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Association of producers predicts that Asian country will be the main destination of the Brazilian fruit in 2018

India authorized the importation of apple from Brazil by means of cold treatment. An ordinance of the Indian Ministry of Agriculture, published in the Official Gazette of India, amends local pest control legislation so as to introduce the possibility of cold treatment in pre-shipment and in transit for 40 days in shipments of apples from Brazil. 

According to the Secretariat of International Agribusiness Relations of the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Supply (Map), negotiations with the Indians lasted for several years and involved, in addition to the Map, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Brazilian producers.

Brazil was already exporting apples to India, but it depended on the country's authorization to apply methyl bromide to the destination, a substance potentially damaging to the environment and restricted to certain situations.  The authorization was renewed annually and brought insecurity to the exporters.

"I am sure that by 2018 India will be the biggest destination for our exports of fresh apples," says the executive director of  the Brazilian Association of Apple Producers (ABPM ), Moisés Lopes de Albuquerque.

In recent years, the main destination of Brazilian apples was Bangladesh. With the withdrawal of the phytosanitary barrier, Albuquerque estimates, Brazil should have a significant increase in exports to the Indian market.

Production

Brazilian production for the 2016/2017 harvest was 1.3 million tons. Santa Catarina and Rio Grande do Sul are the major producers of apples, followed by Paraná. The South region produces 98% of the national fruit harvest.

By July of this year, Brazil shipped 55 thousand tons, with currencies of US $ 42 thousand. The main buyers of the Brazilian apple are Bangladesh - on average 35% of the total exported volume -, Ireland, Portugal, United Kingdom, France, Russia, Spain, United Arab Emirates, Netherlands, Sweden, Saudi Arabia and India.

Source: Portal Brasil, with information from the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Supply