The Reuters news agency report, entitled: “How a Chilean raspberry scam bypassed controls from China to Canada”, set off alarms in the agrofruticultural industry and in Chilean public opinion in general.

The journalistic investigation ensures that, in January 2017, the Chilean Customs inspectors, due to a complaint, searched the offices of the company Frutti di Bosco, located in the center of Santiago. The investigation yielded the seizure of records revealed a fraud focused on raspberries.

Triangulation

In summary, it is about the shipment to Canada of frozen raspberries produced in China and re-labeled as raspberries grown in Chile, and certified as organic, taking advantage of the commercial pact between Canada and Chile, in force since 1997, which allows Chilean exporters to auto certify the origin of your products.

In addition, this agreement allowed the re-labeled raspberries to enter the Canadian market duty free, evading the 6% tax that applies to the same fruit if imported from China.

The move allowed the products to be shipped to Canadian markets and consumers in cities like Vancouver and Montreal, according to the investigation, and it is estimated that at least $ 12 million worth of fraudulently labeled raspberries were shipped to Canada between 2014 and 2016.

The industry reported in time

At the time, Ronald Bown, head of the Association of Fruit Exporters of Chile (Asoex), in a letter to Chilean Customs on November 15, 2016, asked that the complaint be investigated, noting how delicate it is for the fruit industry Chilean meant the crime.

However, it appears that Chile did not notify Canada of the irregularity, according to Canadian officials who say the alert did not materialize, even after the owner of Frutti di Bosco acknowledged that it had colluded with Alasko Foods Inc to ship the illicit products. to Canada.

The alert in Chile

Chilean Customs was alerted to something suspicious at the end of 2016, when they received a letter from Fruticola Olmué, one of the main packing plants located in Chillán, about 400 kilometers south of the capital.

The fraudulent operation was discovered when the businessman and current director of the Confederation of Production and Commerce of Chile (CPC) Juan Sutil, bought Frutícola Olmué, and as a result of the internal audit the warning signal was captured regarding the services that The plant had carried out for Frutti di Bosco, so Frutícola Olmué cut commercial ties with Frutti di Bosco on October 24, 2016, the same day it alerted the Chilean National Customs Service.

Industry claim

Juan Sutil's company, in a public statement, indicated that "those responsible for international economic relations apparently did not take action on the matter and to our knowledge they did not even inform their Canadian counterpart," adding:

“It is highly frustrating for Frutícola Olmué that in practice this very serious crime that motivated our complaint has gone unpunished and that justice has sentenced only one person responsible, with an absolutely absurd fine, which is not related to the gravity or magnitude of the crime committed , and less with the benefits that the fraudsters obtained from him ”.

Meanwhile, the president of the Association of Fruit Exporters, Asoex, Ronald Bown, told the media that "we proceeded to immediately report the incident to the competent authorities (...) considering that this situation was affecting the image of Chile as a serious exporting country” and adds:

“We demand that this be punished in an exemplary way with very strong sanctions, since, since there is a self-certification system, as is the case in Canada, it is the Chilean authorities that must ensure compliance with international commitments, for purposes to avoid damaging the image of the vast majority of exporters, as well as the country (…) we regret this situation that, although it is due to a specific event, requires more exhaustive measures to be adopted in this regard ”.