The European Tomato Growers group is calling for limits on imports of Moroccan and Turkish tomatoes. The call came following its most recent meeting last month in Alicante where representatives from the tomato sectors in the UK, mainland Spain, the Canary Islands, the Netherlands, Belgium, France and Poland met to discuss to the problems they have in common.

The UK was represented by Tomato Growers Association vice-chairman William Church. “We discussed a crisis management system in the market and insurance against loss of income as well as representation to the anti-fraud authorities of the EU,” said Church.

The group also drew up its own terms of reference and decided to try and establish an office in Brussels in order to be more effective in lobbying EU authorities.

The Spanish membership on the group is particularly strong and its delegates warned of a massive crisis in the sector and for regional Spanish economies if greater control is not exercised over Moroccan and Turkish imports. Group president José Hernández said the European growers are urging respect for trade agreements on entry price for the two countries while an EU investigation into entry price fraud last season continues. Delegates also heard how Spanish growers had lost tens of millions of euro during the 2004-05 season as their produce fell victim to unseasonable weather conditions as well as unfair competition.

As part of the discussions on crisis management, the experiences of the lettuce sector in Spain were presented in the context of income insurance and crop withdrawal.

The next meeting of the group is yet to be scheduled.

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