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Officials from Mexico’s Agriculture, Livestock, Rural Development, Fisheries and Food Secretariat (Sagarpa) are travelling to China to negotiate market access for Mexico’s berry exports this week.

Sagarpa’s Hugo Fragoso Sanchez announced the visit while speaking at the International Healthy Foods Forum in Mexico on 11 September.

Fragoso Sanchez said that market access for Mexican blackberry, blueberry and raspberry exports is expected to open by the end of the year.

The sentiment is one shared by many in the industry, with China expected to officially open to Mexican berry imports in November when Mexico’s president Enrique Peña Nieto is due to visit the country.

The Mexican delegation comes after officials from China’s quarantine department, AQSIQ, visited Mexico in March to inspect its berry plantations and packhouses ahead of further market access negotiations.