The National Syndicate of Fruit and Vegetable Importers/Exporters of Saint Charles International (SNIFL) held its general meeting on Thursday 7th December 2017, chaired by Mr. Denis Ginard.
During this Meeting, the current organisation of the syndicate was reviewed, as well as the key points of the last campaign (1st October 2016 –30th September 2017). To recap, the overall platform (including marketing, transport and logistics) processes 1,766,000 tons of fruit and vegetables, and has an annual turnover of €1.95 billion.
"Certain points of discussion should be underlined, particularly the impact of certain regulatory changes on SNIFL business activity, which emphasises the need to be highly responsive.
Food safety is a perfect example of the complexity of the fruit and vegetable industry. In 2019, a new European decree will come into effect to strengthen phytosanitary inspections for vegetables imported from countries outside of the EU (on both the products themselves, as well as the packaging and wooden pallets).
Given the major role of Saint Charles International in importing Moroccan tomatoes to Europe, Perpignan has been selected as a pilot site by the DRAAF*to put this new rule into effect, starting from the 1st January 2018. SNIFL has therefore worked with the Chamber of Commerce and Industry in the Eastern Pyrenees,the Perpignan metropolitan area,the Prefecture and relevant administrations, in order to prepare for the effects of this change.
Denis Ginard, President of SNIFL
For example, it is likely that the International Inspection Centre will need to be moved to a more suitable building to maintain the flow of heavy goods vehicle traffic in the area (to recap, 3000 lorries drive daily to Saint-Charles).
Other points of interest include our membership to INTERFEL – the French interprofessional organisation of fruit and vegetables – as well asour participation in the National Food Conference. We also took steps to increase multimodality, attended preparatory meetings organised by the Occitanie-Pyrenees/Mediterranean Regionto create a Regional Logistics Cluster (which should be implemented in 2018) and worked on the development of the Saint Charles Quality Control, anticipated for the end of next year.
Finally, this general meeting provided an opportunity to focus on industry trade fairs organised by Saint-Charles Export: Fruit Logistica in Berlin,which is still the great international event of the fruit and vegetable industry, Medfelin Perpignan, which participants confirm was particularly successful in 2017,and Fruit Attraction in Madrid, which continues to grow and develop. An extensive project to seek new sales leads also took place in Germany during the 2016/2017 campaign, Saint Charles’ second-largest client country (after France), which once again provided an opportunity to promote our platform in Perpignan," SNIFL representatives said in a release.
Saint-Charles International is one of the biggest European platforms for marketing, transportation and the logistics of fruit and vegetables. Located in Perpignan, in the Eastern Pyrenees, it has an annual turnover of €1.95 billion, processes 1,766,000 tons of fruit and vegetables and employs 2,200 people.The produce is largely of Mediterranean origin.
For more information:
Anne Florin
SNIFL
Tel: +33 07 57 52 03 56