Maersk appoints new Svitzer chief

Svitzer has announced the appointment of a new chief executive as the AP Moller-Maersk subsidiary continues to expand its fleet. This comes as current global chief executive…

USDA restricts PACA violators in Illinois and Texas

As part of its efforts to enforce the Perishable Agricultural Commodities Act and ensure fair trading practices within the U.S. produce industry, the Department of Agriculture…

Authorization of standard requested by Spanish lemon and grapefruit interprofessional

On May 27, the Secretary General for Agriculture and Food, Fernando Miranda, chaired the 39th plenary meeting of the General Council of Interprofessional Agro-Food…

Importance of horticulture recognized in government’s freshwater decisions

Horticulture New Zealand says the Government’s decisions around freshwater recognise the importance of growing fresh fruit and vegetables in this country. ‘We applaud the…

Spain extends extraordinary measures for the hiring of temporary workers until September 30

On May 26, the Spanish Council of Ministers approved a royal decree law to extend the extraordinary measures to promote temporary agricultural employment until September 30, 2020 (originally, it was to remain in force until June 30). These measures will make it possible to guarantee a sufficient…

Accumulation of goods in Kuwaiti ports may lead to crisis

Kuwait is facing a new crisis due to the accumulation of thousands of tons of food products, goods, vegetables and fruits in ports and customs. This is due to the difficulty…

French emergency decree keeps American cherries off the French market

On 8 April 2020, France published its fifth emergency decree. It prohibits cherry imports from certain countries. These are countries that allow the use of the chemical,…

Chilean fruit exporters may present a copy of the certificate of origin at destination

The general manager of Chile's Certification of Origin Central Unit (UCCO), Gonzalo Salinas, stated in an interview with SimFRUIT that Chilean fruit exporters may present a…

Spain relies on European funds to adapt agriculture to climate change

The impact of global warming on the Iberian Peninsula is undeniable. According to different studies, by the end of the century, the proportion of warm days is expected to…

Maryland confirms first spotted lanternfly hatch of 2020

The Maryland Department of Agriculture has confirmed the first spotted lanternfly hatch of 2020. The first instar nymph of the season was reported by a department employee…

The UK will start applying tariffs to Canary tomatoes, cucumbers and bananas in 2021

Canary fruit and vegetable exports to the United Kingdom (an important market for products from the archipelago) could be affected by the new tariffs that the country will…

Myanmar & China to check out trade good delays at the border

The Myanmar and Chinese authorities say traders are incurring losses due to restrictions at border gates and that field visits will be used to attempt to resolve the issues.…

Bulgaria asked by EC to abolish requirement for more domestic goods in stores

The European Commission has officially asked Bulgaria to eliminate the requirements imposed on large food chains, according to which they must allocate more space to Bulgarian…

Statement from Tom Stenzel regarding USDA response

United Fresh Produce Association's CEO Tom Stenzel has shared the following statement regarding USDA's response to the Association's letter sent on May 11th: "We greatly…

Bulgarian fruit and veg producers want reduction of VAT

Economists' predictions that with the introduction of a lower VAT for restaurants, many other sectors would demand similar reductions have come true. 20 branch organizations…

USDA files actions against New Hampshire company for alleged PACA violations

As part of its efforts to enforce the Perishable Agricultural Commodities Act and ensure fair trading practices within the U.S. produce industry, the U.S. Department of…

Spain stops shipping mandarins and oranges to the US due to tariffs imposed last year

The good results obtained by the Valencian Community's agri-food exports in the midst of the COVID-19 crisis are unfortunately clouded by the definitive loss of the US market for the Spanish mandarins and oranges trade. Based on data from Ailimpo, the Association of Valencian Farmers (AVA-ASAJA)…

Labor costs in Spain increase by 30%

The agricultural sector has always been a generator of employment in Spain, and the coronavirus pandemic has made this even clearer in the face of the massive loss of jobs in other sectors, such as hospitality, tourism or commerce, whose employees have sought job opportunities in the field. In fact, over…

USDA will provide up to $2.1 billion in direct payments to specialty crop producers

As part of the Coronavirus Farm Assistance Program, the U.S. Department of Agriculture  announced that it will provide up to $2.1 billion in direct payments to specialty crops producers.…

Cambodia: Agricultural experts form collective to assist local exports

A group of agricultural experts have joined forces to form the Cambodia Horticulture Investment Platform (CHIP), intent on the “promotion of fruits and vegetables in the…

