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“How a Chilean raspberry scam bypassed controls from China to Canada,” is the headline of a report by Reuters which unleashed a scandal by denouncing an export scheme to Canada of these fruits labeled as premium quality organic products grown in our country, but which were actually inexpensive frozen berries of Chinese origin.
The case splashed on Juan Sutil, President of the Confederation of Production and Commerce of Chile (CPC), who in 2015 bought Frutícola Olmué, the company that made the complaint in this case after detecting the irregularities of its business partners, Frutti di Bosco.
According to a letter dated October 24, 2016 seen by Reuters, an internal audit of this firm raised red flags about the work that the plant had carried out for Frutti di Bosco, the company that is at the center of this commercial food fraud that spread over three continents, because it also shipped to States Kuwait, the Netherlands and the United Arab Emirates.
The document signed by the general manager of Frutícola Olmué, Juan Miguel Ovalle, reveals that he discovered that the plant had repackaged the imported fruit in plastic bags labeled Chilean organic, a practice that began under the company’s previous owners in 2014 and still continues. it was happening when the new administration discovered her, according to documents from the Customs investigation.
“It was so crude. It was all imported raw material,” he told Reuters Ovalle, who no longer works for Frutícola Olmué, a company that cut ties with Frutti di Bosco on October 24, 2016, the same day he alerted Customs.
The business was that conventional fruit represented as “organic” could reach higher prices in the Canadian market, taking advantage of Chile’s reputation for safety and quality, in addition to not paying the tariffs that this product should have paid in Canada.
The case ended with the owner of Frutti di Bosco, Cesar Ramirez, convicted last year of falsifying export documents to facilitate the scheme. Both he and his attorney declined to speak with Reuters.
Responsibilities
However, the case opens other edges. According to research by ReutersChile did not notify Canada that something was wrong, according to Canadian officials.
Further, Reuters he notes that “neither the Ministry of Foreign Affairs nor the Chilean customs agreed to comment on whether the country has taken new measures, in addition to those that already exist, to deter cheating and guarantee the integrity of its exports of agricultural products.”
He National Customs Service issued a statement this afternoon stating that “once the complaint filed in 2016 was received, it activated the respective control procedures, which resulted in the issuance of a conviction in criminal matters against a Chilean citizen, by a court Chilean justice system, which we must abide by (…). The investigation was carried out within the scope of our competences and with the depth that the case warranted, which concluded with the results described above ”.
Sutil’s version
In an interview with Emol, Juan Sutil explained that after acquiring Frutícola Olmué, an internal investigation was carried out. “When we did not square the origin (of the fruit), we made the complaint immediately, with the corresponding union authorities, to the Customs authorities in the corresponding channels,” he said.
In this type of case, he commented that “it is very important that companies do not throw the ball into the corner and when this type of thing happens, they report it immediately (…) That is the way to act ethically, responsibly and transparently. I condemn to Frutti di Bosco and, judging by the article (from Reuters), to all who are involved. I condemn them and for something we denounce them ”.
Sutil nevertheless denied that the case puts the image of the Chilean food industry at risk and said that this scam is an “isolated case.” “This confirms the seriousness with which Chile acts, because there are other countries that the distracted do. Here what Chile is doing is that it is correctly denouncing these practices, and when it is denounced, it is possible to regulate and act better. “
Since Olmué fruit tree issued a statement indicating that at the time it denounced the irregularities to the National Customs Service, the Directorate of Economic Relations of the Chancellery (Direcon), Chilealimentos AG and the Association of Fruit Exporters (Asoex).
In this context, they declared that “it is highly frustrating for Frutícola Olmué that in practice this very serious crime that motivated our complaint has gone unpunished and that justice has convicted a single person responsible, with an absolutely absurd fine that is not related to the seriousness or magnitude of the crime committed, and even less to the benefits that the fraudsters obtained from it ”.
They also indicated that “it is equally frustrating that the Direcon authorities (Directorate of International Economic Relations of the Foreign Ministry), those responsible for international economic relations, apparently did not take action on the matter and to our knowledge they did not even inform their Canadian counterpart ”.
Meanwhile, the president of the Fruit Exporters Association, Ronald Bown, also indicated that “upon learning of the re-packing situation of imported frozen raspberries (…) we proceeded to immediately report the incident to the competent authorities, such as the National Customs Service and the former Direcon, considering that this situation was affecting Chile’s image as a serious exporting country“.
“As there is a self-certification system, as is the case in Canada, it is the Chilean authorities who must ensure compliance with international commitments, in order to avoid damaging the image of the vast majority of exporters, as well as from the country (…). We regret this situation that, although it is due to a specific event, requires more exhaustive measures to be adopted in this regard, ”he added.
Special session
In the Chamber, meanwhile, deputies PS Emilia Nuyado, Jenny Álvarez and Jaime Tohá They announced that they will request a special session on the case.
“The authorities of the Ministry of Agriculture and Customs must explain what happened and why so much silence was kept regarding these exports (…). These types of practices are very dangerous for our economy, taking into account that our products have a certain international prestige. The country image may fall apart, if it is detected that the products that are exported are not national and come from markets with less demanding sanitary barriers, “said the parliamentarians, who did not even rule out requesting an Investigative Commission to analyze this issue more in depth, because the national authorities they were silent regarding this finding, they reiterated.
According Reuters, the scheme reveals the ease with which potentially dangerous and mislabeled products can bypass global health and customs agencies, even as authorities around the world strive to ensure that food entering their countries is free of a new scourge, COVID-19.
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