Because Panama lacks the certifications required by the U.S. country, authorities of that country are analyzing the possibility of exporting through certification in a laboratory in Honduras.
According to the authorities of the Ministry of Agricultural Development (MIDA), the U.S. authorities agree that Panama should certify the quality of the meat through analysis by Honduran laboratories.
Mieles Joya de Cerén began exporting certified organic honey to Costa Rica, and in the coming months plans to start marketing it in Portugal and Spain.
The Salvadoran company began certification in 2017, and after analyzing 4,000 hives in 87 bee houses owned by seven national beekeepers, was able to complete the process.
Saúl Díaz, regional director of Swisscontact, the institution implementing the project called Promotion of Competitiveness for Sustainable Beekeeping (Focapis), told Elmundo.sv that "... Of the 80 tons of certified organic honey, 60 will go to Costa Rica and in the coming months will be sold to Portugal and Spain. This achievement breaks the paradigm that it was not possible to certify organic honey as a small country, with conventional production systems, and opens the way for other producers to venture into high-value markets with differentiated products."
In Panama, the processing plant Union Livestock received the endorsement to market beef in the Asian country, and it is expected that the first containers will be shipped in late April.
At the end of last year, it was reported that the meat product plants that received the endorsement by the General Administration of Customs of China to start selling their products to the Asian giant were Matadero de Chiriquí, S.A.
After the approval of three beef processing plants in Panama by the Chinese authorities, it is expected that in the first months of 2019 the Central American country will begin to export its products.
The meat products plants which received the endorsement by the General Administration of Customs of China to start selling their products to the Asian giant were Matadero de Chiriquí, S.A. (Machisa), Unión Ganadera, S.A. (Ungasa) and Macello.
To verify whether they comply with the rules for exporting meat, seafood, dairy products and fruits to the Asian country, representatives of the Chinese government will conduct an inspection of several production plants in Panama.
As part of the Free Trade Agreement between China and the Central American country, it was reported that from October 22nd to 31st a Chinese government delegation will inspect food processing plants in Panama.
Companies exporting conventional pineapples labeled as organic to the United States have been denounced.
Companies who want to keep selling organic pineapples in Costa Rica's main market for agricultural exports say the act of sending conventional fruit labeled as "organic" threatens "... the prestige of Costa Rica in that nation."A group of member companies of the National Chamber of Organic Agriculture (Canagro) has filed a complaint against a pineapple company in San Carlos.
Reports in Nicaragua indicate that only five companies managed to obtain the certificate which will be needed from July 1st to export by sea.
The Superior Council of Private Enterprise (COSEP warned that a week before the rule takes effect, only five exporting companies have carried out the procedures needed to certify the weight of marine cargo when the rule goes into effect.
Nicaraguan health authorities have restricted access to products elaborated by the Costa Rican company Dos Pinos and two other companies for failing to obtain health certification for their processing plants.
In a circular apparently issued by the company Dos Pinos, the entity may have indicated to its customers that due to non-renewal of health certificates for the industrializing plant they may not be able to continue expending their products until the situation has been resolved.This is the version stated by Laprensa.com.ni, who also explained that the Country manager at Dos Pinos in Nicaragua, Oswaldo Gonzalez Quijano said in the document"... The measure taken by the Government of Nicaragua 'has no technical basis'."
Starting from June a pilot plan will be implemented to determine the weight of the containers leaving the country by sea.
The pilot plan will start in June and will be used to define the rules designed to improve the safety of merchant ships. The plan is currently in draft form. Nacion.com explains that the document "... is being analyzed by at least 20 companies and organizations, in order to receive comments and make improvements."
An announcement has been made of a new "Honduras Premium" label to certify the safety of exported fruit and vegetables.
In order to sell horticultural products that comply with food safety management systems, the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock (SAG), through the National Agricultural Health Service (SENASA) and the Foundation for Rural Business Development (Funder ) with support from the Regional Programme (USAID) Trade and Marketing Alliances, today launched the Premium Honduras Seal of Approval.
Certification processes in Good Manufacturing Practices in companies in the sectors of food and beverage and pharmaceutics will be financed by up to 80%.
Support for the program "Export to Quality" aims at improving the level of quality defined by companies in the food and beverage and pharmaceutical chemist, so that they can access markets in the United States and Central America, complying with regulations and standards of product quality demanded by consumers. The program provides certification in Good Manufacturing Practices through the development of specialized training modules and technical assistance given to participating companies for which the financial support of 80% of program costs will be provided and linkages will be made with other funding sources such as FONDEPRO and Bandesal to develop projects that improve the productive infrastructure of the participating companies.
The new version is optionally immediately applicable together with the current Version 4 and will be mandatory for all new and rectified audits from July 1, 2016.
From a statement issued by the Costa Rican Foreign Trade Promotion Office :
The GLOBALG.AP Board recently announced the introduction of an update to version 5 of its food safety standard Integrated Farm Assurance (IFA) for crops and aquaculture.
The country will present itself before the WTO to establish that the import of avocados will be subject to certification showing its precedence from zones free of Sun-Bloch.
The request will be made by Costa Rica through the World Trade Organization (WTO), whose Committee on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures meets this week. As part of that committee, Mexico and Guatemala had announced that they would initiate a mechanism of "commercial concern " over the restrictions imposed on entry of the fruit into Costa Rica.
On January 20 a sanitary protocol was ratified which enables the export of shrimp caught in Costa Rican waters to China.
From a statement issued by the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock (MAG):
During the visit by the President of the Republic, Luis Guillermo Solis Rivera, to China, ratification was given to signing of a sanitation protocol for the export of prawns, a prerequisite for the official opening up of the Chinese market for prawns caught in Costa Rican waters.
If it wants to compete in the big leagues of single-origin coffee, the Nicaraguan coffee sector must focus on getting designations of origin.
In Nicaragua there are five areas that are considered to be those with the highest levels of quality and these have great potential for certification of designation of origin and geographical indications. Competition for position in the demanding international market becomes fiercer if you do not have this certification.