9 Murcian companies employ 5,500 workers

Fruit and vegetable production in Abarán, a Murcian municipality in the Vega Alta region, is an important source of employment for the entire region. Currently, nine exporting firms in the municipality –Frutas Esther, Frutas Torero, Frutas Maripí, Antonio Carrillo e Hijos, Félix Gómez e Hijos, SAT…

USDA to transition to faster online produce import permit system this fall

APHIS Plant Protection and Quarantine have announced that, beginning this fall, importers will be able to apply for and receive fresh fruit and vegetable import permits…

Greece eases border lockdown to get enough harvest labor

A group of lawmakers from Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis' party in April warned there was an "imminent danger" that a range of harvests could be affected by the worker…

Government measures regarding labor are not useful for summer harvests

To bring out undeclared work and to regularize those migrants from the "gray area" who do work, but in a clandestine way. This is the double objective that the government wants to achieve with the measure approved on May 13, 2020, as part of the "Relaunch" decree. It is estimated that about 200,000…

"The region has more than enough laborers to meet the demand"

Ahead of the start of the garlic campaign in the Spanish region of Castile-La Mancha, the union CCOO has asked employers to process their job offers through the region's public employment service, which has opened a job bank for agricultural campaigns where more than 6,000 people have already signed up.…

Underpinning fresh produce traceability by adding an extra layer of scientific validation

A New Zealand based scientific traceability company says businesses need to be aware of the risks of counterfeiting and fraud in fresh produce, as agricultural exports de-commoditise in favour of brand premium products. "Australian (and New Zealand) agriculture continues to grow in export markets,"…

New Zealand Budget 2020 boosts primary industries jobs and strengthens biosecurity

The New Zealand Government has invested $232 million to boost jobs and opportunities in the primary industries sector, including horticulture, as part of budget 2020.…

Andalusia sets the requirements to access subsidies for losses caused by ToBRFV

The Andalusian Ministry of Agriculture published in the Official Gazette of the Andalusian Board (BOJA) the requirements to access compensation for losses caused by the Tomato…

Norway and Finland reopen their borders to seasonal laborers

The Norwegian government has decided to allow certain overseas seasonal laborers into the country again. These are those working in the agricultural and floricultural sectors.…

Afrucat plans to bring Romanian laborers for the fruit campaign in Lleida

The regulations on international travel to Spain published on Tuesday in the Official State Gazette, which allow international travel for people visiting for work purposes and who are able to certify it with documents, have led Afrucat, the Catalan fruit business association, to arrange the arrival of a…

Indian state of Telangana to regulate farm cultivation with new policy

The government of the state of Telangana is all set to regulate farming to diversify cultivation and also to ensure that farmers don’t all sow the same crops. The new policy…

USDA files against against Hawaiian company for alleged PACA violations

As part of its efforts to enforce the Perishable Agricultural Commodities Act and ensure fair trading practices within the U.S. produce industry, the U.S. Department of…

USDA files action against California company for alleged PACA violations

As part of its efforts to enforce the Perishable Agricultural Commodities Act and ensure fair trading practices within the U.S. produce industry, the U.S. Department of…

USDA approved $1.2 billion in contracts for Farmers to Families Food Box Program

On May 8th, the U.S. Department of Agriculture approved $1.2 billion in contracts to support American producers and communities in need through the USDA Farmers to Families…

European tomato growers call for price regulation of Moroccan products

At the latest meeting of the European Tomato Group, which brings together Spanish, Italian and French producers, European growers expressed their unease with the massive entry…

"We might start seeing the impact on European imports in the coming weeks"

Freshfel Europe, the European Association for Fresh Products, has published an evaluation of the impact of COVID-19 on the fresh fruit and vegetable sector in Europe, which offers an in-depth analysis of the implications of the health crisis for each stage of the supply chain. The study highlights that…

Kiwifruit growers appeal after Government confirmed as culprit behind release of devastating virus

Kiwifruit growers, whose livelihoods were decimated when the Government let the deadly PSA disease into New Zealand in 2009, have today started the appeal process in the…

Norway wants to expand local fruit and vegetable cultivation

Norway wants to increase the Norwegian cultivation of grain, fruit and vegetables in order to make the country more self-sufficient. This became clear when agricultural…

US specialty crop industry highlights COVID-19 employee safety protocols

A national coalition of 64 organizations representing specialty crop producers sent a letter to congressional leadership earlier this week highlighting the extraordinary…

