Last Friday, Bolivia started exporting organic quinoa to China. The first 40 ton is being transported from companies in the Bolivian highlands to the Peruvian harbour Ilo.
President Evo Morales: “This is a historic day and unforgettable for quinoa farmers, as we are shipping quinoa to China for the first time.”
Morales visited ‘Sociedad Industrial Molinera Sociedad Anonima’ (Simsa) in La Paz to witness the departure of the first shipment.
Simsa is exporting 20 ton of red quinoa. The company Andean Valley will transport 20 ton of red and black quinoa, which is also called ‘the golden grain’. After the phyto-sanitary requirements have been met, 15 companies will be selling the product on the Chinese market.
The Chinese ambassador in Bolivia, Liang Yu, said the export of quinoa will strengthen the trade relations between China and Bolivia, and that this experience is essential for other Bolivian farmers to join the Chinese market.
A few days earlier, Clarems Endara of the Bolivian Ministry of Commerce said that the Bolivian participation of the China International Import Expo in Shanghai last November had helped the Chinese to get acquainted with this ancient Bolivian food.
Source: translated from www.biojournaal.com/article/9052233/bolivia-begint-historische-export-naar-china. Original source: www.xinhuanet.com