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Canadian Food Inspection Agency On-Site Assessment Report of Guatemala's Food Safety Control System for Fresh Blackberries, Raspberries and Peas - 2016
4. Background

The Guatemalan fresh fruit and vegetable industry consists of operations that range in size, complexity, and capacity. While some operations are large, modern, multi-national companies, others are small farm cooperatives with plots as small as 1/10 of a hectare and which lack basic services including access to a dependable supply of electricity.

Approximately 11 berry exporters and 42 snow and sugar snap pea operations are authorized to export product from Guatemala, representing more than 450 farms, storage and packing facilities. Of these, less than 10% of the pea exporters ship to Canada.

The sector has experienced significant growth in recent years with key markets including the United States of America (US), European Union (EU), Canada and Japan. The industry continues to actively seek opportunities to expand their current market access and the range of export-eligible commodities.

In light of 2 Canadian outbreaks of cyclosporiasis in 1998 and 1999 which were epidemiologically linked to Guatemalan fresh raspberries and blackberries respectively, the CFIA developed commodity-specific import requirements for Guatemala. Following the recommendations of Health Canada fresh blackberries and raspberries were restricted from entering Canada from March 15 to August 14 of each year. Wild blackberries and wild raspberries were restricted from entering Canada at any time.

In November 2012, after consultation with Health Canada, the CFIA's Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program modified its import requirements to permit the entry of cultivated Guatemalan fresh blackberries on a year-round basis. The import restriction for Guatemalan cultivated fresh raspberries from March 15 to August 14 of each year, and the year round import restrictions for wild raspberries and wild blackberries remain in effect.

Considering there was an outbreak of cyclosporiasis that occurred in the province of Ontario over the period of August 8 to October 15, 2015, that was epidemiologically linked to the consumption of prepackaged fresh Guatemalan sugar/snap peas imported via the US, the scope of the assessment was expanded to include fresh peas.

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