Get ready for deficits for 'extended period' - debt at all-time high

Finance Minister Grant Robertson has revealed that the New Zealand government will be running deficits for an "extended period" of time and its debt levels will reach an…

Donyanedomam

Uttar Pradesh: Mandi tax abolished on 46 fruits & vegetables

In the first ever major agriculture reforms aimed at providing different marketing platforms to farmers and saving their exploitation at the hand of big traders and middlemen, the Yogi government on Wednesday not only ended the condition of bringing the farm produce to state mandis, but also scrapped the…

UK: Concern about strawberry oversupply and lack of labour

The UK strawberry season is getting underway with the early glasshouse fruit already on the shelves. “We are well into strawberries and will start raspberries and blackberries the end of this week,” said Chris Rose at Asplins Producer Organisation. “Glasshouse strawberries have been going for quite a…

Freshfel Europe releases 'COVID-19 Impact Assessment' for EU fresh fruit & vegetable sector

Freshfel Europe has released its Impact Assessment of the implications of the COVID-19 pandemic for the European fresh fruit and vegetable sector, including recommendations…

European Commission adopts measures to support the agri-food sector

The European Commission published the latest package of exceptional measures to further support the agricultural and food sectors most affected by the coronavirus crisis. The…

Agricultural manpower requires a legalization of foreigners without misuse of vouchers

"From our perspective we have not encountered a dramatic situation on the manpower front. Of course, there is a lack of workers arriving seasonally from abroad, they do not come in sufficient numbers to carry out the work". So says Onofrio Rota, national secretary at Fai Cisl, of the agricultural section…

Italy and Indonesia sign Memorandum for Agricultural Cooperation

The objective of the Memorandum of Understanding signed on January 20th by Ministers Teresa Bellanova and Syahrul Yasin Limpo at Salone Agricoltura of the Ministry for…

"Without certificates, the trading companies could not export"

The activity of the Agrocolor company, which is dedicated to agri-food auditing and certification, has not stopped since the beginning of the health crisis. “We've been following our contingency plan from the start. We created it before the state of alarm began. Our plan defines how our personnel must…

Banana exporters oppose the creation of another tariff due to the COVID-19 crisis

On Monday, May 4, Ecuador's National Assembly will hold the first debate of the draft Humanitarian Support Law, which proposes exceptional contributions in light of the…

USDA PACA updates

As part of its efforts to enforce the Perishable Agricultural Commodities Act and ensure fair trading practices within the U.S. produce industry, the Department of Agriculture has imposed sanctions…

USDA files action against California company for alleged PACA violations

As part of its efforts to enforce the Perishable Agricultural Commodities Act and ensure fair trading practices within the U.S. produce industry, the U.S. Department of…

'Australian consumers are feeling more optimistic as lockdown restrictions start to be lifted'

Australia’s stringent lockdown has paid off with the country only seeing around 25 new cases of COVID-19 per day at the end of April. As a result, consumers are feeling more positive and although measures differ across states, the gradual opening of some non-essential stores signals the start of a new…

Argentina will not abandon Mercosur despite its exit from its negotiations

Last week, Argentina, the second-largest partner of the Southern Common Market that was created in 1991 (Mercosur), decided to withdraw from the negotiations that the bloc has…

Ukraine will not facilitate the chartering of flights for Ukrainians to work abroad

To protect the safety of its citizens, the Ukrainian authorities will not facilitate the chartering of flights for labor migrants until the situation with the global…

USDA PACA complaints and reparations update

As part of its efforts to enforce the Perishable Agricultural Commodities Act and ensure fair trading practices within the U.S. produce industry, the U.S. Department of…

Ensuring employee safety and planning for a return to the ‘new normal’

This week’s topic for the PMA Virtual Town Hall was workforce and talent management. Panelists discussed how the challenges presented by COVID-19 have impacted labor management practices across the industry and which of the new ways of working might last beyond the crisis period. There were three main…

PMA joins PHA in announcing COVID-19 Fresh Food Fund partnership

Produce Marketing Association’s Cathy Burns joined Nancy E. Roman of Partnership for a Healthier America for the closing of their virtual summit, PHA10: Accelerating a…

Romania asks the EU for increase in coupled support to protected agriculture

The Romanian Ministry of Agriculture has asked the European Commission for an increase of approximately 50%, up to 5,000 Euro per hectare, in the amount of coupled support for vegetables in protected agriculture, said Minister Adrian Oroș. According to him, last summer, when the documentation for the…

