Leading Spanish producer-exporter federation Fepex has claimed that the European Union’s new agreement of association with Egypt, which comes into force next month, will grant the north African country fresh concessions for a number of sensitive products.
The Madrid-based organisation said the trade deal, which was signed last October and is due to become active on 1 June, would offer Egypt new concessions for tomatoes, grapes, strawberries and cucumbers, despite including a “certain degree of protection”.
Fepex claimed the greater concessions would take the form of a “broadening of calendars and established quotas”, which in the case of potatoes and onions will be increased to 250,000 tonnes and 15,000 tonnes respectively.
The federation argued that the EU agreement would also “almost completely remove” VAT payable on entry, which it said would further open the European market to all fruit and vegetable imports from the Arab country.
However, it said the trade deal would not affect import entry prices, with the exception of oranges, where the the price was being reduced to €264 euros per tonne within an overall quota limit of 36,300 tonnes.
