Spain's Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries, and Food, Luis Planas, and the Minister of the General Administration of Customs of China, Sun Meijun, signed a new protocol to export cherries to that Asian country. The protocol was signed within the framework of the President's official trip to China.
This new agreement opens China to Spanish cherry exports. Exporting fruits and vegetables from Spain to China requires negotiating bilateral protocols, including the phytosanitary requirements to export to this country.
The signing of the protocol will speed up the conclusion of those requirements that the Asian country demands. Exporters interested in sending cherries to China will have to register in a special registry that the Ministry of Agriculture will soon open and pass an audit to guarantee they comply with phytosanitary requirements to export to the Asian country. Currently, the Chinese market is open to Spanish stone fruits (peach, plum, nectarine), grapes, citrus fruits, persimmon, and almonds.
The Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, and Food will supervise the processing, packaging, storage, and transport of the cherries destined for export. It will also ensure that only cherries from registered orchards enter the processing plants. The protocol will be effective for three years from today, the date of signature.
Spanish sales to China account for 2.5% of agri-food exports. China is undoubtedly a strategic market for many Spanish companies and represents a potential for Spanish exports. It is Spain's ninth market in value and its third non-EU market after the United Kingdom and the United States.
In 2024, Spain exported 3,871 tons of fruits and vegetables to China (0.03% of the 12.3 million tons it exported that year) for 6.8 million euros, according to data from the Customs and Excise Department processed by FEPEX.
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