The State Phytosanitary Service (SFE), of the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock (MAG) of Costa Rica, announces the opening of the pineapple market for New Zealand. The national production and phytosanitary certification systems, as well as the pest status and surveillance work carried out by the national authority, were endorsed by the counterpart authority of that Oceanian country, thus opening the new market for Costa Ricanpineapple. 

Costa Rica joins Australia, Cook Islands, Ecuador, Fiji, Indonesia, New Caledonia, Panama and Papua New Guinea, which are the territories that currently have authorization to export to New Zealand, without the need for a bilateral work plan.

The national fruit must be exported without crown and will need a pest-free certification, according to authorities. So far there are two companies interested in exporting to this new market. Exports are now open.

Costa Rica can currently export pineapples to 68 countries, including the United States, Dubai, Egypt, Iceland, Japan and the Principality of Liechtenstein, as well as the European Union. At the national level there are more than a thousand registered pineapple producers and 272 of them are exporters of the fruit.