SAG and ASOEX implement pilot program for the inspection of export fruits in the packing lines
In order to improve the export process of Chilean fruit, from this 2019-2020 season, the Agricultural and Livestock Service (SAG) in a joint effort with the Association of Fruit Exporters of Chile AG (ASOEX), are implementing a inspection pilot program in process lines.
“This pilot program that we are implementing this season, seeks to improve and facilitate the fruit export process. As SAG we are constantly looking for a way to improve our processes, and this is one way of doing so ”, stated Horacio Bórquez, SAG Director.
In the same area, Rodrigo Astete, Head of the Division of Agricultural and Forest Protection of SAG, commented: “This year we start with an innovation, through which we seek to adapt the inspection to the logistics of the companies. For which, we have agreed with ASOEX to implement a pilot program that we are carrying out in 13 companies, in the Metropolitan, O'Higgins and Maule regions. In these regions, and in the companies that wanted to join this pilot, we are implementing an entire inspection system, where a random sample is taken with the automatic systems that the company has for review. There is a SAG official who is there, evaluating the lots before they are packed.
"Our goal is to evaluate this pilot program, in order to implement this system as an inspection methodology," added Astete
For his part, the President of ASOEX, Ronald Bown Fernández, along with evaluating the initiative, explained: “This season we are together with SAG, implementing a pilot program in a group of fruit plants, to inspect the fruit in the process line. . We are starting with blueberries and cherries, and then we are going to implement other fruits. We believe this methodology has various benefits for the export process, such as preserving the quality of the fruit, not having to break the pallets, greater efficiency and capacity of refrigerators, as well as greater speed in dispatches, among others ”.
Likewise, Bown reported that "in parallel with this pilot, we are evaluating, together with SAG, the viability of being able to issue Phytosanitary Certificates in fruit plants, all in order to make the export process more efficient."
It should be noted that this pilot program was presented to the members of the Plant Health Committee (COSAVE) of the Southern Cone, who recently visited Chile, who had positive expressions about the methodology, since this type of innovative initiatives are the ones that are sought within of the agricultural sector and the region.
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