The Italian, French, and Spanish delegations of the tomato contact group met on March 4 at the headquarters of the Consorcio di Tudela Pomodoro di Pachino PGI, in Sicily, Italy, to discuss the developments and challenges in the sector.
Overall, the tomato harvest in Italy and Spain was slightly lower than last year, while yields in France remained stable. In Italy, the decrease in production led to higher prices, especially in the first half of the season. In Spain, however, the smaller harvest did not lead to price increases and the average price fell by 5%.
The three countries highlighted the increase in labor costs, especially in Spain, where the minimum wage has increased considerably in the last four years. Of the three countries, France has the highest labor costs in the sector.
The group also discussed their expectations for this summer tomato season. In France, the area and production will remain stable, Italy expects a decrease in production, and Spain expects an increase because growers are switching from other crops to tomatoes.
Competition from third countries was also discussed. In 2024, the main competitors, Morocco and Turkey, exported more than 579,000 tons and almost 195,000 tons of tomatoes to the EU, respectively. The group also discussed two rulings by the EU's Court of Justice. The first concerns the exclusion of Western Saharan products from the tariff preferences established in the EU-Morocco Association Agreement, and the second, the labeling of the origin of cherry tomatoes and charentais melons from Western Sahara.
The group also stressed that imported products should comply with the same phytosanitary requirements as the European products and agreed to send a letter to the European Commission requesting a uniform register for plant protection products by climate zones, as established in Annex I of Regulation 1107/2009.
Finally, the group discussed the issue of labeling, advocating for the need to modify Community regulations to increase the size of the letters indicating the country of origin and possibly adding a logo on the packaging that emphasizes the preference for European products.
The meeting was attended by representatives of Fepex, Coexphal, and Asaja on behalf of Spain, the Italian Tomato Commission, and the French AOP Tomate et Concombre. The governments of the three countries were also represented. The contact group meeting will continue today with technical visits to greenhouses.
For more information:
Fepex
www.fepex.es