Spain’s fresh produce sector has called on the European Commission and the Spanish government to make urgent compensation payments to Spanish growers affected by the fall-out from the German E.coli outbreak.
Following the german authorities' admission that Spanish organic cucumbers were not connected with the E.coli cases centred around Germany’s Hamburg region, Spanish national federation Fepex has called for action to ease the “serious situation” that Spanish producers are facing.
Fepex has called for the immediate imposition of crisis management measures to aid stricken growers, so that some level of normality can return to the sector and exports can be restarted.
The adoption of crisis management measures was raised by Fepex managing director José María Pozancos with Spain’s vice-president, Alfredo Pérez Rubalcaba, and the country’s minister for rural affairs, Rosa Aguilar, at a specially-convened meeting held yesterday (1 June) in Almería.
Fepex said the crisis would also be the principal subject of a meeting being held today (2 June) between Ms Aguilar and the agriculture ministers from each of the affected autonomous regions.
The organisation also said the cost of the withdrawal of Spanish products from European markets should be borne by the European Commission, which it blames for issuing the “unjustified” food safety alert.
In Andalusia, where the two falsely-accused cucumber producers are located, the Andalusian regional government has announced the imminent launch of a new promotional campaign focused on “recuperating the image” of the region’s products.
Andalusian agriculture minister Clara Aguilera said the region would also shortly launch a damage certification system that would enable the “rapid management” of losses suffered by Andalusia’s fresh produce companies as a result of the crisis.
For its part, Andalusian fresh produce association Hortyfruta has estimated that producers could lose up to 230,000 tonnes of fresh products worth some €150m.
Costa de Almería, which was wrongly connected with the outbreak by the German authorities, has told Eurofruit that it is facing 'massive losses' following the complete stoppage of all production.
The company's marketing manager, Noelia Medialdea, said that the cooperative's packhouses and coldstores were currently 'packed full' of products, including melons and watermelons, much of which will have to be destroyed.
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