U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack says Chile and Peru are poised to be regional leaders in addressing the effects of climate change.

Carlos Furche (left) and Tom Vilsack (right)

Speaking at a press conference in Santiago yesterday, Vilsack said his meeting with Chilean Agriculture Minister Carlos Furche touched on multilateral trade agreement opportunities, climate change and adding value to food waste.

"Since Chile and the United States entered into their free trade agreement we have seen a quadrupling of bilateral agricultural trade which is beneficial to Chilean producers and American producers, as well as Chilean consumers and American consumers," Vilsack said.

He said the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) would expand opportunities further with for the two countries' specialty crops in Asia.

"Asia is a place of an expanding middle class – it is a place where there will be consumers who are absolutely interested in the high value products and the quality, taste, affordability, nutrition, the safety of the food that is being produced here and the United States.

The secretary pointed to common ground between Chile and the United States in issues of the environment and agricultural waste.

"Given the similarity between areas of Chile and the United States that produce agricultural products, we do have a shared responsibility in working together to deal with issues of climate change as they impact and affect agriculture," Vilsack said.

"Finally we had a good opportunity to discuss how we might be able to add value to agricultural waste product, food waste and woody biomass that is produced in abundance in Chile and the United States.

"Converting that into new fuel and energy sources could provide a value-added opportunity in both countries."

Having come to Chile from Peru, Vilsack was asked how he would compare the two countries' agricultural development.

"Let me first say how impressed I am at the work of both Peru and Chile in expanding their economies and reducing poverty rates significantly," he said.

"I think both Peru and Chile are committed to looking at value-added propositions in agriculture and have great opportunities with the special crops that they produce.

"We need to continue to work collaboratively  together to address that emerging market, and then work collaboratively to address the issues of climate change; adaptation, mitigation, every country has that, and I think both Peru and Chile are poised to be leaders in Latin America in that effort."

When asked about Chile's preparedness for changes in the U.S. stemming from the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA), Furche said he was confident his country could adapt.

"The standards in terms of food safety and traceability are dynamic; in recent years they have been increasing gradually, so this is not a surprise for us," Furche said.

"We have the institutions to adapt with relative speed to the changes," he said, adding that while the new international food safety standards were demanding, they would ultimately help improve the safety of Chilean products for both local consumption and export.

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