This Friday (18), China received the first shipment of Brazilian melons after a bilateral agreement signed between the countries. About three and a half tons of frog skin melon, from the Mossoró region (RN), landed at Shanghai Airport.

The agreement that made it possible to export Brazilian melons to China was signed in November 2019, during a bilateral meeting between Presidents Jair Bolsonaro and Xi Jinping, at the 11th BRICS Summit in Brasilia, with the presence of Minister Tereza Cristina (Agriculture, Livestock and Supply).

With the arrival of the first cargo of fruit to the Chinese territory, the minister highlights the importance of opening this market, since the Asian country is the largest producer and consumer of melon. “It is an important milestone for Brazil. It is the first fresh fruit imported by China and the first country in the world to export melon to China, ”he said. The Chinese consume about half of world production. In 2017, there were 17 million tons.

The Agricultural Defense Secretariat of the Ministry of Agriculture emphasizes that the phytosanitary certification of China, negotiated for a long time, is a guarantee that the Brazilian melon is free from pests and undergoes strict inspections.

In January, technicians from the General Customs Administration of China (GACC, the agency responsible for plant and animal health) inspected melon producing farms in Rio Grande do Norte and Ceará. The two states are the largest producers of the fruit.

After the inspection, the Chinese body authorized the import of melon from the company Bollo Brasil, of the Bollo International Fruits group. The company is one of the largest melon exporters in Brazil.

The shipped melon was inspected by the Map teams on the farm itself. One of the measures to confirm that the whole process was done in-house and with the inspection of the inspector authorized by the Chinese government was the use of the Ministry's seal on the fruit packaging.

The Brazilian Association of Fruit and Derivative Export Producers (Abrafrutas), which also participated in negotiations to open the market, said it will support producers in logistical matters to expand sales to the Chinese, in addition to highlighting that melon production an activity with great potential for job creation.

In 2019, Brazil exported melon to several countries, more than 251 thousand tons. With the opening of the Chinese market, producers hope to double foreign sales, conquering at least 1% of the Chinese market. One of the advantages is that the Brazilian harvest coincides with the off-season of melon in China.