Colombian Hass will arrive in Korea from 65 new production sites

Key points

• Hass avocado is grown and processed in 2,836 hectares and eleven packing houses in the Republic of South Korea.
• The ICA and Corpohass coordinated the last mission carried out by the Korean authorities to keep this market open.
• Colombia exports Hass avocado to three Asian destinations: China, Japan and South Korea.

Audit and inspection visit

To confirm that Colombia meets all the agreed requirements for the country’s Hass avocado to be exported to South Korea, the ICA and Corpohass coordinated the audit and inspection visit carried out by the commission of – APQA- Animal and Plant Quarantine Agency, South Korea’s phytosanitary authority.

Engineer Yonhyeon Lee, representative of the Korean authority, participated in the technical tour that took place from October 31 to November 4. This team visited several crops in Antioquia, as well as fruit packing houses located in Risaralda, to finally enable 65 production sites (2,836 hectares) and eleven packing houses.

“This inspection is essential for our Hass avocado to continue to reach South Korea without problem and to consolidate in Asia as a benchmark of flavor and quality”, said Deyanira Barreo León, general manager of the ICA.

The visit verified the surveillance system for the 18 pests regulated in the Operational Work Plan (OWP) with Korea, such as Ceratitis capitata, Heilipus lauri and Heilipus trifasciatus. The phytosanitary certification system was also analyzed, from the official registration of production sites, packing houses and the traceability system, to the inspection and issuance of the phytosanitary certificate by the ICA.

“South Korea is one of the open markets for Hass avocados, along with the United States, Argentina, Japan, China, Peru and Chile. This confirmation of authorization, with which we went from 18 authorized production sites to 65, represents great opportunities for the Colombian economy”, said Jorge Restrepo, executive director of Corpohass.

The South Korean market, which opened its doors to the Colombian Hass avocado in 2021, has great development potential. So far this year, the ICA has registered three shipments to the Asian country, with 56.4 tons of the fruit.

As recorded by the ICA