The UK trade and Spanish growers are considering legal action after an aid package of €210 million was approved by the EC in the wake of the E. coli outbreak.
On Tuesday, the EC management committee voted through the emergency measure presented by farm commissioner Dacian Ciolos that allows the EU to pay producers for cucumbers, tomatoes, lettuce, courgettes and sweet peppers that have been withdrawn from the market since May 26. The disease, which has killed 37 people, is confirmed to be linked to the consumption of raw sprouted seeds produced in Germany.
The decision foresees paying a maximum rate of 50 per cent of the usual producer price in June. The final figure will be confirmed on 22 July once member states confirm the volumes that will be covered.
However, Spain and France both voted against the measure and producers in Murcia have slammed it as “disappointing and insufficient”. Fepex, the Spanish federation of producer-exporters, is calling on its government to take the EC to the EU’s Court of Justice for failing to grant a 100 per cent compensation package.
The trade in the UK is outraged that the wider supply chain has been completely ignored in the deal. Nigel Jenney, CEO of the Fresh Produce Consortium said: “We are taking initial legal advice…It is inconceivable that public funds can be chosen to be spent on one element of the industry - much as they deserve it - without taking into account the other sectors affected. Whatever aid is offered should be offered consistently throughout the industry.”
Jenney said the FPC will be meeting with DEFRA officials about the effects on the UK supply chain beyond the farm gate.
The proposed campaign to restore consumer confidence and increase uptake has also been slammed as “far too little, far too late” by Jenney and UK traders are equally dismayed. Importer Andrew Zerpa-Falcón of Victoria Trading said: "The consequences are enormous. We need to rebuild consumer confidence. … There is no general understanding and with public scares the effect is spiky; there will always be doubt in the back the mind."
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