The destruction of an illegal citrus shipment from Spain by the Chinese plant health authorities is threatening to sour Spain’s burgeoning fruit trade with China before it gets off the ground.
Spanish diplomats in Beijing confirmed on Thursday that a 20-tonne consignment of lemons and oranges destroyed by the Chinese authorities this week did not comply with export regulations.
The shipment is believed to have come from Alicante. Speaking to Antena 3, the exporter responsible admitted they did not posses the necessary paperwork but claimed their customer in China “insisted we ship it anyway”.
The consignment was buried on quicklime in order to prevent the risk of infestation.
Spain is permitted to export citrus to China provided it meets the necessary import requirements. Although the protocol has been in place since 2007, shipments did not get underway until 2014. Since then, exports have grown rapidly, tripling in 2015 to €1m and expected to grow further this year.
Spain is currently negotiating import protocols for table grapes and stonefruit with the Chinese authorities and fears that talks could be derailed if more irregular consignments are discovered.
“The Spanish sector has an interest in pursuing fraudulent activity,” said Samuel Juárez, Spain’s agricultural advisor in China, adding that while it was important that a proper investigation should be carried out, there should be no repercussions as the events of this week proved that the controls are effective.
