China opened its market for Ecuadorian pitahaya after all procedures were completed for companies registered with the General Administration of Customs to start exporting in accordance with the protocol signed between the two countries, the Ecuadorian embassy in China reported.

This opening is not for everyone, but for the production farms and collection centers listed on the China Customs website, which are those that comply with the protocols required by the phytosanitary authorities.

The last inspection was performed by Chinese technicians virtually on February 16, which was the last of the eight stages of this process and in which they confirmed the implementation of the provisions of the export quarantine protocol.

The Minister of Production, Foreign Trade, Investments and Fisheries, Julio José Prado, indicated that the Pitahaya Sanitary Protocol was signed in China in 2022, and that now, after the work of various institutions, sanitary approval has been achieved in China for this product. .. that the country represented almost 100 million dollars in sales last year alone.

In addition, with the entry into force of the trade agreement that is expected to be signed with China, the customs duty will drop from 20 percent to 0 percent, the minister added.

Pitahaya has undergone an important development. In the last five years, export production has increased twelvefold. Thus, between 2017 and 2022, deliveries increased from 1,935 tons to 23,319 tons. Dollar sales also saw good growth, increasing sevenfold over the years, from $12.9 million to $99.4 million.

Ecuador exported the first container of pitahaya to Europe

The current main market for Ecuadorian pitahaya is the United States. 83% of the revenue generated in 2022 was from exports to that country. Much smaller amounts are sent to other markets, for example $4.96 million to the European Union; in Canada $2.70 million; to Singapore 1.67 million dollars. Fruit arrives in 58 countries.

This panorama is reported by the Ecuadorian Federation of Exporters (Fedexpor) based on data from the Central Bank of Ecuador. This year 2023 started with 15 million dollars exported in January.

Although the opening to the Chinese market is not general, it has positive effects for all manufacturers. This is the opinion of Remigio Villavicencio, who is part of the Pitahaya Agricultural Production and Exporters Association (Asopitaexport). He produces red pitahaya in Manabí and knows that Palora producers of yellow pitahaya will have access to China, but this helps regulate shipments from exporters and be competitive on price.

“Not everyone can export Yellow Dragon fruit to China, only a producer who becomes an exporter or an exporter who has crops. This closes the possibility that there are speculations, that any intermediary, any exporter without a social conscience comes to the producer to buy fruit and wants to export it, without first knowing the reality of the producer,” he said.

Overproduction is affecting the pitahaya sector, which is asking the government for a law to regulate this activity

He also comments that “sometimes Palora has to throw away its fruit, like Manabí at the beginning of this year, because of speculation, because of not opening the market.” And that is that the sector is going through price drops that Villavicencio assures become unsustainable when they are well below production costs, which are around 50 or 60 cents. “The grower was forced to remove the flower buds to reduce production and slightly match supply with demand.” Now the prices are rising, but he does not see encouraging prospects because the crops will arrive from Florida, Mexico and Peru, which while Ecuador sows 5 or 10 hectares, in that neighboring country they plant 100 and 200 hectares.

The opportunity for yellow pitahaya in China is expected to influence the coming months for red pitahaya. “As producers, we have a pest monitoring schedule for the Asian continent, we have been implementing it for almost five years. There is little left for red pitahaya because there is no demand for the opening of this market”.

This opening of the Chinese market for pitahaya was a coordinated effort between the Chinese authorities, the Ministry of Production, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Agrocalidado and the private sector, ProEcuador said, noting that the customs authorities of the Asian giant highlighted the joint work outside, as well as the quality of the quarantine and traceability management system , both on farms and in Ecuadorian pitahaya packing houses.