Banning airfreight of fruit and veg would seriously compromise the livelihoods of farmers in the developing world without much impact on carbon emissions, a new report from the International Trade Centre (ITC) claims.

The ITC report comes a week before the Soil Association is due to say whether it will recommend a ban on airfreighted fruit and vegetables being labelled as organic, after discussing with registered organic producers in the UK and overseas, supermarkets and other stakeholders about proposals contained in a consultation document.

Researchers from the ITC, which is a joint technical co-operation agency between the UN and the World Trade Organisation, found that 21,500 people in the developing world would lose out on their share of the market if the ban were to be enforced.

“A ban could have profound economic impacts on local communities in some of the world’s poorest countries,” said expert Alexander Kasterine, who commissioned the study from the Danish Institute of International Studies.

The ITC called organic production “an African success story”, and the biggest exporters of organic fruit and veg to the UK are said to be Egypt, Kenya, Zambia and Morocco. Some 79 per cent of produce from overseas is said to hail from poor countries.

“Airfreighting is part of this, and has allowed African businesses to export fresh produce to add value to products through cutting, mixing and packaging,” said the ITC.

While annual retail sales of organic goods in the UK are valued at around £42 million, airfreight imports are said to account for some 3.1 per cent of all organic fresh fruit sales, 13.9 per cent of organic fresh vegetables and 8.1 per cent of the whole organic fresh produce category.

However, the ITC sees the issue as being a conflict between organics from overseas and the perception that locally sourced food is better for the environment.

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