Chile and the General Administration of Customs of China (GACC) have signed an agreement to improve the entry conditions for Chilean fresh fruit into the Chinese market. This protocol introduces complementary phytosanitary and logistical measures aimed at speeding up exports and strengthening the competitiveness of the national fruit sector ahead of the next campaign.
The signing took place in the city of Dalian, within the framework of the visit by Chilean authorities to Asia and the activities leading up to the APEC leaders’ summit. The agreement was signed by the Undersecretary of Agriculture, Francesco Venezian, and China’s Vice Minister of Customs, Zhang Baofeng.
Also present at the meeting were Gabriel Layseca, head of the International Affairs Department at Odepa; Chile’s agricultural attaché in China, Llacolén Lefever; the general manager of Frutas de Chile, Miguel Canala-Echeverría; the president of ChileCarne, Juan Carlos Domínguez; and the general manager of Faenacar, Rafael Lecaros.
Fewer restrictions and greater operational efficiency
The Undersecretary of Agriculture, Francesco Venezian, stressed that the agreement will make it possible to make export processes more flexible and efficient, as well as cold treatments for Chilean fruit bound for China.
“We held meetings with our counterparts, the officials responsible for China Customs, who manage the information and facilitate the entry of national products into that country. Following this meeting, we managed to sign an agreement that makes export processes and cold treatments for our fruit from Chile to China more flexible and efficient, as well as the conditions for areas that are currently under certain restrictions, which will be analysed over the coming months,” he said.
Venezian added that these measures will help Chile’s export sector reach the Chinese market “in a better, faster way and with fewer restrictions”.
Cold treatments, cargo holds and documentation
From Frutas de Chile, Miguel Canala-Echeverría underlined that the protocol represents a direct step forward in simplifying critical processes for fresh fruit exports.
According to him, the agreement includes the expansion of temperature ranges for in-transit cold treatments for all species, the authorisation of exports in vessel cargo holds, the simplification of SAG inspection certificates that accompany pallets, and a more agile operating framework for the movement of cherries and stone fruit between areas under quarantine.
Canala-Echeverría also highlighted the positive attitude shown by the Chinese authorities towards reviewing Chile’s proposal regarding the quarantine radii associated with fruit fly, a matter that will continue to undergo technical evaluation.
Customs cooperation between Chile and China
In parallel with the phytosanitary agreement for Chilean fruit, a Memorandum of Understanding was also signed between the National Customs Service of Chile and the General Administration of Customs of China.
This document seeks to strengthen cooperation between the Valparaíso Regional Customs Directorate and the Shenzhen Customs District, in a context in which customs coordination is becoming increasingly important for facilitating trade in perishable products.
Agenda in Asia and new markets
The visit will continue in Shenzhen and Hangzhou, where, on 24 and 25 August, the delegation will take part in the APEC 2026 Food Security Ministerial Meeting. The agenda also includes bilateral meetings with authorities from economies such as South Korea and the Philippines, focused on sanitary and phytosanitary matters, market access and technical cooperation.
Between 26 and 28 August, the tour will continue in Vietnam and Indonesia. In Vietnam, the meetings will focus on sanitary conditions for exports of cherries by air and on market access for beef, pork and poultry, live cattle and fresh fruit.
In Indonesia, the delegation will hold meetings with the Ministry of Agriculture, the Ministry of Trade and the Indonesian Quarantine Agency (IQA). Among the objectives is progress towards recognition of Chile as a country free of fruit fly and the agreement of a date for a visit by Indonesian inspectors to Chile, which is necessary to continue market access procedures for beef, live cattle, dairy products and pork.
Time, a key factor for fresh fruit
The Chilean delegation also took part in the APEC Customs Business Dialogue 2026, held in Dalian on 20 and 21 August, with the participation of the GACC and more than 230 representatives from customs authorities, government bodies, international organisations, companies and academia from APEC economies.
During the meeting, issues such as supply chain security, artificial intelligence applications and customs supervision of cross-border e-commerce were discussed.
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For Miguel Canala-Echeverría, Frutas de Chile’s participation made it possible to bring to the table the specific needs of trade in perishable products. “In relation to the perishable products sector, the shared strategic premise was: time is quality. Each additional day at the border reduces the shelf life, condition and commercial value of products such as fresh fruit,” he said.
The executive explained that the objective is not only to speed up customs processes, but to build a chain in which phytosanitary, commercial and logistical information arrives before the fruit, is validated only once and allows the level of control to be decided with better background information.
Digitalisation and paperless trade
During the APEC dialogue sessions, international experiences linked to advance management were presented. These included the experience of CCIC between China and Vietnam, which reduced clearance times from five days to one through pre-inspection, traceability and integration with Single Window.
Origin certification models such as Zespri’s in New Zealand were also analysed, along with Smart Customs and ePhyto initiatives presented by Tianjin Customs, as well as paperless trade schemes implemented by Peru with TradeWaltz.
In addition, Rodrigo Gallardo, secretary general of Frutas de Chile, took part in the APEC High-Level Public-Private Dialogue, where he presented the experience of the Chilean fruit industry in digital transformation, traceability, logistics and trade facilitation.
Contact with Chinese retail
As part of the visit, the Chilean delegation also held meetings with executives from the Beauty Mart supermarket in Dalian and the Freshippo and Xianfeng Fruit chains in Hangzhou.
The aim was to understand the situation of imported fruit in the Chinese market and the requirements of retail ahead of a new season. The agenda also included meetings with representatives of the Frutas de Chile office in China.
With this new agreement, Chile seeks to strengthen its position in one of its strategic markets for fresh fruit, moving towards faster, more predictable processes adapted to the logistical and phytosanitary requirements of international trade.
