La Unió de Llauradors stated that EU interceptions of citrus fruits from third countries with pests, up until August, increased by 41%.
As of August, there have been a total of 110 border rejections due to the presence of pests, a higher number than the 78 rejections there were in the same period last year. "This is due to the large increase in interceptions from Brazil, which has gone from 9 rejections last year to 58 this year, i.e. a 544% increase that highlights the risk of signing an agreement with Mercosur without full phytosanitary guarantees. In addition to the rejections from Brazil, we must also take into account the rejection of shipments from Argentina and Uruguay, which are full member states of Mercosur, and from Colombia, an associate country, which together account for 10 interceptions," they stated.
The farmers' organization highlights that, even though the bulk of South African imports begins in September, the African country already has 12 accumulated rejections this year, including 4 for Black Spot. "These pests detected in transit to Europe have caused the temporary suspension of their imports of Valencia Late oranges, which shows that cold treatment should be more widespread than has been established," La Unió added.
"To avoid these situations and the controversy that is now being generated by South Africa's possible breaches, La Unió proposes the implementation of a unified cold system for all imports and countries and that the community authorities have a single standardized criterion for all," they stated.