Peruvian table grape growers and exporters will officially be able to send their fruit to China without tariffs in 2015, thanks to a free trade agreement (FTA) with the Asian giant.

Provid Perú general manager Sandro Farfán told www.freshfruitportal.com that tariffs have reduced from 15% to 3.9% since 2010, which has given direct benefits to the industry.

"There will be growth obviously because we'll arrive at zero. There has been a process that began a few  years ago with the signing of the free trade agreement with the country. China is currently our main market and with this favorable juncture, it will definitely continue to be so and will continue growing," the industry representative said, highlighting the market represented 26% of shipments.

"In general, all of Asia is now an important region for us. Let's say that out of the 10 main markets we send to, we have four that are in Asia: China, Thailand, Indonesia and Korea," he said, mentioning that the U.S. and Europe would also continue to be important markets.

The United States is the second-largest buyer of Peruvian grapes, however Farfán said the "tariff degradation" in China would bring better opportunities to continue growing volumes in the east.

"In recent years there has been a constant growth in [plantation] areas and new players have been joining, but I beleive the industry is now at a stage where it is mature and has to be focused more toward the future, thinking whether the volumes we currently take will affect prices in the end."

He said Peru exported 150,000 metric tons (MT) to China last season, and this year it expects a balance of 220,000MT.

The executive highlighted the country currently exported to 70 markets, however crises in the U.S. and Europe have led to a small reduction in exports.

"Thanks to the Asian market - that we have been working on and opening since years back - we have been able to counter all of this, and make it the main market for Peruvian grapes."

He said South Korea would also offer zero tariff rates for Peruvian grapes in 2015.

"We are also working on the opening of the Japanese market where we already have four years of doing tests, which we already completed this year.

"We expect that at the end of the year a Japanese mission will come to do test of origin, and that we'll be able to open the Japanese market which is the last big market where we're currently lacking."

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