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Article: EU suspends Argentinean citrus imports amid phytosanitary concerns
19 August 2020
The European Union has temporarily suspended the entry of
Argentinean lemon and oranges Citrus limon (L.) N. Burm.f.
and Citrus sinensis (L.) Osbeck, alleging that citrus black spot
(CBS) - Phyllosticta citricarpa - was found in imported bulk during
inspections carried on in May, June, July and the first week of
August this year.
The ban, imposed on 16 August, will remain in place until 31
April 2021 for the specified citrus fruit "regardless [that] the
raw material is destined to the juice processing industry or other
issues," as stated in the Official Journal of the European
Union.
On 1 July, Argentina itself suspended lemon exports to the EU
for 15 days due to CBS detected in the market.
Reactions
The Argentinean sanitary body Senasa has announced it will
initiate an audit of the public-private citrus health certification
system, in order to determine whether there have been possible
inconsistencies or shortcomings in the established procedures.
Similarly, the Argentinean citrus association Federcitrus added:
"We regret this decision that ignored the request made by Argentina
to apply the concept of regionalisation, which implied excluding
from any restrictive measure sweet citrus fruits from the NEA
region, since they have not had any interception of the disease
[…]
"We are concerned that this measure has been influenced by
claims that go beyond the merely phytosanitary subject, such as the
one made by citrus producer members of the farmers' and livestock
association COAG, who requested the immediate activation of
"additional and effective" measures to the European Commission
since imports in this area were "sinking prices in the European
market."
The commodity codes subject to the import restriction, which are
already materialised in the amendment of Annex VI to Implementing
Regulation (EU) 2019/2072, include HS 0805 10 22, 0805 10 24, 0805
10 28 and 0805 50 10.
