PRA) for pomegranate and SENASA presented a study on cold treatment, previously carried out with China, to speed up the definition of phytosanitary requirements to export this fruit to the Asian market. Regarding citrus, Senasa introduced the cold treatment procedure in transit and at origin, aimed at mandarin and orange exports, to prevent the spread of fruit flies and facilitate the completion of the PRA by Thailand.
A future agreement with the DOA will benefit producers in Ica, Lima, Piura, La Libertad, Junín, Arequipa, Ancash, and Lambayeque who already export citrus to international markets including the US, the Netherlands, England, Mexico, Canada, and Chile.
Peru already exports blueberries to Thailand. Given the DOA's review of phytosanitary import requirements for Peruvian blueberries, Senasa explained to the DOA the phytosanitary certification system that it applies to blueberry exports. This ensures they do not represent a phytosanitary risk for Thailand, which should help avoid additional import restrictions. Peruvian blueberry producers from La Libertad, Lambayeque, Ica, Piura, Ancash, and Lima export their products to 66 countries. Their main destination markets are the USA, the Netherlands, China, and the UK.
Source: agroperu.pe