The Chilean Agriculture Minister Carlos Furche has announced some good news for Chilean cherry growers this new year: the opening up of the South Korean market for fumigation-free cherry exports. According to the South Korea’s Plant Quarantine Agency (QIA) Chilean cherries will be able to enter the country under a ‘systems approach’ protocol.
The South Korean market is an opportunity for Chile to supply low cost winter cherries which will compete with the country's current suppliers Australia and New Zealand. In spite of a FTA agreement signed between South Korea and New Zealand, produce from the country is still considered expensive on the South Korean market.
China currently amounts for more than half of Chilean cherry exports, but the opening of the South Korean market will allow the country to diversify their exports, as it involves consumers who have different consumption habits. Furch describes the new market as, "space for a part of our cherry production which probably will have less space in China or other countries.”
In the 2014-15 season exports of cherries from Chile reached 20 million boxes with Hong Kong, the U.S., Europe, Brazil and Taiwan following China as the leading markets.
According to Furch, in recent years cherries have undergone the “most dynamic” development in Chile’s fruit sector and will continue to grow in the coming years.
The move is a great step for Chile's cherry industry and the result of four years work between QIA and Chile’s Agriculture and Livestock Service (SAG), in cooperation with the Chilean fruit production and export sector.
