A delegation of inspectors from Chinese Customs recently visited Chile with the purpose of verifying, on the ground, compliance with the export procedure signed by both countries last year to export Chilean pears to the Chinese market. The Chinese inspectors toured pear orchards and packing facilities from the Metropolitan, Valparaiso, and O'Higgins regions, as well as port facilities from the Zeal de Valparaíso and the Lo Aguirre Laboratory of the Agricultural and Livestock Service, SAG.

The inspectors were accompanied by SAG professionals, who answered their questions and explained the processes used, as well as representatives of the Association of Fruit Exporters of Chile AG (ASOEX).

Ronald Bown, the President of ASOEX, said: “The serious work of our industry to meet the highest standards of quality, and market requirements, as well as the close relationships we have built together with the authorities of the Ministry of Agriculture and the Agricultural and Livestock Service, and the Customs authorities of China, have allowed us to export pears to China, and, pretty soon, citrus. We are very happy, as this allows us to diversify our destination markets for our fruits while consolidating the presence of our fruit in China and Asia in general.”

He also said that Chile currently exported cherries, blueberries, table grapes, avocados, nectarines, plums, kiwis, and apples to China. “During the past season, our fruit exports reached 449,575 tons, with a growth of 16%. We hope to increase our shipments more with these new fruits.”

The pear in China
China is the country with the highest growth in pear consumption, production, and export in the world. The annual production volume has exceeded 10 million tons since 2003, and the export volume reaches 350,000 tons, which makes China the largest pear exporting country since then.

In addition, China imports around 270,000 tons of pears. Southeast Asia, Canada, Western Europe, Australia, and the United States are the main importers of Chinese pears. Belgium, Argentina, the United States, New Zealand, and the Netherlands are China's main suppliers of pears.

According to ASOEX data, Chile exported 128,564 tons of pears in 2018-2019 (from 01/09/2018 to 31/08/2019).

Source: simfruit.cl