Authorize new port for the entry of Chilean blueberries to the United States

19/01/2018

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA, for its acronym in English) confirmed that the Port of Savannah, located in the state of Georgia, was authorized to receive blueberries produced in Chile.

Prior to this announcement, Chilean fruits could only enter the United States through three regions: South Florida, Philadelphia / New York and Los Angeles / Long Beach.

The executive director of the Georgian port authority, Griff Lynch, commented that "Because the Port of Savannah is hundreds of kilometers closer to the main markets of the Southeast of the country such as Atlanta, the arrival of refrigerated cargo at Garden City Terminal means that the fruit will reach consumers faster, with a lower cost and cooler, since the total transit time will be reduced from three to seven days ".

The cranberries from Chile will now be handled in an environment controlled by PortFresh Logistics, located at 11 kilometers from the 95 interstate and at 24 kilometers from Garden City Terminal.

For his part, PortFresh CEO Brian Kastick said that "Sending products to a port that is closer to consumers allows importers to make the supply chain more efficient and reduce costs".

"In fact, Customers can lower their transportation costs in 1.700 USD per truck when using the Port of Savannah ", Kastick assured.

The Port Authority of Georgia is working with the United States Department of Agriculture and the US Office of Customs and Border Protection. to increase the amount of products and countries that use the Port of Savannah as entry point.

Also, blueberries are the last of the fresh products to be incorporated into the portfolio of fruits that are imported through the terminal, which includes mangoes, citrus fruits, table grapes, avocados, bananas, apples and pears.

It should be noted that the Port of Savannah offers inspection offices in the terminal for the US Customs and Border Protection Office. as well as for the USDA, streamlining the refrigerated cargo inspection process.

Photography: Georgia Ports Authority.

Source: PortalFruticola.com