The Minister of Agriculture and Irrigation, Juan Benites, stated that, within the framework of a trip to promote the entry of new Peruvian agricultural products to the US, they had achieved access for fresh asparagus to the United States without fumigation requirement.
To this end, Benites met with the undersecretary of Agriculture of the United States, Ed Avalos, to review the progress in phytosanitary or animal health access between both countries.
During the meetings, they discussed the removal of the requirement of crop spraying asparagus and blueberries in Peru, as well as the list of new agricultural products that would soon enter the US; a market with almost 320 million potential consumers.
Regarding asparagus, undersecretary Ed Avalos announced that, in the next four weeks, the US APHIS (Animal Plant Health Inspection Service) would publish the Advance Notice that facilitates the export of asparagus from Peru without fumigation.
The measure will allow increased asparagus sales to that market by 30 and 40 million dollars per year and up to 100 million dollars in the next three years.
Health barriers
This regulatory change is based on the permanent work and coordination carried out by the National Service of Agrarian Health (Senasa) and APHIS, which has led the US health agency to re-evaluate the risk of the presence of the Copitarsia corruda (an insect found in Peruvian asparagus) and to grant it easier access, which paves the way for exports without mandatory fumigation.
Meanwhile, the Minister Benites said that, since 2001, the US sprayed all the shipments of Peruvian fresh asparagus with methyl bromide in the US at the ports, upon detection of so-called insect (moth) in shipments of that product.
