The Ministry of Agrarian Development and Irrigation of Peru reported that avocado exports during 2020 reached 409,022 tons, exceeding the 2019 campaign by 30% and reaching 34 international markets, in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to the Senasa registry, 31,145.02 hectares located mainly in the regions of Piura, Lambayeque, La Libertad, Ancash, Lima, Ica, Arequipa, Moquegua, Tacna, Huancavelica, Ayacucho, Apurímac and Cusco were certified.

The achievements obtained with the export of avocado are due to the hard work of small producers of family agriculture, who put a lot of effort to maintain their fields with very low pest populations, and the work of Senasa to guarantee compliance with phytosanitary protocols that Peru has signed with importing countries as demanding as China, Japan, South Korea, the United States, the countries of the European Union, among others.

The certification of the places of production has the objective of guaranteeing that the farmer carries out pest control tasks to ensure that these fruits destined for export do not represent sanitary or phytosanitary risk for the importing country. Certified fields have a unique place of production code that Senasa assigns to the producer.

Currently, Peru has a highly developed, technically sound sanitary and phytosanitary certification system, recognized by many countries that send professionals to audit Senasa's systems; one of the important components of this method is the traceability of the export fruit.

The country is prepared to demonstrate the traceability of export fruit in the face of any sanitary or phytosanitary problem that may occur in the international market. For this, it is important to know and maintain the identity of the conformation of each shipment with respect to its place of production of origin, throughout the export chain.

When fruit is transferred to the packing plant, the batch must arrive identified with its production place code and its respective referral guide, a document that certifies that the fruit has been moved from the field to the packing plant. To guarantee this information, the producer must put his name, ID number and signature.

It is the responsibility of the packer to include, in its traceability code, a number that is identified with the referral guide that protected the entry of the fruit to the packer and with the place of production of origin of the fruit.

Senasa inspects all avocado shipments to obtain a representative sample of 1% to 2% of the total export lot. Likewise, the inspectors verify that the traceability of the fruit is complied with.

In case the fruit is free of quarantine pests and complies with traceability, the shipment must be certified for export; otherwise, the shipment is not certified.

Exporters and packers are responsible for ensuring the traceability of export fruit; in case of non-compliance, they are suspended in accordance with the provisions of the current Senasa regulations and directives.

The only way to ensure exports and continue to position ourselves in international markets is by guaranteeing the health and safety of our export products.