Given the prohibition in the United States of the entry of Spanish peppers, the Ministry of Agriculture has been asked to intercede with the U.S. authorities and address this issue with the utmost seriousness and speed. The goal is to prevent the situation from affecting companies that properly meet all safety protocols for the detection and eradication of the Medfly.
A few days ago, the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service of the United States (APHIS) announced a ban on the entry of Spanish peppers in the United States after presumably detecting various batches infected with Medfly; a situation that could severely destabilise the pepper sector in the province of Almeria.
In this sense, COAG Almería explains that, "all companies that want to market peppers in the United States must enforce a protocol for the detection and eradication of the Medfly which is yielding good results. It could be an isolated case, and for this reason it is very important for the Ministry of Agriculture to mediate with the U.S. authorities and find out where the problem is, and address it if it exists, but it is unacceptable for the measure to affect also other companies that will now face difficulties to market their production due to an unwarranted and magnified alarm, because this pest is not widespread in pepper crops in the province of Almeria."
The COAG believes that the Administrations should treat this matter with the utmost seriousness and speed to prevent "the prices and markets from destabilising further as a result of an isolated incident."
More information:
Andrés Góngora Belmonte
Provincial Secretary of COAG Almería
Tel. +34 619 301 754