According to the Citrus Growers Association (CGA), the clearance of hundreds of containers of southern African oranges that are already being shipped is uncertain due to ‘unjustified, scientifically flawed, unnecessary and disproportionate’ EU regulatory measures.
CGA chief executive Justin Chadwick said in his weekly newsletter that the EU Directorate-General for Health and Food Safety (DG Sante) expected South Africa to have implemented these measures on the False Codling Moth (FCM) risk management system before the South African National Plant Protection Organisation, under the Department Agriculture Land Reform and Rural Development (Dalrrd), had even received official notice of the new measures.
Chadwick said in his newsletter that in DG Sante’s correspondence they stated that Dalrdd “should have known what was coming”.
“We are unsure if southern Africa should have known due to the Minister of Agriculture in Spain tweeting about his political victory (he was tweeting even before the votes had been counted); or whether Dalrrd is meant to have a crystal ball that allows them to know DG Sante’s changed measures before they publish them,” Chadwick said.
He said that this charade was becoming ridiculous and threatened the clearance of hundreds of containers of southern African oranges that were already on the water.
Source: iol.co.za