Spanish producers have expressed concern over European Union plans to reform the Common Agricultural Policy.
Grower-exporter federation Fepex issued a statement noting than a document from the Commission on the future of food and farming leaked a week ago makes no mention of the fruit and vegetable sector.
After reviewing the document Fepex concluded that there was no reference at all to the Common Markets Organisations, which include strategic measures for the fruit and vegetable sector.
These include the provision of community aid linked to the value of production marketed by producer organisations, a measure which Fepex considers “of crucial importance to maintaining the competitiveness of farms”.
Furthermore, Fepex pointed out that references to measures that encourage the nationalisation and regionalisation of the CAP could cause inequalities and distortions in the market.
The federation also warned that a steady rise in EU imports of fruits and vegetables from Morocco is causing increasing disruption to the market and Morocco’s production calendar clashes with that of Spain.
Fepex pointed out that in spite of EU imports from Morocco growing by 14 per cent between January and August 2017 compared with the previous year, and Spanish imports registering an increase of 24 per cent during the same period, no type of contigency plan had been activated.