Albania will send seasonal workers to Greece

Albania and Greece, whose borders have been closed because of the coronavirus crisis, have agreed to allow Albanian seasonal agricultural workers to go to Greece by mid-May,…

"We would condemn ourselves to compete against very marked tax asymmetries"

Argentina's Government decision to stop participating in the negotiations of the Mercosur trade agreements, with the exception of the pact already made with the European Union and with the European Free Trade Association (EFTA), to prioritize the internal economy damaged by the coronavirus, has left…

Uncertainty ahead of Spanish fruit and garlic campaigns due to lack of laborers

In Aragon and Catalonia, the stone fruit thinning tasks are already being carried out, and the harvesting is expected to start in June, at which point the problems caused by…

USDA imposes sanctions on six produce businesses for PACA violations

As part of its efforts to enforce the Perishable Agricultural Commodities Act (PACA) and ensure fair trading practices within the U.S. produce industry, the Department of…

Multistate outbreak of E. coli linked to clover sprouts now declared over

On February 24th, 2020, Jimmy John's LLC reported that all of its restaurants stopped serving clover sprouts, which were linked to an outbreak of E. coli O103. On March 16th, Chicago Indoor Garden recalled all products containing red clover sprouts, also due to possible contamination with E. coli O103. Now,…

USDA announces $9.5 million in grants for specialty crop industry

The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced $9.5 million awarded to 11 collaborative, multi-state projects to enhance the competitiveness of U.S. specialty crops. The funding…

PACA reparation sanctions lifted on California business

The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced that Super HK HG LLC, d/b/a Hong Kong Supermarket, satisfied a reparation order in the amount of $4,774 issued under the…

How is the fresh produce sector preparing for the one and a half meter economy?

How is the fresh produce sector moving towards the one and a half meter society? Will working from home become the new norm? Is e-commerce accelerating? Will the supermarket become an even more important sales channel? We asked Roland Gels, CEO of Levarht, what long-term effects he expects from this…

Independent grocers New Zealand ask for flexibility to open during Alert Level 3

According to Horticulture New Zealand, the nation’s government has been asked for flexibility to allow more independent grocers and other food outlets to fully open at Level…

Italian fresh produce consumption at the time of Covid-19

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic is comparable to that of a war and could last longer than the crisis itself. We will need a long time, some are saying 12 months, to see an overall recovery of the market. Salvo Garipoli FreshPlaza talked about it with SGMarketing Salvo Garipoli, who provided some…

Retailers and wholesalers should buy national products first

Despite the Covid-19 health emergency, the fruit and vegetable industry has not stopped, and Donnalia, the Sicilian top quality fruit brand, is no exception. The government decrees, in force since April, have provided guidelines to ensure the continuity of supply in the fruit and vegetable production and…

COPA and COGECA ask Brussels for a solution for the European potato sector

The European storage potato market has been hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic and this will have consequences for other segments, both in the fresh potato supply chain and in the processing industry. Faced with this situation, the sector, represented by COPA (Committee of Professional Agricultural…

Governor DeSantis announces Re-Open Florida Task Force Industry Working Group

As Florida is starting to re-open its economy, governor Ron DeSantis snubbed Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried today when he announced the Re-Open Florida Task Force…

Spanish sectors in crisis are disappointed by the lack of an effective response from Europe

On Wednesday, the Commission announced 22 new measures to support the sectors affected by COVID-19, such as flexibility in market support programs in different sectors,…

"All ports in Ecuador are 100% operational, Ecuador will not stop exporting"

Pro Ecuador announced that the Ecuadorian fresh fruit trade remains open for business in spite of the difficulties posed by the global coronavirus pandemic. Harvesting, packing and shipping to Europe and across the world continue to operate safely, and as normal as possible under the circumstances. All…

EU Commission announces exceptional measures to support the agri-food sector

The Commission is taking swift action and proposes additional exceptional measures to further support agricultural and food markets most affected. The EU agri-food sector is…

G20 requests that the measures against the pandemic don't affect the food supply

According to a new report by the Global Network Against Food Crises released this week, some 135 million people in 55 countries suffered from extreme food insecurity in 2019, a figure that could increase this year due to the coronavirus. Given these figures, the ministers of agriculture of the G20 member…

