European tomato grower organisations have come together to form the first European Tomato Growers Group in order to combat competition from third countries. The group was informally constituted at a meeting in Madrid on November 4, called by Spanish exporters’ association Fepex. As well as the British Tomato Growers Association (BGTA), it also counts the French produce federation FNPL, the Belgian auctions association VBT and the Dutch produce association DPA. Italian and Polish producer representative bodies will be invited to join the next meeting scheduled for December 1 in Paris.
Vice-president of the BGTA William Church was present at the Madrid meeting.
“The initiative really came from the Spanish because their marketplace is under pressure from Morocco more immediately, but also Turkey,” said Church. “We are only a small player, as the UK is a net importer, but it is important for us to be present at these meetings. However, what needs to happen now is to get the Italian, Polish, Portuguese and even the Germans as one of the biggest consumers of tomatoes, on board.”
As the Spanish have the largest industry and potentially the most at stake, Fepex has agreed to co-ordinate meetings. At the first meeting the Spanish delegation was 15-strong and included all the major companies in mainland Spain and the Canary Islands and representatives of the trade associations in all the leading producing areas.
So far growers have agreed that this past season has been one of the worst for any of them. Delegates at the meeting concurred that this was due in part to a lack of control over quantities imported from Morocco as well as the emergence of Turkey as a source. The French delegation at the meeting criticised both sources for not matching up to the same plant-health, environmental and quality standards that are required of EU production.
It was also determined in Madrid last week that this will be the first direction its lobbying will take, but delegates also felt that in the future the stagnation of tomato consumption in the EU will need to be addressed. “But we have got to have a good reason to object to these imports,” warned Church. “We need to have a common code of practice and there needs to be a point of difference that sets us apart from Turkish and Moroccan supplies.”
For the UK industry, joining forces with the Spanish may seem ironic: given that the problems UK growers face from imports are usually from Spanish product.
The BGTA believes that the grouping could eventually provide a valuable forum for all parties beyond the lobbying issues agreed on so far.
“We should have some involvement in any European forum that could have an impact on the UK,” he said. “Especially as some BGTA members are also importers. There is also much we can learn from each other, for example the UK and Dutch producers are really at the cutting edge of technology and growing with low pesticide use whereas the Spanish are not growing under such efficient systems.”
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