Freshfel Europe, the European fresh produce association, has welcomed the changes outlined in last week’s CMO reform for fruit and vegetables, as an opportunity to raise consumption.
Freshfel president Pino Calcagni highlighted the inclusion of provisions and additional funding to direct promotions towards young consumers as a particularly positive move.
“Freshfel has always advocated for an ambitious European promotion policy which should comprise youngsters and adults alike, considering new eating habits as well,” said Clacagni.
“The Commission measures should therefore only be considered as a first step towards reinforcing the European promotion policy for fruit and vegetables. More than ever, it is important to look after the positive image of fresh produce and to highlight its quality and healthy properties towards European consumers.”
Freshfel also welcomed the continuity of a fresh produce policy structured around Producer Organisations (PO) and Operational Programmes (OP).
However, Freshfel’s general delegate Philippe Binard said the growth in budget provision from E695 million in 2008 to slightly above E1bn in 2013 should be backed up with additional support.
He said: “This is a positive signal for the fresh fruit and vegetables sector. However, for a full utilisation of the proposed budget and to avoid any distortion, the Common Market Organisation should facilitate cooperation within the chain and foster partnership between producers and traders, thus taking full benefits from the expertise available within the supply chain.”
Meanwhile, the association expressed concerned that the combined phase-out of export refunds, market withdrawals and the processing aids could have far reaching negative implications on the market for fresh produce as no compensation or alternative mechanism has been offered.
“The proposed measures regarding crisis management are inadequate as they will only affect production channelled through POs which nowadays merely represents 34 per cent of the European production,” said a spokesman.
In addition, Freshfel said it regrets that the proposal does not contemplate current challenges of European exporters by failing to address outstanding issues such as lack of reciprocity in phytosanitary and regulatory barriers to trade.
The absence of a coherent export policy further undermines the position of European exporters on international markets, it added.
Freshfel will continue in the following months to contribute to the debate as the Commission proposal will be discussed at the European Council and the European Parliament.
“It is important to move towards greater integration of policy through a homogenous implementation of rules governing fruit and vegetables across Europe” Calcagni said.
