During the regular meeting of its Governing Commission, held this morning at its headquarters.

This morning, the Spanish interprofessional organization for oranges and mandarins, Intercitrus, held a meeting of its Governing Commission to discuss various issues concerning the current state of the sector and the organization’s activities.

Firstly, the citrus crop forecasts known to date were evaluated. The estimated national production of 5.97 million tons represents a decrease of 15.6% compared to the previous season and 12.8% compared to the average of the last five seasons. This is the lowest production estimate in ten years. The decline in production, beyond the inherent biennial bearing of the trees, is attributed to weather conditions, especially excessive rainfall during the flowering and fruit-setting phases, as well as high temperatures and harsh drought in the subsequent months.

Nevertheless, Intercitrus believes that the conditions are appropriate to have an adequate quantity and quality of fruit to meet customer demands, with the expectation that rainfall in the coming weeks may boost the final development of the product. It is noted that the current pace of operations is slightly slower than usual, precisely due to the waiting period in anticipation of this circumstance. Additionally, the campaign is experiencing an approximate 15-day delay, which will alleviate market tension resulting from coinciding with the end of the export season in Southern Hemisphere countries.

The Governing Committee of the interprofessional then discussed the recent instances of misinformation from South Africa, which recently announced the end of the Valencia export campaign in areas where it had already been completed, while continuing its export activity in other regions. Likewise, the agreement reached with the Commission last August was analysed, whereby the situation of containers in transit at the time the regulation requiring cold treatment came into effect was resolved, with the acceptance of the South African system approach by the phytosanitary authorities of the Member States. 

Upon learning of this news, Intercitrus sent a letter to the Minister of Agriculture, Luis Planas, expressing their concern about this manner of proceeding by various Member States. Enrique Bellés, President of Intercitrus, emphasizes that “it is necessary to request explanations from the European Commission, in the interest of transparency, regarding this issue,” and he values “the convenience of having a system in the future that allows the EFSA, any Member State, and organizations and entities in the sector to access data on the application of the required cold treatment and compliance with current regulations.” At the same time, Intercitrus has decided to seek legal counsel to advise the interprofessional on this matter, considering raising the issue to the Petitions Committee of the European Parliament.

Finally, the participants in the Governing Committee have expressed concern about the proposed amendment to the Regulation on the Sustainable Use of Plant Protection Products, which would, in its current terms, seriously harm national citrus production and its competitiveness in the markets. This is due to the proposed reduction in use and the prohibition of their use in the so-called “sensitive areas,” which would encompass virtually all producing regions such as the Valencia Community or the Region of Murcia. The Committee has agreed to provide whatever support is necessary to agricultural organizations and cooperatives in the actions they are undertaking on this issue.

In this regard, Bellés indicates that “the Spanish citrus sector is fully committed to developing an activity that minimizes its impact on the environment as much as possible, but without any reciprocity, the measures proposed in this amendment to the Regulation on the Use of Plant Protection Products would only result in an increase in the competitiveness gap compared to third countries. It is also worth noting that our starting point is that European productions have the highest food safety standards in the world.”