With 3-4 weeks left until the end of the 2021-22 cherry season, the test seems to have been passed compared to the uncertainty that reigned at one point and that both the authorities and the Chilean agricultural and exporting associations took care to clarify, holding constant meetings with the Chinese counterpart, in order to establish action protocols.
The blockades of Chilean exporters and orchards by China during the 2020-21 cherry season alerted the national industry in the face of a new cherry campaign. China would tighten its phytosanitary controls on Chilean fruit, especially regarding PNRSV (Prunus Necrotic Ringspot Virus), and in view of this, it was urgent to know what the protocols would be both in our country and at our destination.
This is how the Chilean authorities, the Agricultural and Livestock Service (SAG), the Chilean Fruit Exporters Association through its Cherry Committee, Fedefruta and a group of exporters, began a working group with China, with the aim of defining how phytosanitary control would operate in the current season.
“At the moment there is a protocol that was worked on during the season, which was approved by Chile and China. This new protocol establishes control measures in China which are being applied at this time. They are being carried out by the different governments in China and the different entry markets are carrying out Covid and viral tests.” explained Víctor Maroto, Commercial Manager and Director of the Cherry and Marketing Committee of the Chilean Fruit Exporters Association, Asoex.
In Chile, strict protocols must also be followed both in orchards and in export plants.
“We have two different measures, one aimed at orchards, every producer must perform at least 10 viral tests, of which 9 Elisa tests must be negative and one PCR test must be negative; having these negative results, they must be uploaded to a website, which is reviewed by the SAG, and based on that we can have the producer authorized to export. Secondly, we have the tests that are done in the plants, which are carried out randomly every 100 tons that are going to be processed per day and must also be uploaded to the website. In case a producer is detected in an orchard or in the plant, this producer initially has a yellow card and in the second instance a red card. If this is in the plant, this batch that arrives with a yellow card cannot be exported to China and the producer strictly remains on the ropes for a second inspection, in case of having a second positive batch the producer is blocked for the rest of the season in China”, explained Victor Maroto.
In the event of a detection in China, the producer is immediately blocked. To date, there have already been detections of the virus in Chile and in the Asian country.
“On the registration and producers page there are already countless producers with yellow cards, some with red cards that are already blocked and in China the only thing that has been officially reported so far are 4 producers who have already tested positive and who are now blocked from export registration, which means that the fruit they sent before the date they confirmed to us can still enter China, everything that comes after the date they informed us, the producer can no longer continue exporting to China.”, Maroto pointed out.
Although there have been detections of viruses, the season is going quite well, considering that to date three ships with Chilean cherries have arrived in China, in addition to the air shipments that started the current campaign in November; probably, due to the large number of exporters, new detections will occur, however, the call made by the Cherry and Marketing Committee of the Asoex is not to be alarmed and to be responsible, both in the harvest and in the export process.
“We hope and have a lot of faith that it will be a calmer season. Today there is already a protocol and we can work more calmly. Last year, without a protocol, we were a little more blind in the way we acted. Today we already know what we have to do to avoid problems.” concluded Victor Maroto, Commercial Manager of Fruttita.
