GEORGIA PORTS IMPORTS ON PRODUCE ON THE MOVE by Bill Stankiewicz, Supply Chain Exceutive

Peruvian Imports have been coming into Savannah’s Garden City Terminal on a regular basis with more shipments planned. With the new product coming into local warehouses more quickly, we will begin selling the grapes a few days earlier vs coming via truck from Philadelphia.

To obtain access to U.S. markets for a fruit, vegetable, plant, or plant product that is not already an approved commodity, you must initiate a commodity import request. There are 4 steps in the process:

• Determine if the commodity is an approved commodity or currently undergoing a pest risk analysis
• If it is not approved or currently undergoing a pest risk analysis, submit a commodity import request
• APHIS will conduct a pest risk analysis and an environmental review to determine potential pests likely to remain on the commodity upon importation and potential mitigations that may be required to avoid, reduce, or eliminate the risk of pest introduction.
• If APHIS determines that the commodity can be safely imported into the United States, APHIS will initiate the regulatory administrative process to seek public comment.

Plant Protection and Quarantine (PPQ) regulates the importation of plants and plant products under the authority of the Plant Protection Act. PPQ maintains its import program to safeguard U.S. agriculture and natural resources from the risks associated with the entry, establishment, or spread of animal and plant pests and noxious weeds.

• Commodity Import Approval Process
  • Stakeholder Risk Assessment Consultation
  • Proposal to Allow Lemons from Northwest Argentina into the Continental United States
    

Permits

• Organism and Soil Permits
• Plants and Plant Products Permits
• Transit Permit Information

Import Requirements for

• Craft Industries
• Endangered Plant Species (CITES)
• Fruits and Vegetables
• Plant Growth Enhancers
• Plants and Products Covered by the Lacey Act
• Plants and Seeds for Planting
• Regulated Garbage
• Wood Packaging Materials

Federal Import Orders

Accreditation and Certification Programs for Plant Imports

• Greenhouse-Grown Plants from Canada
• National Clean Plant Network

Savannah currently handles avocados, citrus and sweet onions from Peru, grocery stores will be seeing red globe grapes, & all of the category leaders from Peru.

Georgia Port Authority container terminal has 104+ refrigerated cargo racks plus an estimated 738 plug-ins for containers on chassis. At 24 container slots per rack, it has the on-terminal ability to power 3,234 chilled containers at a time. With more than 930,000+ square feet of private cold storage surrounding the port, GPA and the private industry have the infrastructure to support the continuing growing cold cargo business moving through Georgia, Logan said. Cold cargo business is growing in Savannah, and we will see existing facilities continually to be expanded. There is an additional 400,000 square feet of private cold storage space is under development.

Companies already growing their footprint include:

• Gulf States Cold Storage, currently 155,000 square feet

• Lineage Logistics I, currently 250,000 square feet

• Lineage Logistics II, currently 225,000 square feet

• Nordic Cold storage, currently 200,000 square feet.

• Portfresh Logistics, currently at 100,000 square feet

The grapes, are moved from Andean Sun Produce farms in Ica and Piura, Peru, are part of a U.S. Department of Agriculture program in which citrus fruits, grapes and blueberries are chilled for at least 17 days prior to entry into the United States. The cold treatment removes potential pests, thus reducing the need for pesticides.

By landing produce in Savannah, buyers can take advantage of much shorter and faster overland transportation to Atlanta and other major markets across the U.S. Southeast. The grapes are grown along the coast of Peru with early varieties grown in the northern part of the country and later-ripening varieties in southern Peru. Weather conditions in Peru allow them to grow and harvest grapes throughout the year, as stated by Edward Villar of Andean Sun Produce. The season goes from October to December in the north and from January to March in the south. Andean Sun Produce, based in Miami, is the U.S. marketing agent under the “Gold Cup” brand on behalf of La Calera and Talsa, two large Peruvian growers of citrus, blueberries, avocados, grapes and mangos. For their trial run on grapes, Atlanta-based produce wholesaler J.J. Jardina brought in the red globe variety, using the Port of Savannah to save time and freight costs. From Savannah we will have only a four-hour truck ride to Atlanta versus a day and a half from the Philadelphia ports.

Andean Sun Produce is the marketing company for the Gold Cup Brand of fresh Peruvian fruit and vegetables imported into North America. Their mission is to ship only the very best citrus, blueberries, avocados. grapes, mangoes and white asparagus, all grown on some of the very best farms in Peru. When it’s about quality, then it must be the Gold Cup Brand, & we will see more of their products coming into the Port of Savannah. Andean Sun Produce works with La Calera, they are part of 3 generations of growers and exporters founded in Peru in 1954. Talsa, is developing a new blueberry project. Located in Trujillo, the new farm will be over 1,000 plus hectares and will reach maturity during the next few years to establish Talsa is one of the largest blueberry producers in the world. Andean Sun Produce’s mission with the Gold Cup brand is to develop a long term relationship providing the highest quality produce to the customers they work with.

Best Regards,

Bill Stankiewicz

Supply Chain Executive

Savannah Supply Chain

Office: 1.404.750.3200

info@savannahsupplychain.com

C: Read more at: http://www.ttnews.com/articles/ & at http://andeansunproduce.com/