Spanish producer-exporter Anecoop has denounced the alleged theft of around 10,000 plant stems from a farm in northern Valencia, a move apparently aimed at illegally propogating the licensed clementine variety Clemensoon.
The rights to Clemensoon are owned exclusively by Anecoop, and the variety can only be produced by the group's member cooperatives under strict conditions.
Salvador Roig, Anecoop's director of legal services, warned that the alleged thieves would find it difficult to produce and sell the clementines and remain undetected.
'This sad plague of material thefts has no purpose other than to reproduce the variety illegally, although in this case the thieves will find it difficult since the owner only grants licences to produce the variety, not to market its fruit,' he commented.
'As a result, the product is easily identified when it enters production, and given the strict traceability checks that are in place.'
