California avocados gained access to the Chinese market as a result of the China-U.S. phase-one economic and trade agreement, according to a report published on Agweb, a leading agriculture news website in the United States.
The Sunday report quoted a press release from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) as saying that both countries had signed protocols to allow the United States to export California Hass avocados to China.
For California Hass avocado producers, the USDA said, access to the Chinese market will be worth an estimated 10 million U.S. dollars per year.
Chinese and U.S. officials signed a work plan in April describing the standards California producers and shippers must comply with before they ship fruit to China, a statement released by China's General Administration of Customs on April 26 said, adding the USDA must set up a system to guarantee the products' quality.
China's agriculture agency has also published the import requirements and posted an approved list of California shippers to their website, the report said, those shippers can begin to export now, according to the USDA.
The California Avocado Commission (CAC) first raised the idea of introducing their premium avocados to China back in 2005 and have been steadily working toward an agreement that would allow them to obtain the required Chinese certifications.
"Our avocado growers had the foresight to look ahead to markets beyond the U.S. And China holds a lot of appeal due to the strength of its economy and the size of population," revealed CAC President Tom Bellamore in an exclusive interview to Xinhua last year.
Ken Melban, vice president of the trade group told Xinhua: "We see tremendous opportunity in the China market. The level of avocado imports going in from other parts of the world has increased exponentially year after year."
