Belgian pear producers can now export their produce to Canada after a four-year trade application was finally inked.

Motivated by the dire consequences of the Russian embargo which has severely damaged Belgium’s pear sector, European trade commissioner Karel De Gucht has been pushing to finalize an application to open new market access in Canada over the last few months.

According to the trade section of the EU website, the opening of the Canadian market will bring welcome relief to the Belgian pear sector; an industry that previously supplied 40% of its annual export of 250,000 metric tons (MT) to the Russian market.

In particular, for many years Belgium has exported the Conference variety to Russia where it has been a big hit amongst consumers.

The website also says the move comes 'after a direct intervention from the European Trade Commissioner Karel De Gucht in Ottawa at the end of September and a joint effort by the Belgian industry and the Belgian government', and provides a solution for the 2014 harvest.

It says similar approvals already exist for French, Italian, Portuguese and Spanish producers.

From now on and for a trial period, Canadian authorities will check all imports of Belgian pears at Canadian border controls.

"All Member States interested to export fruit and vegetable to Canada must undergo a long and tedious approval process, one by one. Belgium filed an application for export with Canadian authorities in 2010," says the website.

"To evaluate the Belgian application, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency undertook a detailed pest risk assessment even though trade in fruit from nearby orchards in France and the Netherlands had already been approved.

"On the basis of this assessment, detailed protocols had to be agreed between the parties to exclude any risks to Canadian domestic horticulture."

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