The Spanish-French-Italian apple exporters’ group, which met in Rome yesterday to analyse the current state of the sector, has called for more help from the European Union to improve access to foreign markets.
The tri-nation contact group, which featured leading representatives from apple and fresh produce associations from the three countries, said that a lack of access to non-European markets was limiting the growth of European apple exports.
In the case of the US, in spite of an export protocol already being in place between the country and the EU, apple shipments from Europe to the US only totalled 191 tonnes in 2010.
For this reason, the apple group called on European member states to take a more active role in export negotiations between the European Commission and the US.
The representatives, which included Italian apple association Assomela, France’s Association Nationale Pommes Poires (ANPP) and Spanish fresh produce federation Fepex, also discussed the need to improve marketing standards for apples.
The principal EU apple exporters during 2010 were Italy with 827,994 tonnes, Poland with 724,098 tonnes and France at 665,314 tonnes. Spanish apples exports for the year totaled 103,332 tonnes, according to data from Eurostat.
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