The Citrus Growers’ Association (CGA) has confirmed that Plant Health Authorities in the Netherlands intercepted a consignment of South African citrus with citrus black spot (CBS) last week in Rotterdam. According to a source at the CGA, the European Union (EU) has issued a notification of phytosanitary noncompliance because of the interception. This is the first time this year that EU inspectors have detected CBS in fruit from South Africa. Last Thursday it was reported that there had been zero interceptions in the EU to date. The CGA source told FTW that the association had dispatched an expert and representatives of the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (Daff) to the farm from which the infected fruit had originated to investigate how CBS could have evaded the risk management system.
