EU suspends fruit imports from Argentina amidst alleged concerns over phytosanitary issues

Argentina’s National Health and Agrifood Quality Service (Senasa) announced that “it has been informed by the European Union (EU) health service of the unilateral decision to suspend Argentina’s citrus exports for the rest of this season.”  The reasons expressed by the EU “are related to the phytosanitary risk related to the black spot disease in these fruits”, said a note from Senasa.

The official text regretted the decision. “We are concerned that this measure has been influenced by claims that go beyond purely phytosanitary concerns, such as that of citrus growers who are members of the EU’s Coordination of Farmers and Livestock Organizations (Coag),” added Senasa.  That entity requested “the immediate activation of ‘additional and effective’ measures to the European Commission, since imports in this area were ‘lowering prices on the European market'”.

“We continue to take steps to ensure that the interception notifications made by the EU, both in lemon and orange, have the indispensable scientific guarantees of laboratory tests, despite repeated requests made by Senasa”, explains the statement.  In addition, the agency anticipated that it will begin “an audit of the public-private citrus health certification system, in order to determine whether there were possible inconsistencies or gaps in the established procedures”.

“Although this suspension occurs with the advanced citrus campaign, we will continue to work to guarantee our exports to the European market, guaranteeing the highest phytosanitary standards that characterize our country”, concluded Senasa.

The graph below shows the volume of Argentine citrus fruit exports to the European Union and other destinations:

Argentine exports of citrus (HS 0805) to the European Union x Other Destinations | Jan 2017 to Jun 2020 | TEU

Graph source: DataLiner (To request a DataLiner demo click here)

Report sources: PortalPortuario.cl / Agencia Télam

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