The citrus business is concerned about a plant health initiative that was approved last week by the European Parliament (EP). This legislative body asked the European Union (EU) to take defensive measures to protect European citrus against new pests, introducing fundamental changes to an official project.
EFEAgro, the international news agency, stated that the Parliament had demanded the EU apply stricter rules on imports to defend its citrus against diseases from third countries. These actions were required by the Spanish citrus sector.
Amid the celebrations following the US authorization regarding the income of lemon from Tucuman, the head of Argentina's Federation of Citrus (Federcitrus), Jose Carbonell, said that the Parliament's position was a response to the request that the Spanish health authorities had made to the European Union to review the protocol for the entrance of citrus from any source. "They are specifically concerned about the black spot disease, which affects citrus," he said. According to the sector, 13 out of 14 interventions on Argentine citrus when entering the EU were caused because of the black spot disease.
"I don't think this entity has the authority to modify the phytosanitary status of our protocol with the European Union. I don't think this will happen in the short term," Carbonell said. "I also don't think it can be applied from the commercial standpoint," he said.
Argentina supplies the European market for four months. "Lemon has a growing acceptance in the diet of European consumers, as it is associated to a healthy lifestyle. I think they won't stop supplying the market because of a sector," he said.
"In addition, the Spaniards should worry about the worst floods that they've had in their production areas. Undoubtedly, this will affect their production; something that we truly feel bad about," he concluded.