Zespri's position in the kiwi market has been under the industry's eye for years. After 35 years in office and when he's about to leave his post, the president of the Association of Fruit Exporters of Chile, Asoex, Ronald Bown, spoke on EmolTV about New Zealand kiwi's monopoly and how the bad practices of Zespri directly affect the Chilean trade, as Chile is their only competitor in the southern hemisphere.
Bown said they will request the World Trade Organization (WTO), the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), and even universities like Harvard, to explain what has been happening for years and why this situation has been permitted.
Production could be quadrupled if there were an open and competitive market, the president of Asoex said.
"There must be commercial reciprocity. They should allow other countries to market fruit in New Zealand under the same conditions that they have to plant and market their kiwis in Chile and other markets, without the exclusivity that Zespri enjoys today," the Chilean production sector stated.
"Zespri stands out because it has internal and external agreements that favor it. They have a private marketer with the support of the state, which is something unique in the world, and somehow they received help from the WTO," stated Bown. In that regard, they hope that the organization will not renew permission to maintain a Single Point of Entry, which makes Zespri a legal monopoly.
