Brazil opens market to Egypt strawberry seedlings

The Agricultural Defense Secretariat, under the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock of Brazil, published an ordinance on Thursday (13) in the Official Gazette establishing the phytosanitary requirements for Brazil to import strawberry seedlings from Egypt. With these regulations now in effect, the Brazilian market is open to the Arab country in this sector.

This certificate must include declarations that the seedlings are free from the following pests: Naphothrips obscurus, Eutetranychus orientalis, Gryllotalpa gryllotalpa, Limothrips cerealium, Otiorhynchus sulcatus, Scirtothrips aurantii, Spodoptera exigua, Spodoptera littoralis, Thrips angusticeps and Thrips hawaiiensis, Erwinia amylovora, Monilinia fructigena, Nepovirus arabis, Nepovirus lycopersici, Phytophthora fragariae and Stralarivirus fragariae, always in accordance with laboratory results.

The ordinance also stipulates that the products are subject to inspection at the point of entry, as well as sample collection for phytosanitary analysis in accredited laboratories. The cost of sending the samples and conducting the phytosanitary analysis will be the responsibility of the party interested in selling the product.

“In the event of interception of a quarantine pest or a pest that poses quarantine potential for Brazil, the shipment will be destroyed or rejected, and the National Plant Protection Organization (NPPO) of Egypt will be notified. The National Plant Protection Organization (NPPO) of Brazil may suspend strawberry plant imports until the corresponding Pest Risk Analysis is reviewed,” the document reads.

The importation of strawberry plants is included in the chapter on trees, shrubs, and bushes of grafted or ungrafted fruits in the Mercosur Common Nomenclature (NCM). It has an import duty of 2% according to the rules of the free trade agreement between Egypt and Mercosur.

According to data from Brazil’s Ministry of Development, Industry, Trade, and Services, last year the country imported USD 1.045 million worth of the product from Spain and Chile. As for frozen strawberries from Egypt, Brazil imported USD 25.07 million, more than double the USD 12.2 million purchased in 2023.

Source: ANBA

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