2024 Author: Jasmine Walkman | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 08:29
The European Commission has decided to ban the import of citrus fruits from South Africa because there are fears that these crops may be carriers of black spot disease.
Health experts from the 28 member states of the European Union have backed the ban, and this could be a serious blow to Africa's economy.
According to the head of the Association of Manufacturers of South Africa - Justin Chadwick, the ban is final because global health experts have not yet confirmed that the black spot is a high-risk disease.
EU officials said the ban could continue next year.
At the beginning of the year, the disease was detected in 36 citrus batches from South Africa.
Black spot is a severe fungal infection for which no case of infection has yet been reported in Europe.
This fungal infection causes unpleasant damage to fruits and their leaves, significantly reducing the quality of the crop.
The black spot was also found in some parts of China and the United States.
Imports of fruit from South Africa last year reached about 600 thousand tons, which makes up a third of all imports of citrus fruits to the European Union.
European countries that are the largest customers of African citrus are Britain, France and Germany.
Oranges, lemons and tangerines are mainly imported from Africa, with profits of around 1 billion euros.
The ban comes at a delicate time as the EU has recently sought support from South Africa to renew its trade agreements with countries around the Sahara Desert.
During talks this week, European officials proposed improving the terms of a bilateral free trade agreement with South Africa dating back to 1999.
The European Union is also a producer of citrus fruits, with Spain, Italy and Greece excelling in this regard.
Spain is a leader in lemon production, with most of the fruit grown in Murcia and some parts of Alicante and Andalusia, and 60% of the production is exported.
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