| dc.description.abstract | The requirements for food quality and safety for imports are rising and
this is reflected in an increasing number of technical NTMs. In extreme
cases, non-compliance leads to the refusal of shipments at the border, representing
a loss of both the revenue expected from the sale of the goods
and the costs of their transportation. The objective of this chapter is to
analyse the implications of non-compliance with technical NTMs by assessing
cases of export refusals. For this, we focus on the case of Chilean
exports of fruit and vegetables to the United States of America (US). Data
on fruit and vegetables shipped from Chile to the US between January
2002 and December 2015 were examined, with cases of refusals of specific
products and the reasons invokedin such refusals being recorded. The
information was extracted from the US’s Food and Drug Administration’s
Operational and Administrative System for Import Support. To evaluate
the importance of refusals of this nature, we first related Latin American
countries’ share of shipments refused by the US to their share of all fruit
and vegetable exports to the US. We also assessed the economic value
of refused exports from Chile. To contextualize the results, details of the
composition and operation of the Chilean and US food quality and safety
control systems are given. Additionally, comparisons are drawn between
the situation in Chile and that in other Latin American exporters with regard
to the relevant public policies. This analysis shows that Chile has the
lowest level of refusals in the region, representing a negligible economic
value. This suggests that its public policy on quality and safety, which is
based on a system that promotes collaboration among agencies, might be
a key reason for the good performance. | |
