BUENOS AIRES: A couple of new import programs should make bringing Argentina’s blueberries into the U.S. a bit easier this season.
A U.S. Department of Agriculture pilot program launched Jan. 1 enables importers to ship blueberries from Argentina directly to Miami or Savannah, Ga., as long as they have undergone a cold treatment designed to combat the Mediterranean fruit fly.
And the Automated Commercial Environment single-window program from U.S. Customs and Border Protection should simplify the importation process by making information from nearly 50 agencies accessible through a single site.
Before the adoption of the USDA pilot program, Argentine blueberries had to be shipped into Northeast ports and then trucked to Florida or Georgia, said Nelly Yunta, vice president at Crowley Maritime Corp., Miami.
Having another port of entry gives importers more options for logistics purposes, she said.
“They can enter directly into Florida — Miami and Fort Everglades — and Savannah,” she said.
Crowley Maritime was part of a group that helped bring the program to fruition, she said.
The pilot program will give customers options other than congested ports up north and provide better logistics for cargo coming into the Southeast, she said.
The fact that Argentina blueberries have been added to the program is excellent, said Frank Ramos, president and CEO at The Perishable Specialist Inc., Miami.
“We’re always looking to have the U.S. government add our product lines to be able to come in to our ports,” he said.
The program affects only berries transported by sea freight, he said.
Since this is a pilot program, importers still are “testing the waters,” Yunta said.
If it proves successful and volume warrants, distributors may guide more business to the ports and perhaps set up additional distribution facilities.
The program should continue indefinitely, she said, “as long as we comply with the requirements.”
With the new ACE program, “the customs process is going to change a little,” Yunta said.
About four dozen agencies involved in imports — including the Food and Drug Administration,
USDA and Department of Transportation — are going to work out of a single system, she said.
“Everybody is going to see the same information,” Yunta said, “and make a faster, more clear decision on allowing an entry or not.”
There will be no need to send duplicate information to various agencies.
“We feel it’s a move to the future,” she said.
The ACE system will put all the government agencies under one umbrella, Ramos said.
“The goal of it is to facilitate communications not only from us to them but among themselves,” he said.
Some adjustments will have to be made on the brokers’ side, like technology upgrades and programming upgrades, he said, “but once everything is in place and all the kinks are worked out, I do think it will be a positive.”
There could be some hiccups when the switch is made Feb. 28, Yunta said.
“We’re preparing our customers to perhaps encounter some delays,” she said.
“By the end of 2016, ACE will become the primary system through which the trade community will report imports and exports, and the government will determine admissibility,” according to the CBP website. “Through ACE as the single window, manual processes will be streamlined and automated, paper will be eliminated, and the international trade community will be able to more easily and efficiently comply with U.S. laws and regulations.”
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