South Korea will export tomatoes and grapes to the North American market starting in 2012 after meeting quality control and quarantine safety requirements, the government said Thursday.

The Agriculture Ministry’s Animal, Plant and Fisheries Quarantine and Inspection Agency said negotiations with the United States to ship tomatoes were successfully concluded last month.

“Farms that can meet quality control requirements will be checked by inspectors and be registered as exporters,” it said. “Actual product shipments will take place in May.”

The QIA said talks with Canada to ship grapes were completed in August, although the fruit will not reach the country until next year.

The latest agreements are expected to boost sales of fresh farm products to the two countries, which have sizable markets for fresh farm products.

Last year, South Korea exported $31.58 million worth of pears, radishes, persimmons, grapes and mushrooms to the United States, with shipments to Canada hitting $3.56 million. Shipments to Canada included such products as mushrooms, pears, radishes, persimmons and tangerines.

The quarantine agency, meanwhile, said it is currently engaged in talks with Australia and New Zealand so locally grown grapes can be sold to the Oceania countries.

The farm ministry, meanwhile, said the country’s food and farm exports surged 30.4 percent on-year to $5.29 billion in the first nine months of 2011. It said at this pace, agricultural exports may reach this year’s target of $7.60 billion from $5.88 billion shipped out in 2010. 

(Yonhap News)