Belgian salad and vegetable exporters have warned that sendings to the UK are declining. The warning came as Europe's largest co-operative vegetable auction at Mechlin revealed record-breaking figures for sendings to other European countries but a downward trend in UK exports.

"Exporters feel that although in the past, quality of produce exported to the UK was high, buyers did pay extra for it," said a spokesman for the exporters at the auction. "But today they feel that there is enormous pressure on prices and a gap between the high quality they supply and the price they are paid in the UK."

Tomatoes are the flagship product traded at the auction and amounted to 140,000 tonnes in 2003. Turnover at the auction was more than e250 million: the highest in the 54-year history of the auction. Other highlights were increased supplies and higher prices for capsicum and aubergines.

But there could be more trouble ahead when it comes to supplying into the UK market as Belgian growers are sceptical of EurepGAP. "Belgian suppliers want to keep quality systems in their own hands, in the hands of producers," warned the spokesman.

Topics