Debate heats up over citrus export future

Belgian perishable expert Philippe Binard denied claims of protectionism and politics in the EU’s citrus black spot policy which saw imports from South Africa banned at the end of last year. “European citrus growers are not opposed to trade, but are acting from a very real concern about the impact of CBS on their crops,” the delegate general for Freshfel in Belgium told delegates at the third Cool Logistics Africa Conference in Cape Town last week. “This is about preventing the introduction of the disease in the EU and the related consequences that would include major treatment costs and related environmental impact.” In the meantime EU growers have called for the European Commission to step up its measures to stop CBS spreading to Europe. The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) is set to meet at the end of this month (March 25-26) to discuss temporary measures for the coming few months. Binard said the scope of those measures would in all probability depend on the “scope of assurance to be provided by South Africa” but there would be “limited flexibility”. “In fact, in the coming weeks I believe the debate is going to heat up even more. In light of the uncertain legal frameworks and the mounting policy pressure on the EC to monitor more closely for the disease – especially from the southern countries such as Spain – one could expect additional and stricter measures being put in place,” he said. While the temporary measures are expected to be announced after the meeting of EFSA in March, Binard said he doubted this would be the case. “I think the temporary measures for 2014 will only be available at a later stage but we can expect far more structural changes to be put in place with a much more dedicated approach by EU inspectors.” Vaughan Hattingh, CEO of Citrus Research International, said while there was no record that CBS had ever spread into another region via infected fruit, the South African industry remained hopeful for the 2014 season. He said while they were not able to make predictions around the outcome of the EFSA meeting, indications were pointing to increased stricter measures. “It is not what we would have hoped but we are ready to comply with any import regulations the EU decides on,” he said. The 2014 citrus season is therefore expected to be even more complex than that of 2013 – a year of upheaval as South African fruit was banned from the European Union amidst fears of Citrus Black Spot (CBS). “It is far from over and the worst is probably still to come,” said Binard. “It remains difficult to make predictions as to what can be expected and what will happen but early indications are that the European Union is not going to back down on CBS and South Africa is going to have to commit to compliance,” he said. “The solution lies in South Africa where there has to be a collective responsibility not to jeopardise the efforts your industry has undertaken so far. INSERT & CAPTION One could expect additional and stricter measures being put in place. – Philippe Binard