India has relaxed import regulations for Chilean avocados, blueberries and walnuts, removing the requirement they be treated with methyl bromide.
The move means the fruit will not be damaged in the process of being exported to India, according to Chilean Agriculture Minister Antonio Walker.
“This is very good news for Chilean growers,” he said. “We thought that the procedure would take much longer, but by removing the requirement for methyl bromide we can reach this market using the cold chain and phosphine, which is much more eco-friendly.
“Our goal is to keep increasing exports from our country so that the Chilean agricultural industry keeps growing and there are more companies exporting to international markets every day.
“We want to do with India what we have done with China.”
Chile currently ships almost US$180m of agricultural products to India – well below China.
The two sides signed the agreement at the fifth edition of ChileWeek in China.
India approved market access for Chilean avocados and blueberries in April 2017.