"Spanish workers come one day and never come back"

Despite the fact that the agricultural sector has not taken a break during the state of alarm declared in Spain, providing an essential service to the population currently in lockdown, the situation is far from ideal. In addition to the structural price crisis that has dragged on for the past few years,…

Qatar extends fixed maximum prices for fruit and veg

The Ministry of Commerce and Industry of Qatar announced the extension of the fixing of maximum prices for the sale of fruits, vegetables, fish and seafood up until April 25,…

Don't waste any time protecting your IP rights in the international market

Australian growers and producers are being encouraged to register any new Intellectual Property (IP) and trademarks as quickly as possible, before entering international markets. David Bennett, Councillor (Intellectual Property) at the Australian Embassy in Beijing, provides advice for growers entering…

New Slovak agriculture minister continues to fight corruption

On 21 March 2020, Jan Micovsky was appointed the new Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development of Slovakia. Micovsky graduated from high technical woodworking school and…

"Fruit and vegetable sector - bet on your human capital!"

Elena Malkova worked in the Dutch fresh produce trade for no less than 25 years. She was responsible for Russia's exports at several trading companies. A burnout ensured a solid reflection. Coaching helped her out of the burnout, but she also left the trade. "I no longer developed as a person and a…

Ecuador will approve the trade agreement with EFTA

The plenary session of the Assembly will process on Tuesday the 21st the Economic Association Agreement between Ecuador and the European Free Trade Association (EFTA), or…

Land Bank’s default risks financial contagion and devastation for agriculture

Land Bank has warned debt holders of R50 billion that it is in danger of defaulting. The repayments in question are for its revolving credit facility, Land Bank cited a…

Tasmania remains fruit fly free

Fruit Growers Tasmania has welcomed news from Guy Barnett, Minister for Primary Industries and Water, that Tasmania’s fruit fly free status has been upheld. “The maintenance of Tasmania’s Pest Free…

South Africa in uncharted waters due to Coronavirus outbreak

With the outbreak of the Coronavirus in November 2019 in China, we as the South African deciduous fruit industry, find ourselves in uncharted waters. What seemed to be…

"Having fruit that has good storage capacity is key to face possible market flow slowdowns"

The latest Crop Report of the Chilean Kiwi Committee, prepared by Decofrut, states that, due to the complex and unpredictable season that the export sector is facing, it is key to have fruit that has a stable post-harvest behavior so it has a good storage capacity to face possible market flow slowdowns.…

Italy to legalize 200,000 migrants in the face of labor shortages

Faced with a lack of manpower in the countryside due to the closure of borders because of the COVID-19 crisis, the government of Italy decided to legalize some 200,000 migrants so as to guarantee the development of the spring and summer agricultural campaigns and the supply of the population. "The…

Ukrainian supermarket chains advised to sell fruit and veg in bulk

Supermarket chains in Ukraine are often required by local authorities to pack fruits and vegetables in disposable bags before selling them, even though such packaging does not…

US agriculture groups urge federal government to address water concerns

A coalition of 150 organizations representing water and agricultural interests in the western U.S. urged Congress and President Trump to address aging Western water…

Licensing requirements and deadlines set by PACA will not be extended or affected

In light of the ongoing financial stress caused by COVID-19, sellers of PACA Produce must take care to preserve their PACA trust rights by not prematurely modifying the terms…

Bushfire recovery on the agenda

Today’s announcement by the NSW Government of a statewide $140m bushfire recovery package is welcome reassurance that bushfire recovery remains on the NSW and Federal Governments’ agendas. The announcement follows the Prime Minister’s letter to APAL CEO Phil Turnbull this week that confirmed the bushfires remain a priority of…

Fruit and vegetable production in Spain has become 25% more expensive

According to estimates by the agricultural sector, the increase in absenteeism, the drop in hourly productivity, the increase in transport costs and the investments in work safety, among other variables derived from the COVID-19 pandemic, have caused the fruit and vegetable production to become between…

"Much respect for the labor migrants that remain”

The number of labor migrants working in greenhouse horticulture may only really become apparent when some of them were no longer able to travel to the Netherlands due to corona measures. “Luckily, they can still travel from Poland, but no longer from Romania, Moldova, Hungary, and Bulgaria”, says Richard…

"Business as usual is no longer an option"

There are currently no lack of visitors at Eosta, the market leader in the European organic fruit and vegetable sector. "The turnover is exploding and organic fruit and…

