The approval is expected to improve competitiveness in the face of an increasingly ruthless table grape market, the Chilean grape sector has said.

The Chilean table grape industry exported 64 million boxes, equivalent to 528,795 tons during the 2023-24 fiscal year.

The new protocol will be officially published on Thursday, July 19 in the official gazette of the executive branch of the U.S. government, after more than 20 years of negotiations between the two countries.

The protocol is still awaiting its official publication by the U.S. Federal Registrar and approval in the Chilean National Congress. 

The Global Grape Convention will be held Thursday, August 8 at the Casino Monticello Events Center in Chile and is organized by Yentzen Group.

Peruvian Foreign Minister Javier González-Olaechea Franco was in charge of signing the update of phytosanitary protocols for exporting Peruvian table grapes by air to the Chinese market.

The first grapes exported under the System Approach are expected to start in November this year.

The sector is looking at a total production of 62,5 million boxes, according to Frutas de Chile’s last industry survey. If realized, this would mean a 4% increase over earlier projections, which put production at 60 million boxes.

Chilean exporters and authorities expected to have the protocol approved for the 2023-24 season, but an issue related with the Free Trade Agreement between Chile and the EU is holding it back.

The United States is anticipated to absorb approximately 57% of Chilean supplies, equivalent to around 35 million boxes.