The Office of the US Trade Representative announced that it will request the International Trade Commission of that country to start an investigation to determine the damage that blueberry imports may be causing to producers in some states. Chilean berry producers have indicated they hope that what is currently happening with exports from countries such as Peru and Mexico will not happen in Chile.
Regional Secretary of Agriculture of the Biobío region, Francisco Lagos: “Although it is true that the main berry export market continues to be the United States, the highest growth rates in recent years were in Asia and Europe, where new consumers were incorporated. In fact, it should be noted that Chile continues to diversify its markets.”
Lagos also pointed out that “blueberry exports led the agricultural sector in the Biobío region with sales of over 87 million dollars during 2019, according to data from Prochile, based on figures from the National Customs Service. For this reason, it is relevant to highlight that all the guidelines and sanitary safeguards for the future harvest are already being taken.”
Blueberriesconsulting.com quoted Alejandro Villamán, who represents a company that exports fresh blueberries, as indicating that what has appeared in the press regarding this situation, which is mainly experienced by countries such as Peru and Mexico, has to do with an alleged indirect damage that Chile could suffer, but that anyway, they trust that this does not happen.