FEPEX requests support for sectors not receiving direct payments from the CAP

Last Wednesday, in the European Parliament's Committee on Agriculture, the Commissioner reported that the executive had received requests from agricultural producers, agricultural organizations and member states, asking for the quick activation of market measures under the Common Agricultural Policy…

"Most people in Spain seeking jobs in agriculture have no experience"

The measures approved by the Spanish Government to facilitate the hiring of people to work in the spring and summer campaigns due to the lack of foreign laborers have caused many unemployed Spaniards from other sectors and students to register in the job bank managed by La Unió de Llauradors. As stated…

Fruit and vegetable industry targeted for $2.7 billion in financial relief

On April 18th, the United States President and USDA Secretary Sonny Perdue announced some $2.7 billion in financial support targeted to the fruit and vegetable industry in…

EU fresh fruit & vegetable sector urgently requires additional financial assistance to avoid food supply crisis

Despite providing an uninterrupted supply of fresh fruit and vegetables so far to European citizens confined at home, the COVID-19 pandemic has continued to destabilize the…

Irish government to launch recruitment campaign for fruit pickers

The Irish government is set to launch a national recruitment campaign to advertise for temporary workers for the horticulture sector. It hopes to get a suitable reaction from…

Freshcare's Quality Standard opening up global opportunities for growers after benchmarking

The recognition of Freshcare's certification program by the Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI) reflects global best practice in food safety management and provides Australian growers and packers with better access to international markets, according to the team co-ordinating Australia's on-farm food…

P.U.M.A. project aims to minimize the usage of pesticides in agriculture

Dealing with pests or diseases in orchards can be hard, with growers looking to pesticides to solve their problem. The new P.U.M.A project aims to inform Turkish growers about the alternatives to using pesticides, saving the route of using pesticides only as a final resort. And so, the P.U.M.A. truck…

EU clears €2.7 billion to support EU healthcare sector

The European Commission proposed to activate the European Union's Emergency Support Instrument on 2 April to directly support the healthcare systems of the EU countries in…

Spanish garlic sector considers the measures to alleviate the lack of laborers insufficient

The National Association of Garlic Producers and Marketers of Spain (ANPCA) has expressed its deep concern about the lack of laborers for the upcoming garlic harvest in Spain, Europe's main producer. The autonomous region of Andalusia, where the campaign is expected to start in early May, is asking for…

"Up to 15% of produce 'will end up in the ditch' without funding to donate to food pantries"

According to Driscoll president Soren Bjorn, 10-15% of the berry producer's crop will "end up in the ditch" if the government doesn't provide funding to donate to food banks.…

California: Local leaders seek delay of new tomato inspections

Californian officials are calling for a temporary halt on stepped-up inspections of Mexican tomatoes, saying that federal inspectors who travel to Santa Cruz County for work…

USDA authorizes importation of 5 types of citrus fruit from China into US

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service is authorizing the importation of five types of commercially produced fresh citrus fruit from…

Canada: Cherry industry in British Columbia gets thrown a lifeline

British Columbia cherry producers are fully reliant on temporary foreign workers to help with everything from pruning and planting trees to harvesting. The ability of…

The Spanish fruit and vegetable sector has been working under exceptional circumstances for a month

Since it is considered an essential sector to guarantee supplies to the population, the fresh-fruit-and-vegetable producing and exporting sector continued its productive and marketing activity after the state of alarm was decreed on March 14. Adapting to the exceptional nature of this situation has meant…

Chile's citrus exports are expected to increase by 6% in 2020

The Chile Asoex Citrus Committee expects citrus exports to increase by 6% in volume in the 2020 season, amounting to 353,000 tons. According to forecasts, the highest increase…

Costa Rican perishable-product exports fall by up to 90%

The worsening of the COVID-19 pandemic in the world, which is hitting Europe and the US hard, has had a significant impact on Costa Rican perishable-product export. According…

New Zealand onion growers celebrate re-opening of Indonesian market

New Zealand onion growers are celebrating being able to export their world class crop to Indonesia again. ‘Indonesia has just re-opened its market to New Zealand onions after…

Growers urge Secretary Perdue to consider tree fruit in CARES ACT funding

In an effort led by the U.S. Apple Association and Northwest Horticultural Council, tree fruit organizations are urging Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue to consider the…

USDA PACA updates

The USDA has suspended the PACA license of Bucks Fresh Produce LLC, McAllen, Texas, for failing to make its records available for review. The firm violated the PACA by refusing to allow inspection of…

