Tomato growers in the EU are calling on the European Commission to reform the entry price system for produce from third countries entering the union.
Representatives from the fresh tomato sector in the UK, Spain, France, the Netherlands, Belgium and Poland met last week in Amsterdam as the European Tomato Growers’ Group to agree a proposal to the commission to increase the efficiency of the entry price system for tomatoes.
The group has claimed that some operators are not paying the customs duties they are required to and that fraud is being committed regarding third country tomato imports.
A statement released by the group said: “We consider it essential that the entry price is reformed because in the trade agreements that the EU is negotiating with third countries, the commission is considering that these prices will be practically the only instrument that will guarantee a minimum level of community preference.”
At the same Amsterdam meeting, the Europeans also agreed to a joint declaration that the EU market cannot absorb any new concessions to third countries.
The countries represented in the European Tomato Growers’ Group between them represent 87 per cent of intra-EU tomato trade. The group is also asking the European Commission to strengthen its control over imports so that tomatoes imported into the EU meet with the same food safety and plant health standards, as well as the same guarantees to consumers required of fruit grown within the community.
Representatives at last week’s meeting also examined prospects for the 2008-09 season and forecast that cultivated area and volume output are likely to remain stable across the EU. However, there is variation from country to country. According to Spanish body Fepex, area under production and output are both forecast to decline significantly in the Canary Islands, while a slight increase is predicted in Andalucia. There are small declines in likely output from both Murcia and Valencia.
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