The agricultural organisation COAG has expressed its “absolute outrage and rejection” over EU imports of infected citrus fruits from third countries, after the number of pest intercepts at EU ports was higher in 2020. According to COAG, imports from the lemon sector from countries such as Argentina, which has accumulated about 60 quarantine agency intercepts, a much larger number than in previous years, is of particular concern.
The organization has demanded that the European Union implement new and effective measures in the importation of citrus fruits, considering that existing measures are inadequate to involve access for pests and the long-term damage of citrus production.
Pedro Gomariz of COAG criticized the brake of the reaction and said that “measures must be immediate, forceful and effective to protect our crops from irreversible damage caused by pests or diseases”.
The agricultural organisation denounced the efforts of the EU authorities to liberalize the industry and granted concessions on the importation of citrus fruits to countries such as South Africa or under the Mercosur agreements, lowering costs on the European market, leaving Spanish and European citrus producers undoubtedly helpless. import hygiene is insufficient and existing measures are too lax and ineffective.
This dramatic is the duty of the EU-Community authorities, which have opened the EU’s borders to citrus pests and diseases, jeopardizing the fitness of European plantations.
Source: elespanol.com
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