The regulatory authorities of Peru and Argentina, the National Service of Agrarian Health and the National Service of Agrifood Health and Quality, respectively; reached an agreement regarding Peruvian grapes and citrus exports.

Ariel Martínez (Undersecretary of Political Coordination of the MAGyP of Argentina), María Remy Simatovic (Deputy Minister of Policies and Supervision of Agrarian Development of Midagri) and Miguel Quevedo (National Head of Senasa) reached an agreement on the technical profile that grapes must meet and Peruvian citrus to enter Argentina.

The details of the meeting will be published on the website of the Argentine authority, where agro-exporters will be able to find all the phytosanitary requirements that allow them to start exports to the sister country of the south.

An essential requirement for shipments to Argentina will be the cold treatment that requires the processing of the Phytosanitary Importation Authorization (AFIDI) that will allow them to request from SENASA the necessary certification to start the shipment of Peruvian grapes or citrus fruits.

The profile of Peruvian grapes and citrus

Peruvian grapes continue to be part of the top of the most exported Peruvian fruits with a demand that in 2020 amounted to 1,046 million dollars, reaching a new export record in the middle of the pandemic, and exporting in the last season (2019-2020), 485 one thousand tons of grapes to 58 different markets, among which the United States, China, the EU, Mexico, Canada, Spain and England stand out.

On the other hand, among the most prominent citrus fruits we have mandarins, oranges, tangelos, lemons and grapefruits; that are sent to 45 different markets, the main ones being; United States, Europe, Canada and China.

The only citrus fruits that do not need a cold treatment for their shipments are Lemon in its Sutil and Tahiti varieties, which are not affected by the fruit fly.

Main exporting regions of Peruvian citrus

As main producers and exporters of citrus we have Ica, Junín and Lima, however, Piura and Lambayeque stand out for their lemon exports. Last year 265 thousand tons of Peruvian citrus were exported, the most exported being mandarin with 200 thousand tons, followed by tangelos with 29 thousand tons, oranges with 18 thousand tons and lemons also with 18 thousand tons.