Latest black spot ruckus a storm in a teacup?

Press reports around the world claiming that the European Union (EU) intends to place a ban on SA citrus fruit exports to that destination because of the dreaded ‘black spot’ are utterly untrue, according to Justin Chadwick, CEO of the Citrus Growers’ Association (CGA). And such a ban would challenge one of SA’s larger export sectors. About 70% of the EU’s citrus needs comes from this country. And, according to the SA ambassador to Belgium Mxolisi Nkosi, global exports contribute about R6 billion to SA’s gross domestic product (GDP). “But the word ‘ban’ has never been used by the European authorities,” Chadwick told FTW. “All they intend to do is to include additional requirements, like inspection and testing at the SA end of the chain, in their phytosanitary regulations related to citrus fruits.” Indeed, these new requirements were already presented to the EU member states for comment at the end of April, and the southern nations (including Spain, Europe’s largest citrus grower) have blocked this proposal. “They felt that it didn’t go far enough,” Chadwick added, “so it will now be on the standing committee on plant health (SCPH) agenda for the end- May meeting.” This follows the EU having originally declared citrus black spot (CBS) a phytosanitary measure in 1993. What this meant was that it was included in a trade watch-list at EU borders. If any infected fruit was found in a consignment, then that consignment would be impounded. This only reduced the size of citrus shipments entering the EU, and in no way led to a total ban. But recently SA’s black spot has certainly caused considerable furore. It is various European farmers’ groups, like lobbygroup Copa-Cogeca and Spanish young farmers’ association Asaja, that have called on the 28-nation bloc to tighten controls on citrus imports from SA. And it was these EU citrus growers who last November coined the use of the word ‘ban’. They demanded that the bloc take immediate “drastic measures” to ward off black spot – such as a ban on imports from SA. And, in a letter to EU health commissioner Tonio Borg, Copa-Cogeca secretarygeneral Pekka Pesonen wrote that imports from zones with black spot disease should be automatically banned the moment six contaminated cargoes were intercepted. But, although the EU has taken note of this proposal, there have been no reports of it taking any such action. However, Chadwick added, the CGA would continue to work with authorities to comply with EU conditions, although obviously no official communication of what the revised measures would be is yet available. But, according to the agriculture department, they expect to be informed as soon as a decision is reached by the SCPH. INSERT & CAPTION The word ‘ban’ has never been used by the European authorities. – Justin Chadwick