Fruit and vegetable companies in Spain have rejected the government’s plan to slash speed limits on dual carriageways outside major cities to 80km/h, calling it a negative move for industry.
The speed restriction is part of a €245m energy plan, unveiled by Spain’s industry minister Miguel Sebastián, which is designed to reduce the country’s oil imports by 10 per cent a year, cutting consumption by 44m barrels and saving €4.14bn.
However, leading fresh produce sources have told Fruitnet.com they feel the plan will deal another blow to an already fledgling transport sector and prove potentially damaging to the future competitiveness of the Spanish fresh produce trade.
“We have a very serious and deep crisis in our sector,” said one citrus exporter. “It seems that in the future it will no longer be profitable to transport fresh produce by truck, which could push up fruit and vegetable prices even further.”
In June, a five-day strike in Spain by disgruntled truck drivers angry at the rising cost of fuel brought deliveries of fresh produce to wholesale markets and retail outlets to a halt.
While another industry pundit accepted the government must find ways to get around rising fuel costs, he pointed out that the impact on journey time to key markets could negatively affect Spain’s competitiveness on the fresh produce market.
“One year ago our goods took three days to arrive in the UK for example, and since the new European law was passed obliging drivers to stop for 20 minutes every four hours, the transit time has gone up to four days,' he said. “If truckers must now also reduce their speed it could take up to five or six days for produce to arrive in strategic markets such as the UK, which could impact on Spain’s competitive edge.'
He added: “One of our competitive advantages is our proximity to major European buyers, but we could have a serious problem if, in the near future, countries further afield, such as Israel, can ship to Europe in the same time.”
Sources in Murcia added that more needs to be done to develop Spain’s fresh produce industry into a more “competitive” and “dynamic” business: “The government should be looking at ways to promote our products abroad, concentrate offer and help and encourage the industry to reduce production costs and boost added value.”
