[photopress:logistics_coba_katy_sm.jpg,full,alignright]Oregon Department of Agriculture Director Katy Coba, seen here, is leading a western states trade delegation in Zhuhai in Guangdong to commemorate the opening of a giant food import-export center.
The first-of-its kind logistics center includes food-testing labs and office and warehouse space for Chinese companies that provide distribution services for perishable food imports.
The 800,000-square-foot facility in Zhuhai, a city in the southern Chinese province of Guangdong, also will provide display space for agricultural products from Oregon and other western states.
The food-testing labs are a joint venture between the Oregon Department of Agriculture, a private Chinese firm and Chinese government food officials.
Katy Coba said, ‘This facility brings together in one place all of the things necessary to help move food products in and out of a key marketplace. Oregon can greatly benefit by being a part of something that will be considered the place to go in China for a systematic, routine and predictable way to get products into this rapidly developing market.’
Testing protocol now has been agreed with Chinese officials, and laboratory equipment is being installed in the Chinese facility capable of duplicating tests done in ODA’s Portland lab.
Source: Capital Press