Murcia's Council of Agriculture and Water will develop a monitoring programme for the Region's citrus warehouses importing South African or Argentinian fruit, with the goal of ensuring food safety and an adequate handling of the discards generated, given the threat posed by the black spot disease.
The general director of Industria Agroalimentaria y Capacitación Agraria (Agri-food industry and Agricultural Training), Ángel García Lidón, recently met with representatives of agricultural professional organisations, unions, and the interprofessional AILIMPO to evaluate the phytosanitary risk involved in the import of citrus from countries affected by the aforementioned disease.
Black spot (Guirgnardia citricarpa) is caused by a type of fungus which damages both fruit and leaves. It has spread in wide areas of the southern hemisphere, but it has not been detected in the European Union so far. Nevertheless, the high volume of imports from these countries may entail a risk of it spreading to the EU.
At the meeting, it was agreed that the Ministry of Agriculture should demand phytosanitary protection measures to be introduced by the European Commission, including the testing of samples from all batches and stricter inspections at the points of entry.
It was also deemed essential to maintain the threshold of five interceptions for the borders to close and also that this measure should be applied with the utmost rigour and determination.
The European Food Safety Agency (EFSA) elaborated a report warning about the phytosanitary risk involved in the import of citrus fruits from countries affected by black spot. Lemons are especially sensitive and thus the sector demands the introduction of stricter protection measures.
Source: CARM