Spanish interprofessional citrus association Intercitrus has elected Juan Vicente Safont as its new president at the organisation’s annual assembly, held this week in Valencia.
Mr Safont, who is also president of leading Spanish fresh produce group Anecoop and replaces Jorge García from Castellon-based citrus exporter García Ballester, marked his appointment by calling for greater unity in the sector.
The new president said the Spanish citrus sector was suffering sue to a “lack of agreements” between producers - a situation that he said now needed to be tackled urgently, reports news agency EFE.
“Our competition is with countries on the other side of the Mediterranean, like Morocco or Egypt, not here – we have to correct this because the lack of agreements (among the Spanish sector) must not be permanent,” he told delegates.
Such agreements, Mr Safont continued, would allow for more support to be given to producers who had most suffered the consequences of the economic crisis and who needed urgent attention.
As a first step, the new president announced that Intercitrus would produce a new contract for citrus buying and selling, which he said would reinforce the legal security of commercial transactions and guarantee product quality.
