The September 11th attack
Latin export industries worry about ripple effect

By Toby Muse
Bloomberg News Service

SANTIAGO, Chile — Chilean salmon exporter Carlos Saa fears that the terrorist attacks in New York and Washington last week may end a boom for his company as the United States increases security along its borders.

The airlines that his company, Fiordo Blanco SA, uses to ship fresh salmon to the United States have warned that increased airport security will likely mean long shipping delays as inspectors take more time to check incoming goods.

"I am afraid that by the end of the year a lot of small and mid-sized Chilean salmon producers are at risk of disappearing," Saa said. "Because if you can't sell your product your cash dries up, and you go no farther."

Inspection delays threaten some of Latin America's fastest-growing industries that sell fruit, fish, flowers and other lucrative but perishable goods, which by their nature must be shipped to the United States by air. Rigid inspections may threaten the ability of Colombian flower growers, Peruvian asparagus exporters and Chilean fruit peddlers to get fresh products to customers.

"The U.S. Customs Service is at Level 1 alert, the highest, most intensive level of checks we have," said Kevin Bell, a spokesman for the U.S. Customs Service. The level one alert means that every container or vehicle is checked upon entering the United States.

"People are seeing a lot of lines when they arrive, but this is unavoidable given national security," Bell said.

For Chile, delays of salmon exports threaten an industry that generates $360 million a year and accounts for 12 percent of the country's exports to the United States, while Colombia's $600 million cut flower industry makes up 9 percent of its U.S.-destined exports.

"If the security measures become extreme, then a longer shipping process could affect the quality of the goods," said Peruvian asparagus exporter Alfonso Velasquez, head of Procesadora SA, which also exports artichokes, peppers and mangos.

Peru's export association, Adex, said the country shipped $41 million worth of fresh and frozen asparagus to the United States last year, along with $13.5 million worth of mangos.

While Velasquez worries about delays for perishable produce, he said his U.S. exports might increase, because "food imports normally rise during periods of uncertainty."

Colombian flower exporters, who provide 66 percent of the United State's cut flowers, are confident that they can overcome problems.

"The one benefit of having this terrible image of a drug-exporting country is that we're used to dealing with very thorough checks by customs, so we know how to handle it." said Christina Bueno, spokeswoman for the Colombian Association of Flower Exporters.

Flowers have become the fourth largest source of export income for Colombia, after oil, coffee and coal.

Other countries that have faced less stringency in exporting to the United States, such as Ecuador, might find it harder to adjust to such a change, she said.

"They should really analyze the history of flower exports from Ecuador and they would see there have never been any problems," said Gino Caicedo, the executive director of Ecuador's Expoflores, a trade group that represent 60 percent of the country's flower exporters. "They really should be more flexible with perishable products."

If kept in cold storage, many flowers can survive 10 days without wilting, said Bueno, who hoped any delay would be less than that.

"But roses, which at some times of the year are such a big earner, can only last about five days," she said.