• The 3 interceptions (2 in oranges and 1 in mandarins) of South African shipments due to False Codling Moth in 2022, and the 2 interceptions already recorded this year until July (1 in mandarins and 1 in grapefruits), demonstrate that the measures taken are “insufficient” to protect against this “priority” pest.
• The accumulation of 21 rejections due to Citrus Black Spot, pending the busiest three commercially significant months, suggests that South Africa will surpass last year’s record and that this other serious disease “is rampant and/or not being controlled with the most effective (and costly) treatments.

The Spanish Citrus Interprofessional (Intercitrus) has begun the process of demanding from the European Commission (EC) “documentary evidence and a verification system” to ensure that South Africa is complying with the prescribed cold treatment for its orange exports to the EU, as regulated in 2022. Intercitrus is responding to the evidence that the measures established so far “are insufficient for the main non-EU citrus supplier to the EU to stop exporting this dangerous pest.” Additionally, Intercitrus is calling for the current cold treatment to be extended to all crops that are hosts of the insect, such as mandarins and grapefruits. This statement comes from the president of the organization, Inmaculada Sanfeliu, after analysing the progress of the current Southern Hemisphere import campaign, in which, along with the aforementioned Thaumatotibia leucotreta, the threat of a second plague has re-emerged, equally classified as ‘priority’ by European regulation, Citrus Black Spot: with the busiest commercial months of August, September, and October yet to be faced, the Southern Hemisphere country already has 21 interceptions for this fungal disease compared to the 28 recorded in all of 2022. According to Sanfeliu, such data “can only attest that the disease – likely exacerbated by recent extreme rainfall events – is rampant, uncontrollable, and/or not being fought with sufficient treatments or with the most effective fungicides.”

The experience gained in 2022, after the implementation of the cold treatment, and the current situation warrant the adoption of new measures and changes in regulations to ensure a higher level of transparency in the application of regulations regarding the False Codling Moth. Indeed, during the past year, there was evidence of “repeated, deliberate, and proven non-compliance with cold treatment by South Africa,” as described by Sanfeliu. Hence, it is necessary to implement a system that allows verification of the cold treatment application as specified by international regulations and as recorded in the Official Journal of the EU. Specifically, Intercitrus demands that, before departing for the European destination, the operator specifies the intended port of entry. Additionally, it insists that all containers – as mandated by the International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC) Standard 42 – incorporate the three pulp probes that must measure and record the temperature of the fruit’s central part. As a third step, it proposes the creation of a virtual platform in the EU where records of these three pulp probe temperatures are stored, downloaded from the data logger that each orange container originating from a country with the False Codling Moth destined for the EU is required to have. Such data – which would confirm compliance with cold treatment – should be made available to the competent authorities of the National Plant Protection Organizations of the 27 EU Member States. Furthermore, these records should be retained for at least one year, along with the phytosanitary certificates issued at the origin to enable easy and automatic tracing of treated batches.

The facts that have occurred this year regarding the other mentioned priority pest are, according to the interprofessional, no less serious. Citrus Black Spot (Phyllosticta citricarpa or CBS) is also regulated as a quarantine organism and priority in the EU – ranking in the top 20 of all agricultural and wildlife pests with the greatest economic and environmental impact – and far from being a “cosmetic problem” – as argued by the Citrus Growers Association of Southern Africa (CGA) – it represents a serious risk to citrus-producing EU countries. It is scientifically considered the most important fungal pathogen of citrus worldwide, and in citrus-growing regions where it is present, between 4 and 6 fungicidal treatments per year are needed to achieve acceptable disease control. Moreover, not only technical reports but also facts have demonstrated that this fungus can adapt perfectly to the Mediterranean region. This is evidenced by its confirmed presence in Tunisia in 2019 or now, after a shipment of infected oranges originating from Egypt was detected in July, most likely also in this second North African country. The extremely high number of interceptions with this fungus in South African shipments in 2021 (43), 2022 (28), and 2023 (21, only until July) “is clear evidence that their exporters are not complying with regulations because they either do not adequately treat their fields … and/or do not use proven effective fungicides, probably to avoid incurring higher costs (the most effective treatments are much more expensive than usual), even if it means exporting infected fruit to the EU,” interprets Sanfeliu.

For these reasons, Intercitrus calls on the EU to – far from feeling intimidated by coercions such as those proposed by the CGA to its Government, which pressures it to denounce the EU to the World Trade Organization (WTO) – renew, or rather, intensify the current insufficient phytosanitary measures to prevent the introduction of Citrus Black Spot into EU territory. “In the face of blackmail without evidence or solid scientific reports to support them – unlike the EU, which can provide evidence with reports conducted by the EFSA – the EU executive must maintain a firm stance and instruct the Member States to increase phytosanitary controls at Border Inspection Points to detect the entry of fruit affected by this disease,” insists the president of the interprofessional. Furthermore, Intercitrus demands the restoration of an article in EU regulation that would allow the EU to make the decision to automatically close its border as a precautionary measure if more than 5 interceptions of contaminated shipments were detected, as existed in the past and was eliminated at the time, precisely due to South African pressure.

Intercitrus also considers it “regrettable” that, instead of making amends and after so many years of accumulating rejections, the CGA questions the analyses conducted for CBS, especially knowing that so far this year, South Africa leads again in interceptions for phytosanitary reasons and accounts for up to 42% of the confirmed interceptions of all citrus imports in the EU (26 out of 62 until July).