Franco Gandolfo, president of the Valparaíso Logistics Forum (Folovap) and general manager of the company Puerto Valparaíso, highlights that they always expect to be up to the demands and very coordinated to meet the cargo demand. “We have worked hard to make this fruit season important for our Port City and to stay in first place,” he says.

In the same way, Sergio Maureira, secretary general of the Association of Fruit Exporters of Chile (Asoex) points out that, despite the pandemic caused by Covid19, “we were a blessed sector, we did not stop at the pandemic” and making a A small balance assures that “if we take a comparative look with respect to last year, we had 7% less, but this drop has nothing to do with the pandemic, but rather with a more structural issue, where in general the export of some species has gone decreasing for two reasons, on the one hand, consumers are preferring new variables, and also for the replanting period ”.

The executive of the organization that groups Chilean fruit exporters projects that in the 2020-2021 season the winter rains make foresee better conditions than last year, and stressed that the industry has prepared for this reality by implementing protocols, health manuals and a step-by-step plan for the agrofruticultural sector, training human capital and redoubling the promotion of products in the markets, among other measures.

Chinese demands

Regarding the recent notification from the Chinese authorities, expressing their willingness to inspect the cargoes and their containers in the port before departure, in order to avoid possible traces of Covid-19 in food products, the leaders of Folovap, the executives de Asoex, representatives of Customs, the Agricultural and Livestock Service (SAG) and other incumbent officials, analyzed and evaluated the precautionary measure manifested by the Chinese authorities.

Controls on food products sent to China, both dry and reefer, will be strict and permanent. Non-compliance with the agreed standards or protocols will mean suspension of exports, which means greater severity for fresh fruit.

additional measures

In this framework, Franco Gandolfo states that "it is necessary to be prepared with all the additional measures that guarantee the safe arrival of the products in transit through the Valparaíso port system" and adds that the main objective of this meeting was to know what would be the restrictions that could be faced and see how each of the links in the logistics chain is preparing for this stage, and what additional elements should be implemented. 

“There was a lot of interest from our community to know about this, especially in this context. We have to adapt to this situation and to the evolution that the country's health process has been having. It is an activity that has to continue ”, he says.

Step by step plan

On the part of Asoex, Sergio Maureira assures that his main concern has to do with the only market that has placed special restrictions, "or has informed us that we have to comply with different regulations" and adds that "they are going to make revisions of all kinds of incoming merchandise, not just fruit ”.

Maureira highlights that Asoex updated a manual endorsed by the SAG that served as the basis for the work with the Ministry of Health and Labor, in addition to the implementation of the step-by-step plan for the agrofruticultural sector, where the SAG will have a role-related participation inspection.

Valparaíso is the main fruit exporting port in the country, concentrating more than 40% of shipments to foreign markets. In the recent season, it managed to transfer a volume of more than 1.1 million tons abroad.