Up until last May, agricultural exports to the United States totaled US $541 million, i.e. 15% more than in the same period of 2016. Fresh products account for most of the exports, but exports of processed food are increasing, said the president of the Association of Exporters (ADEX), Juan Varilias Velasquez.

Velazquez spoke during the New US Labeling Act workshop, organized by the exporting guild, the US Embassy in Peru, the US Food and Drug Administration, Trade Traning and Promperu, with the collaboration of Technological Solutions. The workshop was conducted to inform businessmen about the regulations applied in the main destination for Perus agricultural exports.

Varilias said that, even though Peru mainly exported fresh products to the US, such as asparagus, grapes, coffee, blueberries, and avocados, the country was gradually increasing its shipment of processed products in different presentations, such as preserves, snacks, flours, juices, sauces, and confectionery, among others.

In that regard, he said that it was essential for exporters become aware of the labeling regulations required by the US, which has a mandatory federal regulation. The FDA is the agency that inspects the intake of solid and liquid foods. "Failure to comply with the regulations leads to rejection of the product," he said.

Exports to the USA
According to data from ADEX Data Trade, between January and May, primary agricultural exports totaled US $ 30,126,000, i.e. 18% more than in the same period last year and agribusiness products with added value totaled US $ 511,555,000, i.e. 15% more than in the same period last year.

The main products shipped to the USA were grapes, asparagus, avocados and fresh mangoes, followed by coffee without decaffeination. Canned peppers ranked sixth, followed by canned artichokes, which totaled US $ 20,883,000 and US $ 20,326,000, and grew by 6.5% and 28.7%, respectively.

Other processed foods include canned mangoes and asparagus, packaged sauces, passion fruit juices, maca flour, condensed milk, evaporated milk, pisco, bottled water, juices, jellies and jams, malt beer, canned palm hearts, among others.

The workshop was also attended by the coordinator of Promperus Quality Management Department, Claudia Solano, who spoke about food labeling regulations in international trade.

The specialist said that there were a number of requirements that must be met by entrepreneurs wishing to export. "Those who already export know the importance of tariff issues. Each country, according to its own criteria, has different requirements or different quality and safety parameters and entrepreneurs must know how to comply with them. In this case, we want to provide consumers with safe information through the labels on the products," she said.

Meanwhile, the representative of the Regional Office of the FDA for Latin America, Gonzalo Ibañez, presented the general aspects of the US Labeling Law. "Some of the mandatory information items that must be included in the labels are the identity of the food, the list of ingredients, the name and address of the company producing it, and its nutritional information," said the specialist.