The new withdrawal prices for sweet fruit, which the European Commission plans to enforce next March, will increase by up to 40% compared to those of recent seasons. (This increase is reflected in the table below, which contains the proposed prices and those still in force for the products withdrawn for free distribution or other ends).
At a meeting held this week in Brussels by the Social Advisory Group-Consultative Committee for Fruit and Vegetables, the Commission announced this proposal, which has already received a thumbs up from the Interdepartmental Commission, and will be subject to public consultation for 4 weeks in late October.
If no arguments against it are provided, these prices will become official before the start of the fruit season next summer.
Afrucat has rated this news very positively, as it is a response to one of the sector's big claims, and has stressed the importance of these increases and of having a schedule.