Abstract

International commerce of fresh fruit is regulated by different standards and norms, some of which are obligatory and controlled by public entities and others which are voluntary, developed by global food distribution chains such as Global Gap. In Chile, since the year 2000 there have been initiatives to support the certification of private GAP standards to facilitate access to the most competitive and demanding markets. This case study estimates the costs of GAP compliance and their variability, and identifies the benefits and disadvantages of certification. Twenty six fresh fruit exporters from the central zone of Chile (O'Higgins and Maule Regions) were interviewed, 12 certified by private GAP standards and 14 not certified but who comply with Chilean sanitary decree DS No 594, related to the basic safety and environmental standards in the workplace. The results show that the cost of GAP compliance tends to be greater for non-certified producers ($ 308,095 Chilean pesos) than for certified producers ($ 166,105); the difference is produced by the implementation cost, and influenced by the size of the orchard. The main advantage to adopting private GAP protocols is the access to more and better markets (> 78%); however they also provide security for agricultural workers and final consumers. Producers consider the main disadvantage to be the increase in production costs (58.3% certified and 42.9% not certified).