Copa-Cogeca has called on the European Commission and member states to approve without delay measures to stop imports of citrus from South Africa to prevent the spread of black spot disease.
In a letter sent to EU commissioner Tonio Borg on Wednesday, the European agricultural producers organisation called on him to respect the recommendations made by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) in February in response to the high risk of CBS entering the EU from contaminated shipments from South Africa.
Copa-Cogeca secretary general Pekka Pesonen said: “The EU Commission presented a proposal to strengthen controls on citrus fruit imports coming into the EU from South Africa in March and although this was a step in the right direction, it must be improved to be in line with EFSA’s report”.
Pesonen called for additional control measures to be put in place, and imports from contaminated zones to be automatically banned as soon as six contaminated batches have been detected. He also said the controls must be extended to cover citrus bound for processing, which currently accounts for 10 per cent of all citrus imports.
While welcoming the introduction of inspections at packhouses based on taking samples, registering operators and improving the traceability of batches, Pesonen noted that the high number of interceptions in 2013 showed that the authorities in South Africa were incapable of carrying out effective phytosanitary controls.
“Copa-Cogeca is therefore highly concerned that the proposed control system will once again fail to function properly,” he said. “We faced a very high risk of contamination last season and we cannot repeat it this year.”
