Summary
The discovery of the Citrus Black Spot (CBS) fungal infection in citrus imports from Tunisia could prove a game changer in terms of South African efforts to secure a reduction of the EU’s commercially costly CBS control requirements. This is likely to give added important to discussions with the UK on its’ future SPS control arrangements to be applied under ‘no-deal’ Brexit Continuity Agreements. Removing controls on a citrus specific infection in a context where the UK has no commercial citrus production, alongside a lifting of TRQ restrictions on South African duty free access to the UK market, could help unlock the currently stalled UK-SADC EPA Continuity Agreement negotiations. This would be particularly the case if such a move signalled the UK governments’ willingness to respond more broadly to the changed trade realities which a ‘no-deal’ Brexit will give rise to.
The debate on the validity of EU Citrus Black Spot Controls in dealing with the fungal infection Guirnardia citricarpa (Citrus Black Spot – CBS) took a new twist in May 2019 with the announcement of detections of the fungal infection in ‘seven shipments of citrus fruits imported into the EU from Tunisia’. According to the Spanish citrus producers’ organisation Asaja, EU member states inspectors ‘intercepted 2 shipments infected with CBS in March and five in April, all of them from Tunisia’. Asaja claim this provides evidence this fungal infection can take hold in Mediterranean climate production zones (1).
This is seen as carrying particularly important implications for EU imports from Egypt, ‘one of the countries that has been increasing its citrus exports to Europe in recent times’. Since 2010/11 EU imports of citrus from Egypt have more than tripled (from 100,000 tonnes to well in excess of 300,000 tonnes in 2017/18). This now see’s Egypt accounting for imports of more citrus fruit into the EU than the following 6 main citrus exporters to the EU combined. (2). It is held this trade with Egypt clearly poses ‘a threat of infection for European citrus producing countries such as Spain’ (1).
However Asaja also claims ‘the detection of Black Spot in Tunisia refutes the arguments put forward by South Africa’ to the EU authorities that the CBS fungal infection ‘could not adapt to the Mediterranean areas’ (1).
Implicit support for Asaja’s concerns has been provided by Rosario D’Anna of the Sicilian Phytosanitary Service who claimed that while no outbreaks had so far occurred in Sicily, with reports of interceptions of CBS infected fruit from Tunisia, which has ‘similar soil and climate conditions’, ‘it is clear the disease is getting nearer’ (3). Rosario D’Anna argued the only way to fully protect citrus growers in the EU was to ‘stop all imports from countries affected by the diseases or where infected batches have been detected’ (3).
Meanwhile Vittoria Catara, professor of Plant Pathology at UniCT, called for measures to ‘prevent triangular trades set up by non-professional importers from bypassing checks’. It was claimed ‘analyses carried out by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) show that the climate in many Mediterranean areas where citrus fruit is grown (including Italy) could facilitate the spreading of P. citricarpa’. Professor Catara further warned that ‘the disease may have a long latency period, meaning the fungus may survive in the leaves on the ground and lesions may be mistaken with those caused by other pathogens’ (3).
These new developments have given rise to renewed calls from the Spanish citrus sector for EU Agriculture Commissioner Hogan to ‘to consider the possibility of a precautionary border closure after a certain level of interceptions (5) is reached, as previously foreseen in European regulations’ (4). This would appear to strengthen the earlier calls from Spanish citrus producers for “zero tolerance” of CBS infections on citrus imports.
This comes at a bad time for the South African citrus sector, with a downward trend in export earnings underway following the recent expansion in South African citrus production. Following high prices for lemons in the 2016/17 season the Citrus Growers Association estimates prices halved in the past season (down to €500/tonne from highs of €1,027/tonne). This follows a doubling of production, with production from new orchards still to come on stream and new plantings still underway (5).
The orange market meanwhile has seen a gradual decrease of earnings, with the volume of oranges going into processing increasing from 190,000 tonnes in 2017/18 to an estimated 400,000 tonnes in 2018/19. Diminishing returns are thus now a fact of life. This situation it is held can only be reversed by ‘expanding consumption among existing consumers and finding new consumers’. However the reality faced is that globally citrus consumption is stagnant. This is placing pressure on the South African citrus industry to ‘monitor trade flow and fruit specification’, so as to maximise market opportunities (5). It is against this background that the new twist in the EU-South Africa citrus black spot controls dispute needs to be seen.
| Comment and Analysis The recent development in regard to the interception of CBS infected fruit in citrus imports from Tunisia does not bode well for South Africa efforts to secure a relaxation of the EU’s citrus black spot control regime. Against this background a key issue in the ongoing SADC EPA Group-UK Continuity Agreement negotiations is likely to be the nature of UK-only citrus black spot controls to be implemented under a ‘no-deal’ Brexit scenario. This needs to be seen in the context of the citrus specific nature of this fungal infection and the absence of commercial citrus production in the UK.While UK officials assert the UK will continue to apply existing EU biosecurity controls in the post-Brexit period, the relevance of this approach appears highly questionable in regard to the CBS fungal infection.The UK’s handling of CBS controls under a ‘no-deal’ Brexit scenario could prove an important test case of the UK’s willingness to adjust its SPS control requirements to UK-only agro-climatic conditions. Pressure to modify UK-only SPS control requirements is likely to be intense if existing Spanish-UK citrus trade flows were to be disrupted by a ‘no-deal’ Brexit.Showing openness to such a targeted revision of SPS control measures, alongside an abolition of TRQ restrictions on duty free South African citrus exports could help unlock the current impasse in UK-SADC EPA Group Continuity Agreement negotiations. Indeed, by indicating a willingness on the part of the UK authorities to respond to the changed trade realities which a ‘no-deal’ Brexit will give rise to, an agreement on citrus trade issues could be the key to unlocking dialogues around the broader issues holding back the conclusion of the UK-SADC EPA Group Continuity Agreement negotiations. These negotiations are by far the most important UK trade negotiations with ACP countries, in terms of what is at stake for UK exporters. South Africa provides a market for around £2,358 million of UK export annually. |
Sources
(1) freshplaza.com, ‘The EU detects CBS in citrus imports from Tunisia’, 10 May 2019
https://www.freshplaza.com/article/9102689/the-eu-detects-cbs-in-citrus-imports-from-tunisia/
(2) EC, EU Citrus Dashboard, ‘EU orange imports per marketing year (Oct-Sept) [tonnes]’, 8 May 2019
https://ec.europa.eu/agriculture/sites/agriculture/files/dashboards/citrus-dashboard_en.pdf
(3) freshplaza.com, ‘Consequences of CBS may be devastating for Italian citrus fruit production’, 16 May 2019
https://www.freshplaza.com/article/9104540/consequences-of-cbs-may-be-devastating-for-italian-citrus-fruit-production/
(4) agrodiariohuelva.es, ‘Citrus from third countries must meet the same standards as EU fruits”, 7 May 2019
https://www.freshplaza.com/article/9101123/spain-citrus-from-third-countries-must-meet-the-same-standards-as-eu-fruits/
(5) freshplaza.com, ‘South Africa Inevitable diminishing citrus returns as volumes keep growing’, 20 May 2019
https://www.freshplaza.com/article/9105989/south-africa-inevitably-diminishing-citrus-returns-as-volumes-keep-growing