Raul Urteaga Trani, general coordinator for International Affairs, said on Thursday that Mexico had managed to become the country that signed the most health protocols with China this year, thanks to the decisive political will of the presidents Enrique Peña and Xi Jinping.
At a press conference, the Mexican official recalled that a protocol for the export of white corn from Mexico to China, an annex for beef, and a certification protocol for exchanging electronic certificates between both countries were signed in September.
He said that two protocols had been signed in the recent visit to China, one to export milk powder, baby formula and serums, and another for the marketing of tobacco.
He also said that the National Health, Safety, and Food Quality (SENASA) and the General Administration of Quality Supervision and Quarantine (AQSIQ) would begin risk analysis in 2016 to ensure that the protocols to export blueberry, avocado from Jalisco, sorghum, plantain and alfalfa be achieved as soon as posible.
He said that in Shanghai, the producers had directly contacted Chinese traders to trade products of both countries and that they had warned about the need to promote e-commerce as a tool for communication and promotion of Mexican products in that market.
In turn, the Vice President of the Legislative Liaison of Mexico's Supreme Quality Association, Juan Barrio Aguirre, stressed that China was a market with more than 1,350 million people and imports worth 122 million dollars, which made it the largest purchaser of food in the world.
He said that in 2015 Mexico increased its food exports to China by 25 percent over 2014, achieving a value close to 150 million dollars. He also said that, thanks to the new protocols, they expected exports would reach 300 million dollars in 2016.
"We are proud to see Mexico has achieved recognition as a producer of fine foods, backed by reliable health and safety systems that few countries have," he said.
Finally, the president of the National Agricultural Council, Benjamin Grayeb Ruiz, recalled that the Chinese market was only opened for two Mexican products in the past 12 years: avocados and grapes. "In these three years, we've achieved opening the market to seven products and we'll probably get three more signed in 2016, as a result of the close relationship that has been built between both countries."
