• The European Commission breaches its commitment to the European citrus sector made in a letter from the Commissioner of Health and withdraws its proposal for a ‘reduced cold treatment’ from the SCoPAFF, despite unanimous support from Mediterranean countries for the measure against the False Codling Moth.
• The interprofessional highlights and appreciates the extraordinary work done by the Ministry of Agriculture for months, but warns that in Brussels itself, the EU has once again succumbed to pressure from the South African citrus lobby and its allies.
• The organization will formally request explanations from the EC and will question it: “How can European agriculture meet the environmental objectives and reduce phytosanitary measures of the ‘Farm to Fork’ plan if European farmers are not protected from the entry of foreign pests?”.

The European Commission (EC) proposed the implementation of a cold treatment in transit for oranges from countries with False Codling Moth presence – primarily affecting South Africa and Zimbabwe – within the framework of the Standing Committee on Plants, Animals, Food, and Feed (SCoPAFF) on February 1st. The necessary regulation change was supported by a scientific report from the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) and was publicly exposed for comments in March and April in the EU and the World Trade Organization (WTO). The EC then stepped back and presented a new, more flexible cold treatment proposal. However, when it came down to the vote, the proposal was withdrawn by the Commission without even being put to a vote. Despite unanimous support for the measure from Mediterranean countries, despite the good technical and political work of the Spanish Ministry of Agriculture and the Valencian Government in collaboration with the sector in recent months, and even despite the written commitment to the sector by Commissioner for Health and Food Safety Stella Kyriakides – ensuring the treatment would be applied before the start of the Southern Hemisphere commercial campaign – the measure was not even considered. According to all members of Intercitrus, “the Commission and the Commissioner herself have not only betrayed their own word but also the entire European citrus sector, demonstrating once again that the interests of South Africa and importing countries are far above the defense of continental agro-plant health.”

The members of the orange and mandarin interprofessional association held an emergency meeting yesterday, Thursday, to assess a last-minute proposal from the EC for a less stringent cold treatment than the previous one. Without any scientific backing, diverging from international standards of cold treatment for this pest, and contrary to the explicit position of the EFSA on this matter, the European Commission proposed a possible modification of the regulation this week. This modification involved a relaxation of the previously proposed cold treatment, which was open for possible objections, from -1 to 0°C for 16 days to -1 to +2°C for 20 days. However, even this latest proposal was not defended by the Commission.

By midday this Friday, the interprofessional association learned that, regardless of whether this issue may be addressed again by the SCOPAFF or even by the Council of Agriculture Ministers on May 24, the cold treatment had not been considered, and all the work and processing of the past months could have been aborted at the last minute. Upon learning of this, the members of the interprofessional association have agreed this morning to demand explanations by letter from the commissioner. “We need to know the reasons for this lack of transparency and why South Africa has more influence on the decisions of the European Commission than the necessary mitigation of the enormous phytosanitary risk to which European agriculture is subject. We need an answer to a simple question: How will European farmers meet the environmental objectives of the EU’s ‘From Farm to Fork’ strategy, which involves a 50% reduction in pesticides by 2030, if the EU does not protect them from serious quarantine and priority pests such as the False Codling Moth?” warned Inmaculada Sanfeliu, president of Intercitrus, in this regard. “The precautionary principle that has governed the recent reform of European plant health regulations has been completely undermined,” she concludes.

Nonetheless, despite the great disappointment and astonishment at what has happened, Intercitrus remains confident that the debate will be resumed immediately with a Commission proposal to vote on the only effective measure to kill the False Codling Moth, the cold treatment, even if its possible implementation now occurs once the Southern Cone orange import campaign has begun. The interprofessional association will remain especially vigilant regarding any interceptions that may occur in this regard and will consider holding the Commission accountable if the situation is not rectified.