The reason is that the production of these competitors, enters the European Union (the world's largest market) with zero tariffs; while the Uruguayan fruit enters the same market paying a 12.5% tariff on wholesale price. This situation intensifies even more when tariff preferences are lost, which increases the payment between 16% and 17.5%.
This year, the Uruguayan citrus exports fell by 20% and the biggest drop was in the tangerine sector, which recorded a decline in export of 13,000 tons, according to the Bureau of Agricultural Planning and Policy (OPYPA). As a result, the production of that country was in fifth place as an exporter, losing the third place which it occupied for the last 5 years.
This year, the Latin American bloc produced 6.49 million tons of citrus, a volume that represents a drop of 0.6% for 2010 and 17.3% from the 2007 harvest, according to OPYPA. Lemon production grew by 18%, grapefruit, 12%, although the orange, the most important sector, fell 8.5% and 6.23%, according to the publication,
Source: Lagaceta