recently signed a memorandum of understanding on the control and prevention of foot-and-mouth disease —as part of the efforts to achieve the export of beef and pork meat to the Asian Giant.
"This document seeks recognition of the effective system that our country has implemented regarding foot-and-mouth disease; besides, it ensures that we have the technical support and guarantee (required) to obtain permission to export meat to China," Manero emphasized.
The next step is for
China's technical delegation to contact the team from Peru's National Agricultural Health Service (Senasa) for official inspections, which will allow the South American country to be formally declared free of foot-and-mouth disease in November this year.
This will facilitate progress in negotiations to establish sanitary requirements that allow for the export of beef to China.
Meat exports to China could represent, in the medium term, sales worth over US$5 billion annually, which represents a small fraction of a market with a population of more than 1.4 billion consumers.
New products for the Asian Giant
As a result of the work agenda with China, it was also announced that during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum Economic Leaders' Week in November, phytosanitary protocols will be signed for the export of chestnuts, pecans, and frozen fruits (avocados, blueberries, and mangoes).
The Asian Giant represents the world's market with the largest population and a growing trend in its consumers' purchasing power.
Additionally, Chinese ports have the potential to redirect Peruvian cargo to the entire Asian continent.
Peru is one of the top 10 food suppliers worldwide, with annual food sales exceeding US$10 billion, making our country one of the most important producers and exporters of grapes, blueberries, avocados, coffee, mangoes, bananas, among others.
The sector's policy aims to continue opening new markets for agricultural products, with the goal this year of exceeding US$11.5 billion in sales to the world's main destinations, such as the United States, the European Union, and countries in Southeast Asia.