French growers ready to take further action

Unions representing France’s fruit and vegetable growers have warned that their members are ready to resume action against “cheap imports” if their demands are not met.

Growers are due to meet with government officials and supermarket representatives this afternoon.

“Many of our members are in a perilous situation and short of an agreement at this meeting to grant emergency aid and implement lasting measures in favour of relieving the financial plight of growers, action will very likely continue,” a senior official of Légumes de France (LdF), told freshinfo.

Last week, ahead of the long French public holiday weekend, growers intercepted a number of Spanish trucks at motorway toll gates in southern France. It was the latest in a series of lightning strikes over the past few weeks against foreign-registered HGVscarrying fresh produce.

In one incident, the police stood by as 350 protesters, drawn from the French départements of Bouches-du-Rhône, Vaucluse and Gard, emptied truck loads of nectarines, peaches and pears onto the road.

The LdF official called on the government “to bring the statutory business costs of French firms into line with those in other EU countries so that the country’s growers could compete on a level playing field with their European counterparts” and also demanded that retailers “reduce their margins on fresh produce given the level of consumer prices”.

Spanish growers’ organisations have reacted angrily to the French attacks.

Grower unions and associations Asaja, Coag, Upa and exporters’ federation Fepex have condemned the attacks in recent weeks and called strongly for government and EU action.

Action by their own national government and the European Commission on the matter has left the Spanish disappointed.

“Fepex has demanded that freedom of transit to all destinations be guaranteed,” the federation said in a statement. “We have renewed our call for the adoption of exceptional measures within the framework of the EU council of ministers to mitigate the serious consequences of this crisis.”