In May, the European Commission will present its proposal for the Multiannual Financial Framework post 2020. In light of this, the European Parliament carried out a previous debate that resulted in the publishing of a document which, among other measures, requests an increase in financial aid to the Posei budget.
The European Parliament stressed the need to keep in place the measures to maintain production and expressly requested the resolution of the increase in funding aid for the Posei program (which supports European Union outermost regions facing specific challenges due to remoteness and insularity) prior to the Financial Framework of the European Commission. To this end, it asked the Commission to guarantee the necessary legal and financial framework for the food supply chain to combat unfair commercial practices.
The Canarian banana sector and its European partners continue working through Asprocan, together with the MEPs and the representatives of the different regional governments, to guarantee the sustainability of the agricultural sector of the outermost regions as a whole. In this regard, the sector hopes that the next meeting of the President of the Canary Islands Government as President of the ORs, with the top leaders of Spain, France and Portugal, will allow the sector to take a step forward.
According to a statement from Asprocan, this request to increase the Posei coincides with a new non-compliance with the protection mechanisms for community productions.
Banana imports from third countries to the European Union continue to grow as a result of the reduction and cancellation of tariffs granted to the countries of the Americas and Africa respectively, while the defense mechanism of the Community productions established in the trade agreements hasn't been applied since its approval.
According to information issued by the European Commission, Europe has imported close to 950,000 tons of bananas from third countries so far this year.
Even though we are only in the third month of 2018, Nicaragua has already reached 80% of the alert threshold for imports of bananas to the European Union.
According to Domingo Martin, president of Asprocan, "if, as on previous occasions, the measures are not applied, banana producers will continue to think its profitable to violate the limits set."
Source: laprovincia.es