Lack of action by the Commission to prevent the spread of pests through citrus fruit exports to Europe

Subject: Lack of action by the Commission to prevent the spread of pests through citrus fruit exports to Europe

The European Commission removed from the agenda of the Standing Committee on Plants, Animals, Food and Feed (SCoPAFF) the proposal to require countries such as South Africa to submit oranges being exported to a cold treatment during transport in order to avoid the transmission of pests. This measure, already applied by the USA, has been called for repeatedly by the European agricultural production sector, especially in Spain, and is backed by a scientific report by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), which recommended a change in the Regulation in order to protect EU producers from pests such as the ‘false codling moth’.

With this decision, the Commission is endangering European crops and plant species by failing to take the necessary measures to prevent the entry of invasive pests and species.

This situation raises the following questions:

1. Does the Commission intend to keep the regulation proposed in February, which required transport temperatures from -1°C to 0°C for sixteen days?

2. If not, what measures will the Commission adopt?

3. How will European farmers meet the environmental objectives of the Farm to Fork Strategy, which implies a 50 % reduction in plant protection products by 2030, if the EU fails to protect them from foreign pests?

Answer given by Ms Kyriakides on behalf of the European Commission

(14 July 2022)

At the meeting of the Standing Committee for Plant Animals Food and Feed — Section Plant Health, on 19-20 May 2022, the Commission presented a draft Regulation for amendment of special import requirements for Thaumatobia leucotreta on citrus fruits, peppers, peaches and pomegranates together with the comments submitted by the countries concerned regarding the feasibility of those measures.

Further to the discussion in the Committee, the Commission presented a revised draft to the Committee on 25 May 2022. During that meeting, a qualified majority of Member States voted in favour of the revised text, followed by the Commission adoption and publication on 21 June 2022 (1).

The import requirements for oranges include different options of cold treatment, as part of a combination of measures, able to provide the appropriate level of protection for the Union against the pest. The requirement for a cold treatment between ‐1°C and 0oC for 16 days is amongst those options.

The measures included in that regulation aim at an increased protection of the Union against the pest, which will help avoid additional pressure on the European agriculture due to new plant pests, and contribute to a more sustainable production capacity as described in the Farm to Fork Strategy (2).

⋅1∙ Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2022/959 of 16 June 2022 amending Annex VII to Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/2072 as regards requirements

for the introduction into the Union of certain fruits of Capsicum (L.), Citrus L., Citrus sinensis Pers., Prunus persica (L.) Batsch and Punica granatum L. ⋅2∙ https://ec.europa.eu/food/horizontal-topics/farm-fork-strategy_en