South Korea: They propose new regulation of pesticides in imported products
From the 1 ° of January of 2019 will come into force a new legal body that aims to impose new rules on the use of products containing pesticides in South Korea, one of the most important export destinations of the Chilean fruit industry of the last 10 years.
Preliminarily, it was announced that the changes will start from the new Positive List System (SLP) with which the eradication of the Maximum Residue Limits (MRLs) of provisional or temporary nature is planned, that eventually would be replaced by a definitive number.
The measure was announced in mid-August by the Ministry of Food Security and Pharmaceuticals (MFDS) of the Asian nation. And since then, different Chilean organizations have been closely monitoring the information and have even made some proposals on the matter.
Such is the case of the Association of Fruit Exporters of Chile (ASOEX), the Ministry of Agriculture, the Agricultural and Livestock Service (SAG), the Office of Agricultural Studies and Policies (ODEPA), the Economic Department of Foreign Ministry (DIRECON), ProChile and the Embassy of Chile in Seoul.
Miguel Canala, general manager of Asoex, explained that what has basically been discussed with the MFDS authorities has to do with the need to establish the "Import Tolerances" (IT) that would be applied in some combinations of fruit-ingredient asset commonly used in Chile.
On this, Canala said that it is very common for the South American nation to use sulfur dioxide (SO2) in products that are shipped abroad, so they look with concern that production sectors as massive as that of table grapes or blueberries, two of the most important in Chilean fruit growing.
"It is an issue that has been analyzed in multiple meetings that we have carried out with the MFDS authorities. That is why additional technical evaluations will be made, especially because in the European Union the substance is a food additive with broad tolerance in products, "said Canala.
Also, ASOEX spokesman said that SO2 is considered a fungicide for table grapes in regions of America such as the United States, so more evidence should be taken into consideration against the possible regulation of its use in Korean imports .
Canala spoke that in the case of Import Tolerances 724 substances have already been set, which were requested by different Korean chemical companies, and whose full list will be published at the end of September.
"The Korean authorities have decided to apply a "Temporary Tolerance" in around 700 pesticide/fruit combinations, which will operate until December 31, 2021 and whose list will be known next October and will come into force as of January XNUMX, XNUMX. next year”, explained Canala.
The figures of ASOEX Expordata indicate that 2017 was posted during the 2018-44 campaign. 517 tons of fresh fruit from Chile to South Korea. Of this total, 72% corresponded to table grapes, 8,8% lemons, 7,7% kiwis, 5,9% cherries, 3,4% blueberries and only 1,7% oranges.
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