Representatives of fresh fruit export companies from the Biobío Region gave a positive assessment of the operation of the Unified Addendum Agreement, an initiative developed between the Agricultural and Livestock Service (SAG) and Frutas de Chile, which during this season was implemented in six export facilities in the region.
The evaluation took place during a meeting led by the Regional Ministerial Secretary (Seremi) of Agriculture for Biobío, Francisco Lagos; the regional director of SAG, Roberto Ferrada; professionals from the institution; and representatives of the participating companies.
Rodrigo Ther, regional head of Agricultural and Forestry Protection at SAG Biobío, highlighted that the meeting confirmed a favorable perception among the export sector regarding the agreement. He noted that the system made it possible to have inspectors assigned exclusively to the packing plants, making the fruit inspection and dispatch process more efficient and streamlined.
Ther explained that the Unified Addendum is a collaborative agreement that includes the hiring of support personnel to strengthen phytosanitary inspection work at fresh fruit packing facilities.
These inspections consist of the visual examination of fruit during the packing process, with the aim of certifying its phytosanitary condition and verifying compliance with the requirements established by destination markets.
He also stated that this mechanism allowed exporters to have permanent inspection teams at their facilities, enabling more timely and continuous service throughout the export season.
From the private sector, Cristian González, Operations Manager at Exportadora El Volcán Foods, highlighted the operational impact of this approach.
“This model helped us significantly and solved issues that had caused complications in previous seasons. Thanks to the agreement, we were able to carry out more than one inspection per day, streamlining the entire logistics process and allowing the fruit to arrive at its destination on time,” he said.
More than 2.5 million blueberry boxes inspected
According to SAG, during the season six facilities in the Biobío Region operated under this model, enabling the inspection of a total of 2,583,542 boxes of blueberries destined for markets such as the European Union, Russia, South Korea, China, and Taiwan, among others.
To carry out these operations, 15 inspectors were hired and assigned exclusively to the participating plants, strengthening the regional export sector’s response capacity and improving the efficiency of the export process.
