The Spanish Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (MAPA) has presented 16 measures to revitalize the citrus market. The objective is to control the supply, improve the structure and promote internationalization.
The Ministry has said in a statement that these measures have been presented by the Secretary General of Agriculture and Food, Fernando Miranda, who has examined them together with representatives of the sector and of the autonomous regions which will have to enforce them.
The measures include the following:
1. Processing of oranges and small fruits into juice intended for for free distribution by charitable entities.
2. Promotion of the use of operational programs designed by producer organizations in order to adjust the supply to the demand. To this end, the Government will modify the royal decree relating to these fruit and vegetable operating programs.
3. Launch of a 40 million Euro credit line, subsidizing the cost of the guarantees.
4. Reduction of the net return index for fiscal year 2018.
5. Improvement of sectoral information for decision making.
6. Improvement of the information on the national and international demand for citrus.
7. Encouraging the incorporation of producers into producer organizations and improving their size and their capacity to act, particularly through associations of producer organizations.
8. Strengthening the role of interprofessional organizations.
9. Active demand in all instances of the application of the principles of reciprocity in international agreements with third countries, as well as the carrying out of detailed monitoring and impact analyses of such agreements.
10. Active monitoring of the results of phytosanitary controls at European level.
11. Improvement of export mechanisms and access to new markets, with measures to promote the consumption of citrus fruits in the European Union and in third countries, as well as the opening of new markets, the improvement of access to existing markets and the support to exporters.
12. Establishment of a specific plan for the monitoring of compliance with the Law of the Chain in the citrus sector.
13. Constitution of a specific citrus board in the Observatory of the Chain with the purpose of evaluating the behavior of the chain together with all agents.
14. Reinforcement of the annual commercial quality control plans.
15. Individualized support to young producers who have received aid to enter the citrus sector and who have been seriously affected by the price crisis.
16. Facilitating the start-up of mutual funds within the framework of fruit and vegetable producer organizations as a way to cover market risks.
Reactions from the sector
The heads of Cooperativas Agroalimentarias, Asaja, COAG and UPA have all appreciated this 'road map' for the citrus sector set out by the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (MAPA) in March and reviewed recently together with the Secretary General of Agriculture and Food, Fernando Miranda.
Sources from the technical services of Cooperativas Agroalimentarias have said to Efeagro that this organization "appreciates the initiative because it addresses the sector's problems with a structural approach, and not with short-term measures."
The head of the citrus sector at Asaja and president of this organization in the Region of Valencia, Cristóbal Aguado, has described the meeting as "positive" and has valued "the Ministry's disposition, which has confirmed the granting of tax benefits to citrus growers to compensate them for the bad season. He also explained that the MAPA wants to support a "new Intercitrus, so that it becomes a lobby."
The head for citrus at COAG, Pedro Gomariz, has praised the initiative from the Ministry, but still considers it "insufficient to solve the sector's problems."
Representing UPA, the technician for Andalusia, Miguel Garcia, has also said to be satisfied with the course taken to restructure the sector and appreciates that the MAPA has confirmed that the bad campaign will not result in the loss of the aid to young citrus growers first entering the sector.
Source: efeagro.com