Canada's British Colombia (BC) Blueberry Council has said a recent government investment will mainly be used to facilitate market access in some important emerging markets.

Earlier this week Canadian ministers announced an investment of CAD$117,000 (US$108,900) to the grower representative body in a bid to encourage exports.

BC Blueberry Council executive director Debbie Etsell told www.freshfruitportal.com she hoped to increase exports by promoting the fruit both to visiting buyers in Canada and to foreign markets.

"One of the activities is attending trade shows in some areas and exhibiting our blueberries," Etsell said.

"Another involves holding incoming missions for buyers to Canada so they can see where the fruit is grown and how we grow it, and we will be working with inspectors for fresh market access for both Korea and China."

"China definitely [will be a big focus], and there's also India and the Middle East, which we just started to go into last year - I know that there's more quantities going than there were before."

The United Arab Emirates is currently the most important Middle Eastern market for British Colombia's blueberry exporters.

Etsell added she had met with ministers in China a few weeks ago and they had signed a Memorandum of Understanding, or MoU.

"We've got a MoU signed, and my understanding is the words that they used were 'expedited process'," she said.

Chinese inspectors are due to visit Canada in August to carry out a pest risk analysis (PRA). If everything goes well the Chinese government should then consider establishing protocols for fresh Canadian blueberry imports.

The Canadian blueberry industry estimated that upon achieving full access to China, the market would be valued at up to CAD$65 million (US$60.5 million) annually.

The BC Blueberry Council is 'still seeking clarity' on whether Korean inspectors will be coming this season, and whether the visit would be for a PRA or to consider drawing up protocols.

Etsell said work would also be made to gain a fully ratified free trade agreement with the European Union (EU), which would eliminate blueberry import tariffs to the region.

"That's something that we're looking forward to, because once that's ratified our tariffs will be down to zero. So we are definitely keeping trade initiatives in those areas," she said.

In terms of the biggest markets for British Colombia's blueberries, the U.S. ranks in first followed by Japan.

Etsell also said the future looked to be positive for British Colombia's blueberry growers, given the progress that was being made with potentially lucrative markets such as China and India.

"I think there's a lot of potential for blueberries. I know that a lot of countries are producing it, but there's this untapped population," she said.

"We get a lot of inquiries from China and India, and those two nations alone have such huge populations so there's a lot of potential."

The BC Blueberry Council represents over 800 high-bush blueberry producers and is responsible for 96% of Canada's total high-bush blueberry production.

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