After a joint effort by the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries together with local producers, Senasa and the Argentine Chancellery, the restrictions that the EU had imposed were released, and as of May 1, Argentine citrus will re-enter Europe.
As of May 1, the measure applied by the European Union in August 2020 that prohibited imports of lemons and oranges from Argentina due to the high number of detections of the plague Phyllosticta citricarpa (black spot) in exported citrus fruits by our country last year to that market.
"This decision of the European Union is a sign of the confidence that we are building in the international market and of the coordinated work that we have been doing together with local producers, governors of the NOA and NEA provinces, the Foreign Ministry and the ministry teams", said the head of the national agriculture portfolio, Luis Basterra.
“In the context of a pandemic, we are being able to sustain production, guarantee the internal supply of food and open markets. Each country or region in which we manage to enter with our products is an opportunity for our producers, more work and development for each of the country's regions â€, said the Minister.
For his part, the president of Senasa, Carlos Paz, "within the framework of actions to recover this market, Senasa strengthened control measures in the field and packaging and increased the staff of its regional teams to strengthen and improve citrus supervision to export to the EU, which will boost our regional economies."
Following the ban imposed by the EU last year, Senasa carried out the corresponding investigations, which resulted in adjustments to controls and a restructuring and relaunch of the citrus export certification program, which will guarantee preventive treatments at the field level for black spot and the effectiveness of the fruit health controls at different points in the chain.
The technical teams of the European Commission were able to verify the actions implemented by Senasa, through a rigorous virtual audit carried out in February. The report of said audit, as well as the corrective action plan presented by the Argentine health agency in response to its recommendations, were discussed by the audit team and the services of the Plant Protection Unit of the European Commission, with experts from the EU Member States on three occasions in the framework of a European Permanent Technical Committee for Plant Health.
Throughout this process, both the authorities and the technical areas of Argentina maintained permanent communication and information exchange with the European Commission on the measures and actions implemented to guarantee the phytosanitary safety of Argentine citrus fruit and their progress.
On April 14, the aforementioned Technical Committee of the EU voted in favor of the measures that will be required for the 2021 export campaign for Argentine citrus fruit in relation to the prevention of black spot, which are fully in line with the actions determined. and implemented by Senasa.
Subsequently, the College of Commissioners of the EU adopted the rule that implements these measures, and allows access to the European market again. This will enter into force on May 1, from which time Senasa will be in a position to re-issue phytosanitary certificates for citrus exports to the EU.
It is also important to note that throughout the process, permanent discussions were held between the official authorities (Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries and SENASA), with the provincial governments of the citrus production areas, with scientific research organizations, and with the private sector to adjust control measures.
The EU is the main export market for our citrus fruits, with Argentina historically being the main supplier of lemons and the fourth supplier of oranges to the European Union.
This reopening of the European market will benefit the regional economies of the NOA and NEA, maintaining exports that will allow foreign exchange to enter our country. In this sense, the commitment and involvement of each actor in the chain, both at an official and private level, is essential to guarantee the health of our export products. ■