Phytosanitary protocols signed at official ceremony in Lima
Peruvian bananas and pomegranates will be the next products heading to China following the signing of a new phytosanitary protocol between the two countries.
The agreement, signed by the Minister of Agrarian Development, Vladimir Cuno Salcedo, and his counterpart from the General Administration of Customs of China, Sun Meijun, at a ceremony in Lima, gives Peruvian producers access to a market of more than 1.4bn consumers.
The Ministry of Agrarian Development and Irrigation (Midagri) said the signing of these protocols represents the culmination of a technical process that required years of joint work between plant health authority Senasa and the Chinese customs authority.
According to Midagri, Peru exported 148,000 tonnes of bananas and 28,000 tonnes of pomegranates in 2024. The Piura region accounts for 85 per cent of banana production, while Ica is home to 75 per cent of the country’s pomegranate production and exports.
Production is mainly in the hands of small producers, and Midagri highlighted that the new deal would reinforce the integration of small-scale agriculture into the global agricultural export chain.
“We have a wide variety of products that are ready for export,” Cuno said, adding that the opening of the Chinese market would have a positive impact on the reactivation of agriculture and the generation of new value chains for the country.
During the ceremony, Peru and China also signed a Memorandum of Understanding on sanitary and phytosanitary matters, aimed at consolidating technical and agri-food cooperation between the two countries.
