EN Official Journal of the European Union CE 88/711

(2004/C 88 E/0732)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0811/04

by Enrique Monsonís Domingo (ELDR) and Joan Vallvé (ELDR) to the Commission

(15 March 2004)

Subject: Pests affecting citrus fruit

The European Union's borders are exposed to the entry of citrus products from third countries, owing to lax inspections and a shortage of inspectors specialising in citrus pests.

In summer last year (2003) quarantine pests originating in citrus fruit from Brazil and Argentina were detected in Spain only. During the last citrus marketing year around 190 000 tonnes of citrus fruit were imported from third countries, including 59 000 tonnes from Argentina and 25 000 tonnes from Brazil. During inspections three kinds of quarantine diseases which do not occur in European-produced citrus fruit were detected: Xanthomonas axonopodis pv. Citri, which causes citrus canker, Guignardia citricarpa, which causes citrus ‘black spot’ on the skin of citrus fruit and, finally, the Elsinoe fungus.

A total of 993 tonnes of citrus fruits from Argentina and 2 226 tonnes from Brazil were refused entry. The inspections resulted in 83 consignments from these countries being rejected in Spain. Finally, the Spanish Ministry for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food banned citrus imports from both these countries by means of Order APA/315/2003 of 12 November. A petition has been submitted to the European Committee on Plant Health calling for this ban to be extended to the rest of the European Union. Apparently the Committee will take a decision on 22 or 23 March.

Can the Commission say whether there are plans to suspend citrus imports from Argentina and Brazil in the European Union in time for the forthcoming citrus harvest in the Southern hemisphere? Or, if they are not banned, will a specific import protocol be introduced? If such a protocol is introduced, will checks be carried out at origin in the presence of European inspectors and will a tracing system be set up? What measures are envisaged to prevent the entry of quarantine pests and diseases of citrus fruit into the European Union? Do they make provision for specific European entry points for fruit and vegetables from third countries where inspectors specialising in these pests/diseases will operate?

Answer given by Mr Byrne on behalf of the Commission

(23 April 2004)

The Commission would like to inform the Honourable Member that it has no intention at the moment of suspending citrus fruit imports into the EU from Argentina and Brazil for the next marketing year.

At the meeting of the Standing Committee on Plant Health in March 2004, the Commission presented to the Member States a draft decision on temporary emergency measures in respect of certain citrus fruits originating in Argentina or Brazil. This draft decision corresponds to the ‘specific import protocol’ to which the Honourable Member refers.

The main aspects of this draft decision, which was approved by the meeting of the Standing Committee and now has to be adopted by the Commission, can be summarised as follows: The fruits of Citrus L, Fortunella Swingle, Poncirus Raf. and their hybrids (hereinafter referred to as ‘citrus fruits’) originating in Argentina or Brazil may be imported into the Community territory only if they comply with certain specific requirements, which take the form of two options:

— either they originate in an area recognised as being free from Xanthomonas campestris and Guignardia citricarpa, which must be mentioned on the plant health certificate,

— or, as evidenced by an official inspection, no symptoms of either disease have been observed in the place of production since the beginning of the last cycle of vegetation, and the place of production, packing facilities, exporters and any other operator involved in the handling of the fruits are officially registered for this purpose. In addition to these two conditions, an additional requirement applies in the case of Xanthomonas campestris, namely that fruits harvested in the place of production are free from this harmful organism, as evidenced by an official inspection and examination including appropriate tests, and the fruits must have been subjected to appropriate treatment, which must be mentioned on the plant health certificate.

Furthermore, the citrus fruits concerned may be imported into the Community only if they originate from a production system which ensures their traceability from the place of production to the point of export to the Community. Information on this system must be made available to the Commission.

Finally, each Member State importing citrus fruits originating in Argentina or Brazil must provide the Commission and the other Member States with a detailed technical report on the results of plant health checks carried out on those fruits. The Commission will continually follow the development of the situation throughout the 2004 export season. If these emergency measures are not sufficient to prevent the entry of the diseases concerned into the Community, or if they have not been complied with, the Commission might introduce more stringent or alternative measures in accordance with the plant health legislation in force (Article 16, paragraph 3, of Directive 2000/29/EC (1)).

The Commission feels that the proposed measures are suitable with regard to limiting, as far as possible, the entry of quarantine pests and diseases of citrus fruit into the European Union.

There are, however, no plans for Food and Veterinary Office inspectors to carry out checks at origin. However, the FVO might consider organising an inspection mission to the two countries concerned in the near future in order to check on the conditions under which the citrus fruits in question are produced and exported to the Community and on how the new scheme established by the above-mentioned draft decision is applied.

Finally, there are no plans to designate specific European ports for specialised inspections of fruits and vegetables from third countries.

(1) Council Directive 2000/29/EC of 8 May 2000 on protective measures against the introduction into the Community of organisms harmful to plants or plant products and against their spread within the Community, OJ L 169, 10.7.2000, as most recently amended by Commission Directive 2003/116/EC, OJ L 321, 6.12.2003.