“Camaraderie in the fruit and vegetable sector is much needed, especially now”

Mickeal van Melis, CBO at Davis Europe, had his Eureka moment last year. He was at Fruit Logistica in Berlin. Two years ago, he noticed that most fruit and vegetable sector…

Singapore will promote urban agriculture to accelerate local production

The disruption of global supply chains by the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic has prompted Singapore, a country heavily dependent on imports of fruit and vegetable products, to announce new measures to accelerate local food production, including the establishment of urban gardens on roofs and terraces.…

No customs duties for import of certain food & medical products into EEU

During its regular session attended by Deputy Prime Minister of Armenia Mher Grigoryan, the Board of the Eurasian Economic Commission adopted Decision N 33 on approving the…

Spain approves urgent measures to facilitate the hiring of temporary workers

On April 7, the Spanish government approved urgent measures to facilitate the temporary hiring of workers in the agricultural sector, namely people who are unemployed or whose jobs have been temporarily suspended. This will allow them to receive their unemployment benefits and any other public subsidies…

Eucofel calls on the EU to reopen the Russian market to European fruits and veg

The FruitVegetablesEurope association (Eucofel), which brings together national and regional federations and companies from Spain, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Poland, and Portugal, has sent a letter to the head of Agriculture of the European Commission (EC), Janusz Wojciechowski, calling for Brussels…

Exports from Latin America and the Caribbean are forecast to drop in 2020

According to a special report on COVID-19 prepared by the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), this region faces the pandemic from a weaker position than the rest of the world. Before the outbreak, the region was estimated to grow a maximum of 1.3% in 2020. Now, a drop in GDP…

Corona crisis causes shortage of hands in German fruit and vegetable harvest

German growers are highly dependent on seasonal workers for the fruit and vegetable harvest, such as that of asparagus and strawberries, but also for planting cucumbers and…

Court of Appeal rules against kiwifruit growers

New Zealand kiwifruit growers have already indicated that they will lodge an appeal in the Supreme Court, after the Court of Appeal handed down its judgement on Thursday, finding that the Government is not liable for the losses resulting from the PSA outbreak that devastated the industry. The plaintiffs…

Australia: Essential fruit and veg pickers lack accommodations due to coronavirus

Australia’s fruit and vegetable industry has warned that crops may be left to rot in fields because of a major shortage of accommodation for backpackers who pick the produce.…

Spain will allow unemployed people and illegal immigrants to work in the fields

On April 7, the Spanish Government approved a royal decree to allow unemployed people and illegal immigrants to work as seasonal workers for the next few months, as confirmed by sources from the Ministry of Agriculture, given the critical lack of labor in the face of the imminent fruit and vegetable…

Members of Congress and produce industry urge financial relief for industry

United Fresh Produce Association and a number of industry partners have presented to the U.S. Department of Agriculture a comprehensive Produce Market Stabilization Program to…

New Zealanders are picking up the jobs in horticulture

More New Zealanders are taking up the chance to work in horticulture as the sector keeps New Zealanders fed and in jobs during the COVID-19 Alert Level 4 lockdown. “Our…

Qatar scraps 5% customs duty on all food products until September 15

On March 15, 2020, the Qatar Crisis Management Committee within the Ministry of Health (MoPH) implemented an incentive package to mitigate the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak…

Markets in Ukraine’s Kiev region to remain closed until epidemic improves

All 74 markets in the Kiev region will remain closed until the situation caused by the coronavirus epidemic improves. This was stated by the interim chairman of the Kiev…

Murcia is looking for 36,000 laborers for the harvest and handling

The fruit and vegetable campaign in the Region of Murcia is in full swing in April and May, when around 90,000 people are employed in fields and warehouses. However, this year the region will have problems to cover this demand for employment as a consequence of the current transport restrictions, in…

Russian Ministry of Agriculture asked to temporarily restrict tomato imports

The Fruit and Vegetable Union of Russia asked the Ministry of Agriculture to ban the import of tomatoes for a period of two months in order to prevent the deterioration of the…

“The new garlic harvest in Europe will depend on labor”

The demand for garlic on the European market is very high. Prices have skyrocketed and stocks are limited. In terms of distribution, the situation is more complicated because there is a shortage of products. “In Spain, there is a real shortage for the end of this season,” reports Bruno Volonteri of…