The Onion Producers Association of Castile-La Mancha, Procecam, held a meeting last Thursday with the Councillor of Agriculture of Castile-La Mancha, Francisco MartÃnez Arroyo, to address the most urgent issues for the onion sector in the region.
At this meeting, Procecam showed its commitment to the crop's export, which currently accounts for almost 30% of the national production, although in the case of Castile-La Mancha the share is even higher, as 9 out of 10 onions exported by Spain are of Castilian-Manchegan origin.
The Onion Producers Association of Castile-La Mancha has asked the Councillor of Agriculture to request the establishment of an Export Inspection Centre (CIE) in the autonomous region of Castile-La Mancha. Currently, this region is the only one in Spain without any such centre, forcing those in the area to resort to CIEs in nearby regions. This puts exporters in a clear disadvantage, having to bear a greater economic cost and spending more time to arrange the export procedures.
Furthermore, Procecam has also requested the creation of a single Additional Declaration document for all regions to export to third countries in order to speed up the procedures at the border. The Councillor of Agriculture has agreed to sort out the issue as quickly as possible.
The Association has informed the regional administration about other projects to be developed in the coming months, such as the implementation of an interprofessional organization, a study for the implementation of integrated production for the improvement of the production processes or the various research projects in various fields.
Currently the region cultivates over 11,000 hectares of onions, representing over 50% of Spain's total acreage and produces almost 800,000 tonnes, which is over 62% of the national total.
Source: abc.es
